Quality ukulele shops or Luthiers in Bali?

UkingViking

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Hi fellow ukulele players,

I am going on vacation to Indonesia in a few weeks.
I understand that cheap ukuleles are common souvenirs from Bali. Buying cheap ukuleles are not on top of my wish list, but if I could find a quality ukulele at a favorable price I wouldnt mind :)

I plan to stay in Denpasar and Ubud in Bali and Labuan Bajo in Flores.
Does anyone know of good ukulele place in any of those cities?
 
There is a famous local luthier there. I have one of his ukes. This is his page. https://www.facebook.com/Wayan-Tuges-Luthier-150291651750247/ .
You can take a factory tour there. His workshop is across the road from his showroom. His works do not come cheap with some of his guitars reaching USD$10,000 range.

Also, visit the drum factory there! Its huge and the pan and tank drums are reasonable in price.
 
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I was not looking for something that high end, but thanks for the suggestion.
I was mostly hoping to find something decent quality that would be cheaper to buy in Indonesia without the midle man. Perhaps more like a small uke factory where they will do a few custom tweaks than a real luthier.

My current ukes are some solid wood asian build ukuleles from Ohana and Cort, the kind that cost around $300 where I buy them. I wondered if there is any chance of making a good deal on something that would be an upgrade to these in Indonesia, or it they only sell cheapo ukuleles.

If I was going to Java, where they build some Pono ukuleles, I would be courious if they were available at good prices there. But I am only going to Bali and Flores.
 
You can try to find Genta brand ukulele. They're good quality and it costs around $200. You'll be surprise to find how similar they're to Pono ;)

Thanks for the suggestion. I can see on their Web page that they are made in Java like Pono are. Perhaps by builders who have their know-how from making Ponos? Who knows.

Do you know is they are readily available in shops in Bali?
 
I don't live in Bali, so i'm not familiar with the uke shop there. But theres an app called Bukalapak selling Genta Bali Series, the seller located in Bali too. Maybe you can check that out. Good luck and have fun!
 
Are anyone familiar with a brand called Hex instruments?
I arrive in Ubud tomorrow, and I expect to see this brand at the Bali Treasures Drum Factory.

Their Web page looks very informative, but a review would be nice.
 
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So, there was nothing exiting in my path.

The ukuleles in the Ubud marker was not even normal cheepo ukuleles, but poorly made decorations. The vendors played something on them, but I didnt bother to try.
At the drum Factory music shop they had the Hex brand Korea build ukuleles, but they only had their laminate models. Sounded decent for what they were, but not what I was looking for.

So I wont have to worry about transporting an Ukulele home.
 
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