Jerry Hoffman and Kevin Mason

Jerry Hoffmann is the very well-known and well-respected luthier behind Hoffmann Lutherie (formerly Boat Paddle) in New Haven, Missouri.

His instruments are wonderful; I can’t say enough about them. Fantastic, sublime, I love them. :)
 
Last edited:
HMS has a Hoffman for sale. Unique design. I'd love to try one some day.
 
Jerry Hoffmann is the very well-known and well-respected luthier behind Hoffmann Lutherie (formerly Boat Paddle), in New Haven, Missouri.

His instruments are wonderful; I can’t say enough about them. Fantastic, sublime, I love them. :)

Jerry Hoffmann has an instrument for sale at the Hawaii Music Site -
https://www.theukulelesite.com/hoffmann-ml-style-custom-cedar-ebony-concert-hmlc1038.html

The url for Kevin Mason is pasted below:
http://masonguitars.net/
An audio clip is
http://masonguitars.net/wp-content/audio/Tonight You Belong To Me.mp3
 
Last edited:
I have 3 Hoffmann’s. I guess that tells you what I think about them.
 
I have 3 Hoffmann’s. I guess that tells you what I think about them.

Me too. :D

I actually learned about them from UU, even though I live just an hour from his workshop. The short version of the story is that in my first two days in ukulele-land I saw a (at the time) Boat Paddle build thread going on. That was (I am embarrassed to say) my first clue that, shall we say, higher-end ukuleles even existed. A local shop was listed as a Boat Paddle dealer, and even though they didn't have one in stock I googled Boat Paddle and found that (1) Jerry was so close and (2) he had several available for sale in his workshop. The next day I drove to New Haven and bought a 12-fret tenor. Six months later a concert Boat Paddle became available in the marketplace and I snapped it up. While researching its provenance after I bought it but before it arrived, I learned that it was the exact one whose build thread had sparked my interest in the first place. UU is a very small world. :) The third one came to me when I went to a local shop supposedly to buy a Martin T1K and found that they had a Hoffmann (by that time) baritone on consignment. It turned out to have been Jerry's shop uke, and it came home with me. No Martin on that trip.

Back to your regularly-scheduled thread.
 
Last edited:
The "Twins" that Jerry made for me are from the same billet of cocobo rosewood and are my ukulele treasures.They sound better and better as they age. I just wish I could do them justice. Jerry's instruments are the best.
 
Hoffman has been on my "want to try" list for a long time. The one on HMS certainly got my attention, but UAS is actually in a dormant state for me at the moment. But I do keep looking at and listening to that one.

Does anyone know what the nut width is?

Now, off to look at Kevin Mason's link, like someone who doesn't have UAS would do, right? LOL.
 
Jerry,

I will predict that you will have a Hoffmann/Boat Paddle ukulele in the bear future.

John
 
The first uke festival I went to was the Mighty Mo sponsored by Boat Paddle ukuleles. I'm a little sad that they don't have it anymore. It looked like it was a lot of work for Jerry and his wife. But it was a fun festival. But if you registered to come to the festival a day early you got to go to the shop and hang out. My first jam was in the back room at Boat Paddle ukulele.
 
Jerry,

I will predict that you will have a Hoffmann/Boat Paddle ukulele in the bear future.

John

I predict I will be performing professionally on stage by the end of the week. Neither of our predictions will come true. :D

I already have a Southern Cross Fantail, which is close enough to a paddle, and that will keep me satisfied.

01.jpg
 
Kevin Mason was present and had instruments on display at the Midwest Uke & Harmonica Camp in 2017. I think he’s a regular there. His instruments were delightful; owning one would be a privilege. I was there with my 6 month old Beau Hannam so there was no room for temptation. Kevin seems a gentle, thoughtful soul.

Earlier in my uke life I lusted for a Boat Paddle Kayak model. It was an innovative design that looked almost Scandinavian: a squared off pineapple body with the sound holes up by the neck joint. Jerry also uses a “pin nut” that positions the strings. With no nut slots, adjusting for different gauge strings becomes a non-issue. With the name change from Boat Paddle to Hoffmann Jerry dropped that model. I wasn’t in a position to get one at the time. You snooze you lose.
 
Last edited:
Boat Paddles are great! Jerry Hoffman is great! The Mighty MO Ukulele Festival is very much missed!! I loved it! J.C. Bryant
 
There is a Hoffmann D style Tenor Uke for sale on FleaMarketMusic.com right now. I haven’t seen the D style available for a while now. This one is a beauty.
 
Hoffman has been on my "want to try" list for a long time. The one on HMS certainly got my attention, but UAS is actually in a dormant state for me at the moment. But I do keep looking at and listening to that one.

Does anyone know what the nut width is?

Now, off to look at Kevin Mason's link, like someone who doesn't have UAS would do, right? LOL.

I think the nut width is going to be 38mm. The Hoffmann ML Concert that is currently on sale at HMS is certainly a beauty.
 
I really admire some of the innovative work Hoffman has done and I've played the Hoffman that HMS has when it was at the UGH show. It was sold but then cancelled and never got re-listed until recently. When it popped up, I recognized that it was one and the same. It was hard to put down when I played it. It's a little punchy but responds well to a lighter "attack." I played one other Hoffman and I also liked that one but it didn't grab me to the same degree.

Kevin Mason is not nearly as well known, but should be in my opinion. I was really smitten with the two ukes he had at UGH. Both were baritones. They were really, really well executed, had killer tone and excellent playability. I knew then I would do a baritone build with him, and late last year I commissioned a uke that I received a few weeks ago. It's a torrefied spruce / ziricote 19.5" baritone. I will do a full review in a week or so, but let me preview it in a word: AWESOME!

Here are a couple of photos





And the full build album:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskKG6DBm
 
Top Bottom