Experiences with customs

Joyful Uke

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janeray1940 has mentioned disappointment with having a custom ukulele built. IIRC, research was done before selecting the builder, and discussions occurred about the sound wanted. I'm curious about why custom builds disappoint people, so if janeray1940 doesn't mind sharing that experience, along with any others who have any experience with customs, I'd be interested.

Try before you buy makes sense, but when that's not possible, why do people think things go wrong with a purchase even after listening to sound samples and getting an idea of size, neck shape, woods, and so on?

Edited to add: I don't mean for anyone to mention specific builders.
 
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I don't mind mentioning names. I've had four custom ukes made by Bruce Wei Arts out of Vietnam. I chose him mainly for price, he's at least half of anyone else I contacted. Three came out very well, one, the most expensive, did not meet my expectations. That one is a gypsy jazz style that I designed, all solid wood; flame maple top, Indian rosewod body, gloss finish, it doesn't have the projection or the sustain I was hoping for, but it's really pretty, well made and has good tone. It was $780 including shipping. Took about five to six months to build and even with the shortcomings, it's a keeper.

As I was waiting for that one, I decided to have him make me a madolin style ukulele. He suggested using solid mahogany, so I went with it. After a few weeks I decided I wanted it done in glossy black, but when I contacted him, he had already shipped it. I bit the bullet and ordered another in glossy black but this time made of solid acacia koa. The mahogany arrived and it played and sounded pretty good. I added a gold tailpiece, tuners, strap buttons and gold strings. I put it up for sale at a uke festival and got back my money, $370.

Then the black glossy arrived and it actually plays and sounds best of all, I'm very happy with that one, $420. I then added a chrome tailpiece to make it look more like a mandolin.

A few months later I started playing bass ukulele, looked at Kala U-bass and didn't like the configuration, so I designed one and sent it to Bruce, he said it would be $480 shipped and ready in about 2 months, but it actually took 5 months. That one came out really well, fretless, 21.5" scale, all solid acacia koa, had him extend the rosewood fretboard around the sound hole as a thumb rest.

Gypsy me.jpg

Mahogany mandolele gold 2.jpg

Mandolele black finished 700.jpg

Custom u-bass 800.jpg
 
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I definitely don't want to call out any builders here, and I'm going to ask that those of you who *know* who the builder in question was, PLEASE do not name names. Thanks in advance.

I'm going to take full responsibility for most of my disappointment, starting with choice of wood. I know koa, I love koa, I have several koa ukes, but for my custom, I chose something different. Turned out I just happen to love koa :) So, my bad, but I had to try it to know I didn't like it, so - no big deal.

What was a bigger deal was when a problem showed up down the line after I had gotten to know the uke a little bit. It was a legitimate problem - my local luthier confirmed it and tried to correct it, and did a commendable job (although in the end it was not 100% correctable). But only after the builder (who was not exactly local - same state, but it's a big state!) seemed very uninterested in correcting the issue and really gave me the impression that my asking to do so was not welcomed. It just left me with a bad feeling, and every time I looked at the uke, that bad feeling came back. Eventually I just couldn't play it because it brought me down so much.

A lot of this is, in my opinion, truly personal and entirely *on me.* What I see, time and again, yes, even in the supposedly very-aloha ukulele community, a sort of cool-kids-club forming around certain people - builders, performers, whatever. I'm not a cool kid, I have a lot of baggage from being a very-uncool kid growing up, and I really, really, REALLY resented being dismissed by the builder as though I was unimportant. I may have been reading too much into this, so again - I'm putting the blame on me and my perception of things.

You'll read a lot of posts here about how people cherish their customs because they feel a personal connection to the builder. That's what I had hoped for, but my experience was pretty much the opposite. The ukes I buy from my local shop may be somewhat anonymously made in the Kamaka factory, but at least my local shop makes me feel like a valued customer, and they stand by what they sell and will go the extra mile to make things right if they go wrong.

I hope that made sense, and didn't disparage anyone in any way, as that was not my intent. I'm just trying to convey how the whole exchange made me feel - and discussing my feelings has never been something I am good at! :)
 
My experience was very different (fortunately for me). I have two custom builds and they are my most prized possessions on Earth - the only thing I would run back into a burning building to retrieve once I got my cats out. The fact that I chose the actual wood used, the story behind one of them, and the lifelong bond I formed with the builder make them priceless to me. Yes, they sound and play wonderfully, but that emotional and sentimental attachment (for me) greatly outweighs any other instrument I ever owned.
 
What was a bigger deal was when a problem showed up down the line after I had gotten to know the uke a little bit. It was a legitimate problem - my local luthier confirmed it and tried to correct it, and did a commendable job (although in the end it was not 100% correctable). But only after the builder (who was not exactly local - same state, but it's a big state!) seemed very uninterested in correcting the issue and really gave me the impression that my asking to do so was not welcomed. It just left me with a bad feeling, and every time I looked at the uke, that bad feeling came back. Eventually I just couldn't play it because it brought me down so much)

I can understand why that would make it a bad experience.
The builder shouldn't have dismissed the problem as though you are unimportant, and I would hope that a builder would stand behind their work.
 
I basically have the ukulele of my dreams. It was made just for me!!! For me it's a"what's not to love?" ukulele. In truth? I wish it had a side sound hole.

But my builder was fantastic to work with. He makes what he wants but we happen to agree of what that was. I'm happy.
 
kohanmike, wickedwahine11, and sukie:
Thanks for your responses, too. Had you tried ukuleles from your builders prior to placing your order? How did you know that you wanted that builder, and whatever woods you decided on?

It's great to hear the good experiences, and encourages me to daydream more about it, but it's also good to know the reality that things don't always turn out as one hopes, and sometimes, a non-custom would be a better way to go.
 
I never tried a custom uke by my builder, but I did email him with a number of questions a few times before I decided to go ahead. I chose the flame maple for the gypsy jazz, my mistake (inline with Janeray), I was also later told by Pepe Romero (who makes great ukes) that he finds flame maple to not be a good choice for a ukulele top. Bruce suggested the mahogany and the acacia koa for the mandoleles, correct on both counts, and with that, I decided on acacia koa for the bass uke, very happy with that. (Just as an aside, as I peruse eBay, I see that Bruce has been selling ready made gypsy jazz ukes inspired by my design for about $250-$400 plus $70 shipping.)

After all that, I have to say that my best playing and sounding uke is a Kala KAATP-CTG-CE I got at McCabe's Guitar in Santa Monica for $370. Solid cedar top, acacia koa body, paduk binding, cutaway, preamp/pickup. I feel that it even rivals up $1000 ukes.

Kala Cedar.jpg
 
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I never tried a custom uke by my builder, but I did email him with a number of questions a few times before I decided to go ahead. I chose the flame maple for the gypsy jazz, my mistake (inline with Janeray), I was also later told by Pepe Romero (who makes great ukes) that he finds flame maple to not be a good choice for a ukulele top. Bruce suggested the mahogany and the acacia koa for the mandoleles, correct on both counts, and with that, I decided on acacia koa for the bass uke, very happy with that. (Just as an aside, as I peruse eBay, I see that Bruce has been selling ready made gypsy jazz ukes inspired by my design for about $250-$400 plus $70 shipping.)

After all that, I have to say that my best playing and sounding uke is a Kala KAATP-CTG-CE I got at McCabe's Guitar in Santa Monica for $370. Solid cedar top, acacia koa body, paduk binding, cutaway, preamp/pickup. I feel that it even rivals up $1000 ukes.

Kala Cedar.jpg

haha..i thought this was a thread on custom ukes....I like Kala's too...but they are not custom....:)
 
I understand why, but I think that since we're all eager to mention builders and companies we are happy with, we shouldn't be reluctant to name builders we are dissatisfied with. With increasingly higher prices for custom ukuleles, critical feedback is very valuable for other potential buyers. There is definitely an imbalance on the forum when it comes to recommendations for and against luthiers. I have never seen a negative review for more costly instruments, except for the guy who threatened to sue UU and forced negative posts to be taken down. But yes, I understand the various reasons. It is awkward in all sorts of ways.

My own experience:

I have a custom uke from Barron River that was already built when I bought it. My experience with it taught me a few things. First, I don't think I was ready to buy a (for me) expensive instrument at the time when I did. At $1200 AUD it was actually very affordable, but it was a substantial expense for me. When I bought this tenor, I think the purchase was fueled by a desire to put an end to the going back and forth about sizes and woods, and I think I wanted to have something cool, too, for various reasons. Janeray touched on this: the forum can give the impression that if you want to belong, you have to have something unique. That isn't actually the case, and I believe this impression is mostly born from some kind of insecurity, but I think it played into my decision. Mostly, though, I wanted to end the indecisiveness and start playing instead of searching.

That didn't happen. The tenor came and it was lovely. Light as a feather, loud, a refined sound, stunning to look at, unique, distinctive, and it had character. But I didn't get on with it. First, I was intimidated by it. High gloss, beautiful, irreplaceable in a way. And there was I: clumsy, inexperienced, and pretty broke now. I didn't feel good enough for the instrument, I felt I made it sound worse, and I worried about damaging it. Then I also returned to not knowing what I wanted and sort of regretted the purchase and my impatience, and set out to try other sizes. Now I had tasted quality, so I focused mostly on higher mid-range ukes, like KoAloha and an upper end Pono. I did feel more comfortable with production instruments because there was less of a surprise factor and overall lower costs (lower risk of regretting it).

I didn't sell the tenor, though, and after I fell in love with the baritone and the linear tuning, I revisited my custom tenor. Now equipped with a bit more experience and more able to identify why I like or dislike something. What I realized was that reentrant tuning, which I had clung to, probably doesn't work for me on a tenor. I think it's tonally too narrow for me on that size. I'm not entirely sure about this, though, and may revise my views again. I find that the more I improve as a player, the more appreciative I become of aspects I didn't understand properly before. So when I eventually learn more re-entrant techniques, my appreciation for it may kick in and the tenor goes back to being re-entrant. But at the moment, low-G opens it up to me.

I had tried a non-wound low-G before, which was downright awful (so I had dismissed low-G for a while), but from the baritone I had learned to appreciate wound strings. I put a wound low-G on the tenor, and it really transformed. Or rather, it was a sound I loved. Before the baritone, all tenors sounded muddy to me, but now with my adjust ears the tenor was so beautiful. I didn't want to like low-G, but the difference was striking, so I couldn't deny that it was, on this uke, nothing short of delicious. I had tried various strings, but I think the key was really the wound low fourth string. In fairness, though, due to the baritone I now know more linear-based pattern than I do re-entrant ones, which plays into the whole sound experience as well.

I had also learned to play a bit better, more able to touch the instrument in ways that made it sing just the way I want. Plus, I generally had developed a better posture, a better handle on holding the bigger instruments. Over the past few weeks, this tenor has been played a lot, and the more I play it, the more I treasure it. Where there had initially been some regret (unrelated to the instrument, only with myself and my perceived incompetence), there is now deep satisfaction.

So what I learned from this is that I had gotten a custom too soon, before I knew what I wanted and could really appreciate it. I also think my reasons for wanting a custom when I did get it were not optimal. But I also learned that initial impressions aren't necessarily reliable, that preferences may change, even drastically, that tuning and strings matter, that patience really is a virtue, and that I should have invested spare money into improving my skill as a player before trying to sort out the instrument question. I had put the cart before the horse. It's hard to remember for me because money can buy instant gratification, but it can't ever purchase a shortcut to learning and putting in time as well as work.

It all worked out, though. I want to say I'm glad I had the patience not to sell my custom tenor when it crossed my mind, but the truth is that this wasn't patience. It was reluctance and fear (of regret) to make the wrong decision. I now love this uke, and the builder has been fantastic to work with even after the purchase. Even now when I have a question or concern, he takes the time to answer within a few hours and is very helpful. Great builder and great person.

I'm glad that I came around to falling in love with this uke that initially I had a "You're sexy as hell, but I don't love you." relationship with. It really was me, not her. It's good that ukuleles are very patient. :)
 
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I have customs that I have ordered with a lot of thought and decision. I have purchased customs that were used that someone was selling and I have a custom I bought from a retailer.

My LfdM is one I was able to really nail down because Luis (the builder) lives very close to me and I was able to play a number of his instruments. I also got a really good feel for what he was about and I was comfortable taking his advice, I did that a lot. I trusted him and let him have his way. In a perfect world this is the way to go but it's not possible most of the time.

My Ono was conceived because I asked David Ingalls if he had any curly claro walnut. He showed me some pictures and I was in love, build me a ukulele I said. I asked a lot of question, trusted his reputation and his advice. I had gone through enough customs and factory built ukes to know what was critical for me radius fretboard, large fret wires and neck depth around .730 ". Great uke great sound, happy happy customer.

My Webber tenor was ordered because of my search for customs with radius fretboard. I knew David Webber offered them on his baritone so I asked about tenors. He said he had two tenors in the build stage and could do a radius, one box ticked. I asked about large fret wires and he did use them, another box ticked. I liked what he had to say and his rep. as a guitar builder was very good. He had an Englman spruce and cocobolo in process, woods I love. I did not ask about the neck depth or the string width at the saddle, both of these would be a problem later on. The neck depth was around, .860" ( Pono is. 0750") so Webber was very fat. The string spacing at the saddle was only 1-1/2" most are 1-3/4". This made fingerstyle very challenging, espeically when switching from one instrument to another. After one year I sent it back and David reshaped the neck and replaced the bridge to get the string spacing to 1-5/8". I did pay him for this work but it was worth it because this uke has great looks, build quality and sound, now the playability is excellent.

There have been others a long the way and you learn as you go. No one uke will ever be perfect for me, my preference for tone can go from warm to mellow to bright depending on the mood or music I am into at the moment. Playability, which is related to certain dimensions make the most difference to me and something I have found through trial and error. Determine what you want and need then look for builders who match up. If you like tenors and like spruce and happen upon a builder who really loves that combo and builds them a lot you are on your way
 
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Determine what you want and need then look for builders who match up.
That's it exactly. You don't necessarily want your builder experimenting on your build so it's usually best to stay in their wheelhouse - unless you and they are willing to accept the risk that goes along with that.
 
It is very true what Jim said about best to stay in their wheelhouse.
I wanted fancy fret markers on my lfdm, I wanted to take a sound hole design from option A to match a bridge design from option B....Luis ( the builder) said he can do anything I want BUT it means we are exploring something new together. I told him, I don't want to explore anything new! Lol
I am not ready to explore at my expense yet!

I can appreciate the uneasy feeling of owning a custom before you are ready! I recently jumped at the opportunity of a Koolau from HMS base on Corey recommendation. Its highly unlikely I would be brave enough to place an order on my own !
Sometime we don't even know what we want when buying factory made uke.
 
I kind of agree with Mivo here, I get the sentiment of no name and shame but still, we look after each other here do we not?

Everyone can have a bad day and we should never jump the gun and prematurely judge someone, but if you tried to resolve a problem with the builder and he or she repeatedly flatout ignored you, or perhaps even was rude, then I think by all means you could share. People or companies who don't stand by their products need to learn that it will ultimately damage their reputation.

Look at the opposite, KoAloha are known for the best customer service in the ukulele world, and rightly so. They stand behind their products, even when they dont have to (such as a 2nd hand sale). Now that is deserving of respect.
 
That's it exactly. You don't necessarily want your builder experimenting on your build so it's usually best to stay in their wheelhouse - unless you and they are willing to accept the risk that goes along with that.

I 100% agree. The custom ukes I'm most happy with are the ones where the decisions were decided or guided by the builder.

The only custom ukes that disappointed me, were because of my ideas or expectations, built by inexperienced or limited experience builders, who tried to build outside their comfort zone. It was half my fault for asking for some features, and half the builder's fault for not saying " I can't do that."

Although, the one with the neck attached so visably misaligned to the body was a shock (from a very inexperienced, "hobby" builder).
 
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I own one custom, built by Bradford Donaldson. Who, unfortunately, hasn't been building lately, or I'd have ordered another without any qualms.

I saw many comments on Brad's ukes, listened to quite a few sound samples, and then sent him an email. My specs were: Concert size, Peghed tuners, personal sound hole, cutway, pickup, and I sent him some pins that represented my life (Fire Department and Starbucks), and IF he could incorporate them into the build, that would be great - if not, no big deal. My only other request was sustainable North American hardwoods.

I got a concert sized uke with Port Orford Cedar top, Birds-eye maple back and sides, ebony saddle and nut, rosewood (if I remember correctly) fretboard and bridge, K&K transducer pickup. I'd bought a used Armitage case from WickedWahini11 and had her send it to Brad, and the uke fits the case like they were made for each other.

Brad's terms were that he would not accept a deposit, and due to family issues, the uke took about 15 months to build. I paid, he sent it, and said if I didn't like it, send it back for a full refund.

I will never, ever, give this instrument up. After a couple of years I may need to have the frets re-seated and filed, but I love this ukulele - and so has everyone else who has played it, including Sarah Maisel and Stu Fuchs.

Keep in mind, I had never played, or seen in person, any of Brad's ukes prior to commissioning this one. It is an exception to my rule of never buying until I try one.


-Kurt​
 
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I kind of agree with Mivo here, I get the sentiment of no name and shame but still, we look after each other here do we not?

Everyone can have a bad day and we should never jump the gun and prematurely judge someone, but if you tried to resolve a problem with the builder and he or she repeatedly flatout ignored you, or perhaps even was rude, then I think by all means you could share. People or companies who don't stand by their products need to learn that it will ultimately damage their reputation.

My # 1 reason for not wanting the name of the builder shared is that the person who had the bad experience isn't comfortable with sharing the name. I respect that person's right to make that judgement call.
 
So far, the good experiences are outweighing the bad, which is good to see. But it's a good reminder that things can go poorly, too.

All very interesting, and food for thought.
 
I think that it comes down to expectations.
 
I think that it comes down to expectations.

Yes, although I think that janeray1940's expectation that the ukulele either not have a problem, or that the problem be acknowledged and corrected by the builder is a reasonable expectation.

However, if I expect that a custom will have me playing like Jake in a week's time, (or ever, LOL), then that would be an unreasonable expectation.

Some things are hard to predict, though. If I don't have the opportunity to try a similiar ukulele first, how do I know if I'll like the feel of the neck? There will always be some unknowns, where you hope it works, but it's hard to know, I think.
 
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