150 hours!

Stevelele

Stevelele

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I am in the process of ordering a Luis Feu De Mesquita ukulele, and Luis told me that he spends 150 hours on a single ukulele. Now of course he makes them in batches, so the timing is probably not completely accurate for one uke. But even if it's close--that's an extraordinarily high amount of time, at least to someone like me who isn't an expert.

I have heard estimates that range anywhere between 30-80 hours.

I think I've heard Chuck say 50, Eric Devine say a bit less. I spoke to Steve Grimes recently and he said 80.

Not saying that time = quality necessarily but just thought you might be interested just to appreciate all the time and labor that goes into these custom instruments
 
Just for clarification, for me it's 50 hours for the basic uke. Any inlay or decoration can take an additional 10 to 100 hours. Of course that means making all the parts and doing everything by hand, no fancy tooling or CNC machines. Like someone else mentioned on another thread, I don't know any custom builders getting rich doing what we do.
 
Wow!

all the best luthiers on this thread so far..unreal..
yes Jake I got you in there with um..
 
Steve... have you ever made contact with Jake Maclay..you know he is on the East coast now right..by you W.Virginia I think..nice guy hard worker build nice ukes
 
I did once--when he first started Hive....very nice instruments, though I've never seen one in person
hawaii 50 said:
Steve... have you ever made contact with Jake Maclay..you know he is on the East coast now right..by you W.Virginia I think..nice guy hard worker build nice ukes
Click to expand...
 
syfc said:
I did once--when he first started Hive....very nice instruments, though I've never seen one in person
Click to expand...

Yeah Steve..to be honest with you I never got to play one either..but he did a lot on my CR so I got a good idea..if you ever try one let me know..
 
Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:
Like someone else mentioned on another thread, I don't know any custom builders getting rich doing what we do.
Click to expand...

Q: How does a luthier become a millionaire?

A: Start out as a multi-millionaire.


I confess, I use a cnc for some parts. I'm only able to do the luthery thing part-time, so I need to have all the help I can get to save time and wear & tear on my elbows and the like. Besides, I like being able to repeat a design more than once. It's a great tool for necks, fretboards, and bridges especially. Not to mention inlay on a headstock, or a smiley face on the back of a Smiley-Uke headstock. And if anyone says I'm cheating by using a CNC, I simply point out that I also built the CNC...

:)
 
DewGuitars said:
Q: How does a luthier become a millionaire?

A: Start out as a multi-millionaire.


I confess, I use a cnc for some parts. I'm only able to do the luthery thing part-time, so I need to have all the help I can get to save time and wear & tear on my elbows and the like. Besides, I like being able to repeat a design more than once. It's a great tool for necks, fretboards, and bridges especially. Not to mention inlay on a headstock, or a smiley face on the back of a Smiley-Uke headstock. And if anyone says I'm cheating by using a CNC, I simply point out that I also built the CNC...

:)
Click to expand...



Wow if you are the inventor of the CNC you are a millionaire..haha
nice!
 
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. Still, I envy those with paid health plans, pensions and paid vacations. My retirement plan is my wood pile.
 
Last edited:
Inventor? No! But I did design and build mine. Not quite the same thing...

I know a guy who has the equivalent of three Brazilian Rosewood logs in his basement. And two pallets of Madagascar RW bass fingerboards of very high quality and amazing figure. Not to mention all the other stuff he has. That's not a bad retirement package either.
 
DewGuitars said:
Inventor? No! But I did design and build mine. Not quite the same thing...

I know a guy who has the equivalent of three Brazilian Rosewood logs in his basement. And two pallets of Madagascar RW bass fingerboards of very high quality and amazing figure. Not to mention all the other stuff he has. That's not a bad retirement package either.
Click to expand...


Sorry Don..I must of read too much into it..
I have a hard time putting a bed frame together..
 
Wow guys, it is really good info to hear your estimates for ukulele builds. And I want to Thank you for applying those skills. I've built an airplane, helped with a Bonneville Salt flats race car, and several high end custom bicycles. I know there are a lot of unaccounted for hours sourcing materials, tooling, and paperwork. And all of that time and effort is lost in the sands of time and comes with no pay. Thank you for the quality at a price that is more than reasonable based on the time you put in to a project. One day I hope to own one of your ukuleles. I'm saving.
 
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