Sparrow Ukuleles from Virginia

Martinlover

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At Funky Frets this weekend and I got a chance to see and play some Sparrow Ukuleles. These are handmade electric ukes that not only look beautiful but sound amazing. The ukes are beautifully shaped, the curve on the back of the tenor fit perfectly into my side. These ukuleles are for those players who love an all steel string feel and sound. The pickup is engineered by Sparrow Ukulele owner, John G., a super nice guy with a passion for his creations. There was some technical speak, so ask him all the questions you would want to know about the engineering.

Unfortunately, while several festival goers were rocking out with the wares, I did not think to take a photo or video one of the impromptu performances. We were having too much fun. I think the quality and sound rivals other solid body electric ukuleles I have heard. Here’s the link: https://www.sparrowukulele.com
 
At Funky Frets this weekend and I got a chance to see and play some Sparrow Ukuleles. These are handmade electric ukes that not only look beautiful but sound amazing. The ukes are beautifully shaped, the curve on the back of the tenor fit perfectly into my side. These ukuleles are for those players who love an all steel string feel and sound. The pickup is engineered by Sparrow Ukulele owner, John G., a super nice guy with a passion for his creations. There was some technical speak, so ask him all the questions you would want to know about the engineering.

Unfortunately, while several festival goers were rocking out with the wares, I did not think to take a photo or video one of the impromptu performances. We were having too much fun. I think the quality and sound rivals other solid body electric ukuleles I have heard. Here’s the link: https://www.sparrowukulele.com

Thanks for sharing this. I went to his website and the ukuleles sound and look amazing.
 
I also stopped by the Sparrow table at the Funky Frets Fest. I'm not an electric uke player, but if I was, these Sparrows would be very high on my list. Not only do they sound great, but the design and appearance is spectacular. The builder really knows how to bring out the natural beauty of the woods, without resorting to gimmicks and glitter.
 
Forgot to mention that if you want to slide, these ukes are great for that. And People were playing jazzy tunes and rock in’ out.
 
Also these are solid bodies, not hollow, so they carry some weight. I thought the price point was very reasonable considering these are handmade.
 
I'm not an electric uker either, but these look cool.
Looks like the same guy who runs Fan Guitar/Fan Ukulele. I've exchanged some e-mails with him in the past and he seems like a cool guy.
 
Yes, it IS John Gonzalez del Solar from Fan Guitar and Ukulele in Richmond. We had them in our HopNUke Fest this summer. Stu Kindle played his set on one - he demos for them.
 
It's been about a year since the last post in his thread, so I thought I'd check to see if anyone has purchased / played a Sparrow electric uke over the last twelve months and would be willing to share their thoughts.

I have a Fluke SB electric, which I like very much, but am ready to get a steel string electric uke as well. The obvious candidate is a Risa, and I'm sure I'd be very happy with that. But I'm kind of tempted by the Sparrow as well, especially because they have a baritone size. So, can anyone confirm that Sparrow are quality instruments and nudge me in that direction?

Thanks for any thoughts anyone has!
 
It's been about a year since the last post in his thread, so I thought I'd check to see if anyone has purchased / played a Sparrow electric uke over the last twelve months and would be willing to share their thoughts.

I have a Fluke SB electric, which I like very much, but am ready to get a steel string electric uke as well. The obvious candidate is a Risa, and I'm sure I'd be very happy with that. But I'm kind of tempted by the Sparrow as well, especially because they have a baritone size. So, can anyone confirm that Sparrow are quality instruments and nudge me in that direction?

Thanks for any thoughts anyone has!

Thought I’d give it one more go; no one has current thoughts they’d be willing to share about Sparrow electric ukuleles?
 
Thought I’d give it one more go; no one has current thoughts they’d be willing to share about Sparrow electric ukuleles?

I attended the virtual Funky Frets Uke Fest a couple of weeks ago, and Sparrow made an appearance there. When the Sparrow video is posted, I'll let you know.
 
Hi, I am the OP. I got to play a couple of Sparrows at the time I posted and they seemed like solid builds to me. Beautifully finished and great sounding. The owners explained their build choices, including their pickup system. I have not played one since. But I suggest you call Sparrow ukuleles and I am sure they would love to talk to you about the details of their ukuleles.
 
Thanks Jerryc41 and Martinlover! I think I very well may reach out to Sparrow. They’ve already sold the baritone that was in stock when I posted the above, so if I decide to get one, maybe I’ll try placing an advance order.
 
Sparrow Ukes Are Well-Made

Fan Guitar & Ukulele in Richmond is my go-to shop for all things uke. I make the 1-hour drive from Charlottesville to deal with them. There are only guitar shops in C-ville - yes, they all have a few ukes, but Fan Guitar & Ukulele is primarily a uke store with a great selection and John & Stu really know about everything uke and consistently provide great customer service.

Seeing the Sparrow ukes that John had available, one day I asked about his electrics and the seed was planted. After seeing a sample of how he can burn images into the wood from photos I developed an idea and have worked with John to order a custom Sparrow electric tenor that he expects to start the build this week. I provided photos of my dogs and we have gone back and forth to ensure the layout of those images on the fret board. He even provided me a mock-up for approval. He also showed me photos of the wood blanks he has on hand for me to make the perfect pick. I am eager to get my hands on the memorial that I designed for my canine children.

The flexibility of the custom work aside, each time I have been in the shop I would take them off the wall and sample the Sparrow ukes. They are all solid builds and it seems that he can do no wrong with the wood selection as you can see from the web site that he really shows off the beauty of the wood.

It is my experience with John's shop that you will receive a top notch instrument with great customer service.
 
Received My Custom Sparrow Ukulele Today

So after working with John to design my custom tenor I finally picked it up today - couldn't be more pleased with the way it came out. It was a detailed design process because I wanted the best outcome and so did John. He was patient as I went through a few different iterations of my fret board layout before nailing it in EXACTLY what I wanted. Then the initial photo that I wanted for the pickup really didn't work: poor lighting, so I dug through our family photos and found a more perfect photo for the pickup.

John created fret board templates for my feedback and approval and texted me with different wood blanks for my selection for my perfect uke. Once it was all agreed upon it was ~2 weeks for the build.

Specs on this uke are:
- Curly maple top on cherry body
- Walnut neck
- Maple pickup bobbin and fret board with Walnut fret board markers
- 16" Radius fretboard. I wanted a radius fretboard and John and I talked about 12" radius but went with the 16" because of the effect the tighter radius would have had on the photo laser etching.
- The custom laser etching is done from digital photos. Five of the 7 photos are from dogs that died long before I had a digital camera, so I took digital photos of those old film prints and they came out great.
- Humbucker pickup which can toggle between single and double coils.

This is all to say that John can customize your uke and he works very well with you to make sure you get EXACTLY what you want.

And it sounds amazing and it fits me well: the bevel at the top side is very comfortable for the right arm, and there is a bevel on the back side that makes it super comfortable to hold against the torso.

I am already finding it easier on this ukulele to play a couple songs that I've been working on with some struggles on my acoustics. Perhaps the steel strings? Perhaps the radius fret board? Don't know, don't care - it's just fun!

Can't say enough good stuff about the product. The customization of the laser engraving is just icing on the cake.

And the first song I played on this one tonight? Serenading my pooch with the theme song from Scooby Doo.
 

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Ukulele construction is going to the dogs. :D

That's what's nice about a custom made uke. You can get exactly what you want.
 
So, I've been going down the rabbit hole ever since I saw this photo:

sparrow.jpg

Is the Flying V a discontinued model or was this a custom job?
 
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