Learning Ukulele with Curt

Luthiers & Builders: Oregon, USA

Badley Made Ukes

BadleyMadeUkes

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Listing Info

from the Badley Made Ukes web site

Badley Made Ukes are meant to be played and enjoyed. We love to see these beautiful instruments and their music makers out and about. Please send us pictures of you and your uke and any special story you want to share.

Jack Badley, is a craftsman and musician, who has had an interest making musical instruments since his high school days. The path that lead Jack to Badley Made Ukes has had many turns, from building pianos, cabinets and in more recent years, guitars. Building guitars rekindled his love for music, inspiring him to join a band, and when a fellow band member brought home a ukulele from a trip to Hawaii in July 2011 to incorporate into their music, little did he know that Badley Made Ukes would soon follow.

During one evening practice, a fellow band member turned to Jack and said "you need to make an electric ukuele." That was all it took to start the wheels turning, and with the input, design and the luxury of a beautiful wood working shop of another friend, the first Badley Made Uke was created.

These are not your traditional ukuleles. Each ukulele is a hand-crafted one of a kind instrument made from upcycled materials.

More information available on the Badley Made Ukes's web site.

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Beansprout Musical Instruments

BeanSprout

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Listing Info

from the Beansprout Musical Instruments web site

Aaron will be Beansprout Musical Instruments in early 2018.

If you are looking for a ukulele or banjo ukulele built by Aaron Keim, go to www.myamoe.com

Aaron will be Beansprout Musical Instruments in early 2018.

If you are looking for a ukulele or banjo ukulele built by Aaron Keim, go to www.myamoe.com

More information available on the Beansprout Musical Instruments's web site.

Even more information, discussion and comments on this listing below.

Kerry Char Luthieries

CharKerry-Luthiers

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Listing Info

from the Kerry Char Luthieries web site

All Kerry Char guitars feature solid wood construction from some of the finest woods the world has to offer: rosewoods from Brazil and India, Koa from the Hawaiian Islands, mahogany from Africa and Honduras, various spruces: European, Sitka, Engelman, and Western Red Cedar. This is only a partial list of the tone woods available. Given the new wave of alternative tone woods, (curly walnut [Claro], myrtlewood and African black wood, to name a few,) players have an even greater choice in tone woods than ever before.

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Covered Bridge Ukuleles

CoveredBridgeUkuleles

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Listing Info

from the Covered Bridge Ukuleles web site

Ukuleles handcrafted one at a time in Oregon by Perry and Terry Bullinger,.

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Donaldson Ukuleles

DonaldsonUkuleles

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Listing Info

from the Donaldson Ukuleles web site

Luthier Brad Donaldson of Cannon Beach, Oregon. I have been a part time luthier for 28 years. As a Seattle native, my real job was running the ambient air monitoring network for Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. I retired from the agency in 2005, moved to Cannon Beach and have been free to pursue my passion of building instruments since. I started out making ukes at first, but as there was not much interest in them, switched to making mandolins and guitars. I am very glad that the ukulele has become popular again, it was the first instrument I learned to play and is the most fun for me to build.

Even more information, discussion and comments on this listing below.

JBH Guitars

JBHGuitars

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Listing Info

from the JBH Guitars web site

My approach involves a strong focus on hand tool use. With hand tools the feel is immediate, giving me a direct connection with the raw materials. By using planes, chisels, scrapers, and files for crucial shaping and joining I am able to closely monitor the musicality of the result. My design work is highly individualistic and creative.

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Koll Guitar Company

KollGuitarCompany

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Listing Info

from the Koll Guitar Company web site

Saul Koll grew up in southern California just north of Los Angeles in a town called Newhall. He always had an interest in how things were made and what made things work. While other kids were playing sports, Saul was in the garage taking expensive toys apart and gluing the components into new weird new contraptions. At 12 he started to play the guitar and his compulsive tendencies were then directed to learning the instrument. It was about this time that he found a book on guitar making at the library in Redondo Beach. It was Classic Guitar Construction by Irving Sloan. One of the earliest writings on the subject and as it turns out eventually very influential.(Notice how even at the beach, Saul was at the library!) Saul found the book intriguing but beyond his skills at age 12. He continued his guitar studies and school and all the usual teenage stuff.

#####A Koll Ukulele##### <div class="img-center"><img class="bmm" src="//curtsheller.com/csp/app/assets/images/gtr_images/Koll_Uke.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="116" /></div> Saul studied art at San Diego State University and got his Bachelors degree there. He continued his “contraption” making but it was under the guise of sculpture. It was there at the library where Saul found Sloan’s book again. Meanwhile he continued to practice the guitar. Saul played in the highschool jazz ensemble as well as a few rock bands. In 1984 he coformed The Charms, a highly regarded pop rock outfit. Very successful artistically, a profound failure commercially. Nevertheless the band recorded several full -length records, many singles and was featured on a few compilations. The Charms toured a bit as well. The Charms had their last shows in 1995, the same year as the birth of Saul’s first child.

More information available on the Koll Guitar Company's web site.

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Mark Roberts Guitars & Ukuleles

MarkRobertsGuitarsUkuleles

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Listing Info

from the Mark Roberts Guitars & Ukuleles web site

Mark Roberts has maintained a lifelong passion about creativity and understanding the nature, patterns, and systems of the world around us. An extensive background in all disciplines of fine art, furniture design, and product design have uniquely crafted his approach to design and craft fine instruments.

I am honored that GUITAR BENCH Magazine, is currently featuring an article of my work in its latest issue number 7. GUITAR BENCH is a wonderful premeire online magazine for collectors, players, and luthiers. I would highly recommend a subscrition to this fine publication. www.guitarbench.com

More information available on the Mark Roberts Guitars & Ukuleles's web site.

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Ono Ukulele

OnoUkulele

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Listing Info

from the Ono Ukulele web site

Ono Ukuleles are handmade in my workshop in Ashland, Oregon. Although I am a "hobby builder," I take my craft very seriously. I probably have as many tools, jigs, forms and other equipment as many full-time luthiers. You can view a slideshow tour of my building process and workshop here. Being retired, I have the luxury of building at my own pace. This allows me to take all the time I need to achieve the stringent quality level that gives me great satisfaction.

Ihave a "Hawaii connection" that is central to my interest in the ukulele. My great-great-great grandparents were haole seafarers who married in and settled in Honolulu in 1834. My mother was a mainland girl but she was close to her Hawaiian roots, her grandfather having been a subject of the Kingdom of Hawaii who went to Seattle in the late 1800s and served there as Consul for the Kingdom. When I was a child we regularly listened to "Hawaii Calls" and she occasionally got out her 78 records of Hawaiian music and practiced the hula in full regalia. I still have her ukulele, an undistinguished "Royal Hawaiian," as well as my grandmother's wonderful Manuel Nunes made in 1907. I had my own Favilla as a child in California but gave up the ukulele about the time I went to high school and didn't get back to it for about forty-five years.

in 2010, i decided that I needed some music in my life. Naturally, I picked up the ukulele again. The next year I visited a luthier with the intention of buying a custom instrument. He generously spent quite a bit of time showing me his shop and methods. I was irresistibly drawn to the building process and set out to build one on my own. Before hearing the siren of ukulele lutherie, I had built sailboats and had also been a serious hobbyist machinist. This background has served me well. In fact, sailboats and ukuleles have two things in common: they both have to function well and nobody wants an ugly one.

More information available on the Ono Ukulele's web site.

Even more information, discussion and comments on this listing below.

Outdoor Ukulele

OutdoorUkulele

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Listing Info

from the Outdoor Ukulele web site

The "Outdoor Ukulele" is injection molded from glass fiber filled polycarbonate. This high-performance composite plastic creates a very strong structure with exceptional tonal quality. Outdoor Ukulele™ is a father and daughter manufacturer of composite polycarbonate instruments. Scott does the design, development, and assembly. Grace does the marketing, photography, and customer relations.

Outdoor Ukulele™ is a father and daughter manufacturer of composite polycarbonate instruments. Scott does the design, development, and assembly. Grace does the marketing, photography, and customer relations.

Recently, some overseas manufacturers began using the Outdoor Ukulele™ name on their plastic ukuleles. Some have even advertised using "Composite Polycarbonate" construction. These instruments are actually made from ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), and they will not have the resonance or durability of the Outdoor Ukulele™.

American manufacturing is very important to us. Our Composite Polycarbonate parts are injection molded on 350 ton all-electric machines in Northern Idaho. Assembly is done in Bend, Oregon using impact resistant cyanoacrylate adhesives.

More information available on the Outdoor Ukulele's web site.

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Spruce House Ukuleles

SpruceHouse

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Listing Info

from the Spruce House Ukuleles web site

When I decided to begin making ukuleles for sale, I promised myself that I would always remember a lesson that I learned from my father: Simplicity is Elegance. The most successful designs are those that make the most of the least. Why increase the weight of an instrument and dampen its ability to resonate naturally in the name of making it...fancier? That&rsquo;s why I make my finishes thin and keep my decoration to a minimum. Like the vintage Martin and Kamaka instruments that I admire so much, SpruceHouse Ukuleles are very light and a little plain. But there is nothing plain about the sound.

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Les Stansell Guitars and Ukuleles

StansellGuitarsUkuleles

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Listing Info

from the Les Stansell Guitars and Ukuleles web site

Les Stansell combines a traditional Spanish Classic design with Port Orford Cedar (Oregon Lawson Cypress). Living on the South Oregon Coast has allowed Stansell to incorporate the very best this rare wood has to offer in a quest to emulate the Spanish Masters.

Stansell Guitars was profiled in the April 2011 edition of Acoustic Guitar Magazine. His short documentary “A Guitar Makers Path” was selected and screened at the 2011 Ashland Independent Film Festival and the 2012 Port Townsend Film Festival. His Stansell Guitars YouTube channel also features a series of “time lapse” flamenco guitar building videos. Les studied under Anthony Huvard at the Northwest School of Instrument Design in, Seattle, 1978-79, and again with Huvard in Skykomish, Washington, 1981. A 1999 interview with Les is featured on Anthony’s Famous Guitarmaker’s Internet Site. In 1982, Les and his wife Mary, founded the “Pistol River Concert Association.” A small venue intimate concert series that has continued to this day.

I strive to build instruments which are light and powerful, to allow the natural character of the woods and the players to realize their full potential. I am currently offering Flamenco Guitars and Flamenco Inspired Ukuleles

More information available on the Les Stansell Guitars and Ukuleles's web site.

Even more information, discussion and comments on this listing below.

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Just browsing over both books, they look fantastic! I'm a guitarist and uke player for over 25 years and was thinking about writing a ukulele book but you've already written what I think are the best, most comprehensive and thorough books I've ever seen for the instrument. I just might end up buying every book you've written and I'll be giving my highest recommendation for your books to my friends and students. Thank you so much for taking the time to write such great books!Peter Rhee

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Original Curtie Animation from 1987 for my first web site on a Macintosh II, 37 years ago. Man, does time fly.

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LearningUkulele.com has one of the largest collections of lessons, songs, and TABS, Luthiers, ukulele builders, ukulele festival and club information, and, ukulele links on the web. Curt has been on the ®Internet since the early 1990's and This site just never stops growing!!!

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