The rising cost of "hand"made ukes

Hey, I think you've used that line before. Give us something fresh! :D

Hahahahahahaha! Guilty as charged!! Allright, the next time one of these threads starts getting a little tense, I'll be debuting a brand new icebreaker, I promise!
(And I'm sure you can hardly wait, huh?) :rolleyes:
 
It seems to me that the cost of good quality luthier made ukes is getting a bit astronomical. I saw today a post for a "hand"made uke which substantial help from machinery to take the strain, listed for £4000! And an accompanying diatribe as to why this was a "fair" price.

I understand that the cost of living, materials etc is rising but this seems a bit extreme. And you cannot comment or make any suggestion that this is the case without being barred from this particular sellers page.

What is a person to do if they want something locally made that won't break the bank. No wonder people source things from abroad!

Seems such a shame and not completely justified to squeeze people for every dime they're worth.


Oh no! Mean mister luthier squeezing all the proles for all their dimes!! Give me a break!!!

Perhaps high-end ukulele is just not for you, sir! An easily serviceable ukulele can be had for within $300 and there is plenty of information on this site to lead you there. The boutique items you have been browsing are for those with clams to burn and lust to satisfy.

I, for one, am very glad that talented folks are producing such fine instruments. I also believe that, to the right buyer, they are absolutely worth the price. And you can bet someone is buying at that price or he wouldn't be selling it there.

Have you considered taking up lutherie? Why not give it a go and see what kind of profit margin you can muster! Maybe you could even give them out to all the kids like candy! :rofl:
 
Since pretty much all ukuleles are hand made, a luthier should not need to be much more expensive than one build by a company in a country with the same labour cost.
Of course a bit more expensive. There is a smaller turn around to pay for investments in machinery, design etc, and the skilled luthier must do everything without leaving simpler tasks to assistents (if there are simple tasks, I wouldnt know).

There are a few cases of relatively cheap ukes build in the US or the EU. Like Magic Fluke, Bruko etc, where 300-400$ will get you far.
But the high end brands build by companies like the K brands etc, cost like 1000-2000 $ for the standard models.
So if the most affordable luthiers can build a customised uke for a similar price, that should be expected. You still need to build quite a few ukuleles a month to make a living.
When some ukes costs 3000-5000$ or more, regardless of whether they are from a K brand or a luthier, it surdenly is extravagant and not for everyone. And as for other luxury items, it can be partly due to a lot of excessive craftmanship and materials used to make an ukulele that is prertier than what most people need, partly the prestige of the brand, or just collectibility.

Like with expensive watches, cars and handbags etc., it can always be hard to comprehend that some are willing to spend that much.
But the huge pricetag is not necessary for a hand build instrument build in a country near you.
 
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Oh no! Mean mister luthier squeezing all the proles for all their dimes!! Give me a break!!!

:agree:

From what I've seen your ukuleles are pretty reasonably priced. As a luthier how would you defend the £4,000 ukulele which, extra bling aside is little different to a £1,000 or £2,000 ukulele?
 
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Years of building skill, experience and love of the craft are put into these pieces.
IMO some of these high priced ukeleles are more than instruments, they are works of art.
No need to justify anything, for every piece of art the price is what people are willing to pay for it, which is in many case way more than the labour and material costs.
 
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DPO said:-

"[UkingViking]Since pretty much all ukuleles are hand made.

LOL You can't be serious?"

As I said earlier in this thread, "hand made" is not a useful term. In the widest sense, all wooden ukuleles are hand made. Call it hand assembled, if you prefer, but we are just arguing about the meaning of words.

A luthier from the eighteenth century would not consider any of today's top range ukuleles as properly "hand made" - unless there are still people out there making ukuleles from the raw timber using non powered tools.

John Colter
 
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DPO said:-

"[UkingViking]Since pretty much all ukuleles are hand made.

LOL You can't be serious?"

As I said earlier in this thread, "hand made" is not a useful term. In the widest sense, all wooden ukuleles are hand made. Call it hand assembled, if you prefer, but we are just arguing about the meaning of words.

A luthier from the eighteenth century would not consider any of today's top range ukuleles as properly "hand made" - unless there are still people out there making ukuleles from the raw timber using non powered tools.

John Colter

I prefer the term "Hand Crafted"

Powered tools are capable of doing exactly nothing without my hands.

As I use no CNC or computer assisted tools in my builds they are as I stated above "Hand Crafted"
 
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Yes, DPO, 'hand crafted' makes an important distinction and is more precise. I was not suggesting that use of power tools and other labour saving devices and techniques is cheating. I'm all for it. I'll bet Antonio Stradivari would have given his right arm for a band saw.:D

John Colter
 
Yes, DPO, 'hand crafted' makes an important distinction and is more precise. I was not suggesting that use of power tools and other labour saving devices and techniques is cheating. I'm all for it. I'll bet Antonio Stradivari would have given his right arm for a band saw.:D

John Colter

The great race car driver Stirling Moss recently turned 90 (No, he's not still racing). I read an article he wrote years ago about woodworking. He was very talented, and he said the main advantage of power tools was speed. He liked doing his woodworking manually, but he didn't hesitate to use power tools from time to time.
 
FWIW (not much) I once kept a log of the time I took to make a soprano ukulele entirely by hand. Well, not entirely. I started with roughly thicknessed wood for the body, and got it down to size by hand sanding. The only power tool I used was a pillar drill for the tuner peg holes. It took me roughly fifty man hours.

It makes absolutely no sense to do this, if you have access to a workshop.

John Colter
 
Alternative title to this thread: the expanding loss of the understanding of value in a mass-produced, instant gratification, disposable human world...


"the expanding loss of the understanding of value in a mass-produced, instant gratification, disposable human world"

Oooh! You took the words right out of mouth. :D

I like my gratification to be as instant as possible because I don't know how much longer I'll be around to be gratified.
 
Some of these like the Southern Cross ones, are works of art. If I could afford one of any of these, I'd buy them. You don't find that in mass produced ukes. I'm not saying that some of the mass produced aren't nice, but are they art? All in the eye of the beholder

People can justify the price if they can get the money. If they can't, they'll drop the price.
 
IMO some of these high priced ukeleles are more than instruments, they are works of art.

^ This is really what drives the high end market. What I find particularly amusing are luthier websites that are littered with dramatic pictures of their instruments. The reflection off the gloss finishes at just the right angles. I’m trusting that they sound and play equally well, and some sites have sound samples, but that doesn’t seem to be the selling point.

It seems that being able to open your case and have your custom ukulele light up the room is a requirement. This isn’t necessarily bad, I have one tricked out ukulele with inlays, bevels, multi-wood purfling; and all that costs money. Oh... and it sounds good too.

But it seems rare to find a high end luthier that builds an understated ukulele that simply sounds and plays great. Anybody want a custom ukulele with a satin finish? It might reflect the heritage of the instrument, unfortunately, that isn’t the market today.

John
 
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I prefer the term "Hand Crafted"

Powered tools are capable of doing exactly nothing without my hands.

As I use no CNC or computer assisted tools in my builds they are as I stated above "Hand Crafted"

There was a huge discussion on this on the AGF. The term "hand crafted" should be understood as a marketing term, that is often applied by Chinese manufacturers where unskilled labour quickly assembles instruments using very repetitive steps that could also be performed by robots at higher cost, but also likely lower quality deviations. This is not comparable at all to luthier made instruments where tonewoods are specifically selected and individual instruments are built with much care to detail.
 
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