Ukulele Luthiers in Mexico?

Does anybody know of any ukulele luthiers in Mexico?

I'm going to head to Mexico City and the surrounding states in a few months.

I'm aware that there are many excellent guitar makers in Mexico, or at least in the Mexican city of Paracho. But I was wondering if there are any uke makers as well. Does anybody know of any?

Everything costs more in Mexico. Buy it over the internet.

Martin has a factory in Mexico.
There's a ukulele school / community place called La Casa del Ukulele en México D.F. Perhaps they'd be able to point you to ukulele makers?

13down said:

I'm aware that there are many excellent guitar makers in Mexico, or at least in the Mexican city of Paracho. But I was wondering if there are any uke makers as well.

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Hmmm... I wouldn't be surprised if the Paracho contingent picks up on the uke craze. A lot of luthiers there are top notch and this seems like a lucrative market for them to tap.

Pepe Romero's venture into the uke arena has worked well for him. I think the Paracho guitar builders would be a perfect fit in today's increased market for handmade ukes.

I can't talk about ukulele but the from what I know with flamcenco guitars from luthiers from Mexico is that they can be very build and sound good......if you keep them in Mexico!!!! The problem is when they leave the country, and arrive let say here in Montreal.......well with the kind of weather that we have here, well they all finished cracked or something happen to them......That's the biggest issue with Mexican flamenco...

Now, there's 2 luthiers that I know that you can trust their work and that you can get without worrying about weather issue.....and these 2 luthiers are Salvador Castillo and Francisco Navarro.

I do own a Negra Flamenca from Francisco Navarro and I never have any problem with it..... And they sound absolutely amazing!!!!! Now I just don't know if they do build uke.... But I think I came across a Navarro uke on ebay once.....but I just don't know how do they sound like....

But for sure their flamenco guitars sound amazing...just like any good spanish builders....

Hope that helps.

13down said:

Does anybody know of any ukulele luthiers in Mexico?

I'm going to head to Mexico City and the surrounding states in a few months.

I'm aware that there are many excellent guitar makers in Mexico, or at least in the Mexican city of Paracho. But I was wondering if there are any uke makers as well. Does anybody know of any?

Click to expand...

I had a baritone ukulele (lili'u six string) made in Tijuana by Luis Sevillano a few months back, and am very happy with it. He has made ukuleles in the past, and so I got to take a look at a little concert size he made before ordering my baritone. Tijuana is much closer to San Diego and Los Angeles than Mexico City, though, and there are plenty of good luthiers in central Mexico, so he is likely not a good match for you.

I noticed that the ukuleles built by Mr. Sevillano were a little heavier than a normal ukulele, although they had plenty of volume, so that really is not a problem, as far as I am concerned. With the variety of small traditional Mexican instrument related to the guitar (jarana jarocha, in four sizes, the jarana huasteca, the vihuela, the guitarra de golpe) it should not be hard to find a good luthier who has recently made, if not a ukulele, then a close cousin of the ukulele, in about the same size, in the recent past.

Also, you may want to take advantage of the opportunity and have something built that is a little different-I had a six string baritone made, and am thinking about getting a guitarra de golpe to use as a nylon string tenor guitar with Southcoast strings (same 23 inch scale as a tenor guitar).

You could also get a bandola, or a cuatro, or a Cuban tresillo, or a jarana jarocho, and string it up as a ukulele, there are just a lot of interesting options at a relatively low price.

I can't speak to any tendency of Mexican guitars to crack in cold weather; I have mine safely at home in Tijuana, and have no plans to take mine further north than San Diego. Maybe a case humidifier would solve the issue?

Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the advice!

It was a good reminder of how much of an operation this would be. Paracho is far from where I'm going, and I'll have to decide if it's actually worth it.

The matter of climate was something I hadnt thought of, so thanks for that tip, too!

Screw the climate, just watch your back and come back safely pal.

Good Luck......................I would not set one foot across the border, especially down there. Too many killings etc. Vaya con dios amigo

Howie1947 said:

Good Luck......................I would not set one foot across the border, especially down there. Too many killings etc. Vaya con dios amigo

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Hey! That's my town! Actually, I live about half an hour from Chula Vista (straight south, obviously), and love Tijuana. I spent three years in Chula Vista, and was happy to get back to TJ. I feel as safe here as I did in Chula Vista-every city has good and bad parts. Regardless, as long as you're happy where you are, good on you, and best of luck.

Actually, since you are close to TJ, if you do ever want to have a nice uke made in TJ, let me know and I can put you in touch with Luis Sevillano. You can see examples of some of his guitars here: http://knight-music.net/sevillano.html. I am really happy with mine.