Category: ukulele luthier

This is a Sofla soprano by Shun Yamazaki. Brazilian Rosewood headstock, fretboard, bridge and pickguard. Body binding is Indian Rosewood. Nut saddle cowbone. Huron pine top, cuban mahogany back, mahogany neck. This is without doubt one of the sweetest sopranos that I have played, a brilliant sound and superb to play as well as a great looking instrument. I played around 20 ukuleles, before settling on this one. 

Japan remains the place for the best ukuleles at all price points and especially custom builds. There are four great stores in Tokyo alone and this one was from a store outside Osaka, “The Ohana Store” no relation to the ukulele brand. Its the second soprano I have bought from these folks and its always a joy to visit.

Shun Yamazaki is a new builder to me and this is a very different instrument to anything I have played before. Clrealy he knows his woods and I love the design on this instrument. Its sonically superb and very mellow to play. I instantly took to it and I suspect it will be a great instrument for writing. I already have dates to return to Japan in 2018 and 2019 and I’m constantly amazed at the great instruments I find there. 

This is the 16th time I have visited Japan and this visit reconfirms to me just how much the Japanese love the ukulele. In the last two days I visited 3 stores in Tokyo alone which have a vastly greater range of ukes that anywhere else I have seen or heard of in the UK or Europe. The range of quality is quite staggering and today our guide my good friend Takahiro Shimo showed us many of his instruments and some stores, one of which has been around for almost 100 years. The final store on our “Shimo trip” had a museum of ukuleles including many extremely rare Martin ukuleles that I have only seen in books.

These three stores have the standard range you would expect for beginners and enthusiasts, but what is crucially different are the high-end instruments that you’d never see in the UK at all. It’s an absolute joy to be able to play these in the same acoustic space and shows just how much the Japanese regard the ukulele as a musical instrument rather than something to bang out a few chords! (Not that playing a few verses of Wagon Wheel is a crime) I am also struck from talking to be people about the OUS platform that there is more of a seriousness and enthusiasm for music rather than the uke being a focus for community get togethers. Such strum alongs are of course fine and fun, but there seems here to be a greater musical appreciation and that’s reflected in what’s on offer in the marketplace.  I think many players and builders would love to visit here and see what’s on offer

I just returned from Vienna after interviewing Gregor Nowak about his work

We talked extensively about what makes for a great instrument and of course Gregor builds a range of instruments, not just ukuleles. I’m a massive fan of ukuleles, but in my view the ukulele is not some kind of mystical instrument, its simply a great tool which if used well can create wonderful music. During out morning conversation I tried out a ukulele tenor, a guitaralele and a mandola. I am pleased to report that all of these were exceptional.

Folks who know me, appreciate that I have a great love of well made instruments. To date I have interviewed many great builders from all over the world including Takahiro Shimo, Bill Collins, Pete Howlett, Zachary Taylor, Rob Collings to name a few. All these individuals have a definite point of view and an absolute focus on creating the best possible playing instrument. The approaches may vary from one builder to another, but there also some noticable similarities.

One of these similarities is the reassuring mahogany neck which in my hans always feels and sounds great, regardless of whether this is a ukulele, guitar or mandolin. Gregor is clearly a designer and builder with excellent attention to detail and like all great builders one with terrific curiosity about what is possible beyond the stereotypical build. 

I always know when I have found a really excellent instrument, when I pick it up and after thirty minutes I’m still playing it. This was the case in Japan when I came across Shimo’s work and has been the same for the other builders I mentioned. On this visit I was really taken by Gregor’s guitaralele which is different to anything else I either own or have played. Every instrument sparks a particular kind of music and melodic inspiration and this is no exception. For some reason this instrument inspires a Mali style blues. Its got a really wide neck with two wound and four unwound strings. This one was a prototype and I am pleased to say has now joined the ever growing “Cody family” I’ll certainly be recording with it.

Take a look at his site here http://www.grenosi.com/