I just received the first of two custom ukes I ordered from Bruce Wei in Vietnam, and I have to say, this uke is really damn good, I'm very glad I ordered it.
It's a gypsy jazz style inspired by the Selmer/Maccaferri "Grande Bouche" guitar that was used by Django Reinhardt in the late 30s-early 40s (he only had three fingers on his fret hand). It's made of a solid curly maple top, solid Indian rosewood body, solid walnut neck, rosewood rosette and binding, and he even added a light color purfling with the binding which I didn't even request.
It's really beautiful in person with it's glossy finish. The build quality and seam work are really clean and solid. The bridge is custom made with holes that guide the strings to the hand carved tailpiece that matches the style of the Selmer/Maccaferri. The bridge was inspired by an old uke I saw hanging on the wall of McCabe's. I also asked him to make space under the saddle so I could install a pickup and preamp/tuner.
My over-all experience with Bruce was very good. He always responds to my emails quickly, and his English is fine (not like Simon from East-Start). Of the five builders I contacted about a gypsy uke, he responded immediately with a digital drawing of the uke, no one else did, one builder never got back to me at all. Bruce's price was half of the others, and he did it in less then half the time.
I'm extremely happy with the way it came out, the sound is very good, and I know over time it will get better. Next on the agenda is a gloss black, pearl binding mandolele with pearl fret inlay (see below, my submission design).
Just to reiterate from my last Bruce Wei post, those ready made ukes listed on his eBay site are not the good build quality of his custom ukes, don't judge his custom work by the work of those other builders who sell on his eBay site. Also, the builder on his site who made the cheapest and lowest quality ukes no longer sells on Bruce's site, that builder now uses a separate eBay site.
Here are photos and a quick sound sample (of my poor playing). I'm open for questions and further information.
[video]http://www.kohanmike.com/uploads/Audio No Pressure.m4a[/video]
[video]http://www.kohanmike.com/uploads/Audio Truman Sleeps.m4a[/video]
Next one coming, gloss black mandolele with pearl binding:
It's a gypsy jazz style inspired by the Selmer/Maccaferri "Grande Bouche" guitar that was used by Django Reinhardt in the late 30s-early 40s (he only had three fingers on his fret hand). It's made of a solid curly maple top, solid Indian rosewood body, solid walnut neck, rosewood rosette and binding, and he even added a light color purfling with the binding which I didn't even request.
It's really beautiful in person with it's glossy finish. The build quality and seam work are really clean and solid. The bridge is custom made with holes that guide the strings to the hand carved tailpiece that matches the style of the Selmer/Maccaferri. The bridge was inspired by an old uke I saw hanging on the wall of McCabe's. I also asked him to make space under the saddle so I could install a pickup and preamp/tuner.
My over-all experience with Bruce was very good. He always responds to my emails quickly, and his English is fine (not like Simon from East-Start). Of the five builders I contacted about a gypsy uke, he responded immediately with a digital drawing of the uke, no one else did, one builder never got back to me at all. Bruce's price was half of the others, and he did it in less then half the time.
I'm extremely happy with the way it came out, the sound is very good, and I know over time it will get better. Next on the agenda is a gloss black, pearl binding mandolele with pearl fret inlay (see below, my submission design).
Just to reiterate from my last Bruce Wei post, those ready made ukes listed on his eBay site are not the good build quality of his custom ukes, don't judge his custom work by the work of those other builders who sell on his eBay site. Also, the builder on his site who made the cheapest and lowest quality ukes no longer sells on Bruce's site, that builder now uses a separate eBay site.
Here are photos and a quick sound sample (of my poor playing). I'm open for questions and further information.
[video]http://www.kohanmike.com/uploads/Audio No Pressure.m4a[/video]
[video]http://www.kohanmike.com/uploads/Audio Truman Sleeps.m4a[/video]
Next one coming, gloss black mandolele with pearl binding:
Last edited: