One time offer - a week with a luthier

Pete Howlett

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As usual I am packed out with work and need help in my workshop based at the foothills of Snowdonia National Park, Wales, UK to start and complete five limited edition runs in the workshop:
1. 16 Koa tenor ukulele
2. 20 Concert uklectic electric ukulele
3. 20 Tenor ukulectic electric ukulele
4. 12 Soprano Rhythm King ukulele
5. 15 Tenor Resolele ukulele
If you have woodworking skills or have already built instruments then this might be a great opportunity for you to work alongside an experienced luthier. The work is going to be hard so you will get the feel of what it is like working under pressure. You must also be able to work to close tolerances and be confident using a bandsaw and router. It is important that you are in good health and have your own health and accident insurance. You will also need to find and pay for your own accommodation – I can help there since there are plenty of B and B’s in the area.
There’s no pay – just a chance to work alongside me to gain further experience in building. I am offering this over a three month period from August to October. If you feel you have the qualifications and personality to work with an old curmudgeon, want desperately to be part of ukulele history then please send a resume to pete@petehowlettukulele.co.uk.
 
If I was across the pond, I'd take you up on that
 
Oh, I 've got it bad right now.. every penny that comes near, including a few that really should go somewhere else, is going into wood... some super cool stuff coming in right now. Just found some really nice squiggley grain, QS 8/4 Macassar. Been looking for it for about a year now, so when the phone rang, there was no way to say no. $130/bf.. OUCH! Feels strange to be living broke, buying lots of very expensive boards, and sticking them on a rack in the back room... But this is why my business is growing. My fingers remain crossed that noone buys the J. Cherry board I have my eyes on, cuz I am really hoping for it to land here soon.

Who knows, maybe I will cross the pond. I love England
 
all the best in finding someone Pete. It seems that the financial cost for someone to take up this offer would be quite high. I wonder if you offered someone a ukulele at the end of the process would be more incentive for someone to provide their services?
 
How much are you prepared to pay for 'knowledge'. Think.... University fees in the final year, motivational and specialist conferences (usually upward of $300 a day!). Now this is not expensive, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get underneath the skin of the building process and get onto a very upward learning curve.
 
Man, I would love to do this. I'm a time served carpenter, coming from a long line of carpenters and cabinet makers. Unfortunately I teach in a secondary school so it's a no, no for me. I would recommend that anyone wanting to hone their craft take up this offer. If only I didn't teach, wasn't married, got kids, got ..............................
 
How much are you prepared to pay for 'knowledge'. Think.... University fees in the final year, motivational and specialist conferences (usually upward of $300 a day!). Now this is not expensive, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to get underneath the skin of the building process and get onto a very upward learning curve.

Surely if you are doing a batch run there will be no time for you to give endless amounts of your knowledge . You will be working flat out giving the (lucky) person jobs that you do not wish to do.
Perhaps if you supplied accomodation and a free Uke at the end of it that may conjure up a better scenario. There may be somebody around who would like to be in your presence that much that they would be willing to work a whole week, travel to get there, pay for there digs and food.

Good luck.
 
Yes, there are people out there who would choose to enter in to this scenario with zero hesitation. There are many ways to learn... 'learning by absorbtion' is one of my favorite. If someone just wants a uke, there are easier ways. If someone wants to learn, being in the presence of a master doing what they do best, is incredibly beneficial.
 
We will actually be working together and if you can carve a neck in 20 minutes, that's what you will be doing. I'm not looking for grunt workers - this is an opportunity for those who want to hone their skills not learn them. What you will get is confidence, a greater understanding of single processes and a huge exposure by repetition to the fundamentals of building - accuracy and attention to detail. Honestly mate, don't try to second guess what I am trying to do. You wanna be negative, go somewhere else.
 
We will actually be working together and if you can carve a neck in 20 minutes, that's what you will be doing. I'm not looking for grunt workers - this is an opportunity for those who want to hone their skills not learn them. What you will get is confidence, a greater understanding of single processes and a huge exposure by repetition to the fundamentals of building - accuracy and attention to detail. Honestly mate, don't try to second guess what I am trying to do. You wanna be negative, go somewhere else.

I was not trying to guess what you where doing mate. I was also not being negative you need somebody in your workshop why do not not employ somebody and pay them a fair wage. I am sure out of all the commissions you mentioned you could at least pay a minimum wage.
If you had not noticed everybody has there own opinions so please do not ask me to go somewhere else.
 
Ok so they are getting in a line and first 'intern' signed up for the week beginning 3rd September - starting to get the ducks in a row...
 
I totally agree, as reflected in my first post. Pete, this is a public forum, and to draw attention to a basic concept as a fair day's work for a fair day's pay is not to be negative, just realistic. I certainly couldn't afford to take up your situation under those circumstances no matter how much I wanted to, unless I was retired and or ridiculously wealthy. Further, you mention you do not want people to learn new skills, but hone pre-existing ones...surely someone in possession of such skills is worthy of being paid for their labour? No doubt there's someone who'll fit your bill, but the pool of potential workers will be significantly narrower without the offer of min. wages. You're not running a Chinese sweatshop are you! :uhoh:
 
I've already done the 'have an intern for a month' that cost me the best part of £2000! I'm not going to repeat that experiment. I have close on 6 hours of free information on YouTube. If you want to learn without costing you much more than a few dollars on your elecricity bill then YouTube is the place to visit, not just for my vids but the other excellent build ones that I also review each week. However, if you want to make the virtual experience real then come and help out. The terms are what they are and people are up for it... suits some, not others. I don't really want to get into a debate about what I am doing - it's been very carefully thought through and correpondents with me are made aware of the program more fully when they contact me. I have to say I resent somewhat being accused of exploiting people.
 
I've already done the 'have an intern for a month' that cost me the best part of £2000! I'm not going to repeat that experiment. I have close on 6 hours of free information on YouTube. If you want to learn without costing you much more than a few dollars on your elecricity bill then YouTube is the place to visit, not just for my vids but the other excellent build ones that I also review each week. However, if you want to make the virtual experience real then come and help out. The terms are what they are and people are up for it... suits some, not others. I don't really want to get into a debate about what I am doing - it's been very carefully thought through and correpondents with me are made aware of the program more fully when they contact me. I have to say I resent somewhat being accused of exploiting people.
na mate, it's all good. You have an offer and people are either willing to accept it with glee or otherwise. I think it's great that you have people lining up to help out. Not making any accusations, just expressing a contradictory viewpoint. Just because it's not something I'd be willing to do doesn't make me right, it's an opinion, no more no less. All the best in knocking over your heavy work schedule.
 
A difficult drive from London to North Wales but we are at the foothills of the Welsh 'rockies'... called Snowdon.
 
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