2023
AL#150 p.44
William-T. Crocca
▪ A group of mature woodworkers set themselves the challenge of designing and presenting a two-day class in which kids and families can build a StewMac uke kit. It involved setting up twenty workstations. The class was a success, and everyone went home with a strung uke in the white.
2023
AL#149 p.42
John Calkin
▪ One operation at a time, Calkin is showing us how to make ukes in a direct and effective way. Its all done by one worker with simple tools in a small space. Here he shows us how to get the back onto the ribs quickly and accurately, with no cleanup needed.
2023
AL#149 p.56
Karl Hoyt
▪ Hoyt found a way to make a simple and reliable bolt-on neck joint that is easy to assemble, not withstanding his large fingers.
2023
AL#148 p.22
Karl Hoyt
▪ Hoyt stumbled upon a small and distressed old instrument that turned out to be made by a founding father of the authentic ukulele. Mentions Augusto Dias, Jose do Espirito Santo, Jim Tranquada.
2023
AL#148 p.54
John Calkin
▪ Get serious about building ukes in spherically-radiused workboards. These dishes are easily built from lumberyard material and use a drill press for power.
2023
AL#148 p.7
Steve Dickerson
▪ Some say we will play mandolins in heaven. Oh no? Go ahead; prove that we will not! Dickerson discusses this matter and reviews the evolution of his lutherie work.
2022
AL#147 p.8
Brian Yarosh Beau Hannam
▪ Beau Hannam came up in the productive and innovative shop of Australian luthier Gerard Gilet, then migrated to Colorado to found his own shop making guitars and ukuleles. Hes all over the Interwebs with his generous lutherie advice and his gorgeous instruments.
2022
AL#146 p.58
Beau Hannam
▪ These simple plywood squares with dowel halves glued to them can replace all the carefully shaped side cauls that thousands of luthiers have been using for decades. Sometimes one size really does fit all.
2022
AL#146 p.60
John Calkin
▪ Ukes are serious lutherie projects these days. Standards and expectations are high. The same is true for instructional videos. The reviewer is favorably impressed with the instruments, the instructors, and the presentation.
2022
AL#146 p.62
Aaron Cash
▪ Lutherie is way cool. The guitars that people are making these days are mind-blowing. Standards of craftsmanship and creativity are sky high. And all that can be daunting to a sincere wanna-be. Here’s how to talk yourself into not talking yourself out of it.
2022
AL#145 p.46
C.F. Casey
▪ We sometimes hear of a luthier who enjoys the challenge of building an instrument from lumber-yard materials rather than from picked and approved tonewoods. but Casey goes one better when he makes two successful instruments from a single softwood two-by-four. And it had a knot in it, just for extra fun.
2021
AL#143 p.56
Steve Dickerson
▪ The author hit on an unusual program for building his first uke. He bought a kit, but then set aside the good wood for a later build. He went to the lumberyard to buy cheap wood, then proceeded with reduced anxiety. Makes sense when you think about it. The humble uke came out fine.
2021
AL#142 p.66
John Calkin
▪ A positive review for a big and ambitious on-line course. Offered through Robbie O’Brien.
2020
AL#141 p.67
Cary Corson
▪
2020
AL#141 p.34
Peter Hurney
▪ Here’s a direct and accurate real-world method for calculating the exact position of a uke bridge. The jig does all the work and considers all the variables. No math required!
2020
AL#141 p.3
Steve Dickerson
▪
2020
AL#141 p.5
C.F. Casey
▪
2020
AL#139 p.63
Pat Megowan
▪ Our reviewer compares, contrasts, and waxes eloquent about The Ukulele: An Illustrated Workshop Manual by Graham McDonald and The Uke Book Illustrated by John Weissenrieder and Sarah Greenbaum. In addition to a lot of thoughful and practical analysis, he uses the metaphore of different ice-cream eating experiences to explain their complex relationship.
2020
AL#139 p.69
John Calkin
▪ Our resident straight-shooting curmudgeon says to start with super-simple kits, then move to good-quality kits, then just make ukes.
2019
AL#137 p.69
john Calkin
▪ How come my Flying Vee uke did not sound great? Probly not enough air in it.
2019
AL#138 p.38
Steve Denvir Jay Lichty Corrie Woods
▪ Jay Lichty was late to the lutherie game, having spent a lot of years in a real job building houses as a general contractor. But he’s deep into instrument making now, and finding success with an eclectic line of ukuleles and small guitars. Jay’s wife, Corrie Woods, is the marketing department, working with photography and online media to make the most of Jay’s work at the bench. Together, they are making it work. From their lecture at the 2017 GAL Convention.
2019
AL#138 p.56
Graham McDonald
▪ Rope binding uses contrasting wooden lozenges around the outer edge of a guitar, such that when they are rounded over, the binging seems to be twisted like a rope. The effect was popular in the early 20th century on ukuleles and Hawaiian guitars. The author takes us throught the process of slicing and dicing to produce the binding strips.
2018
AL#134 p.69
C.F. Casey
▪ String action height for ukes.
2018
AL#135 p.64
Steve Dickerson
▪ Improvise a simple table saw from a cordless circular saw and a piece of MDF.
2018
AL#133 p.6
Federico Sheppard
▪ There are luthiers way up in the tributaries of the Amazon River. They have wood galore, and they are teaching large numbers of local kids to make their own instruments. But they are short on good sharp tools and modern information. Our intrepid adventurer Federico Sheppard sets out to address that lack by bring in donated tools and holding master classes. He was multi-tasking; on the same trip he researched and commemorated the 1931 visit of Agustin Barrios to the remarkable Teatro Amazonas, which you might recognize from the Werner Herzog movie Fitzcaraldo. And he got in some fishing.
2017
AL#129 p.12
John Calkin
▪ Calkin says real lutherie can be fun, spontanious, quick, and cheap. He makes a uke from a lumber-yard 2×4 to drive home the point.
2016
AL#125 p.4
Jay Lichty
▪ Jay Lichty demonstrates the entire construction process of ukulele fiber sleeve soundports. From his 2014 GAL convention workshop.
2016
AL#126 p.6
Michael DaSilva
▪ DaSilva builds the uke body normally, then rips into it with a saw and a big honkin’ chisel. He fits a bent wood gore, then binds it, which is complicated by the changing angle. He demonstrated the whole process live at the 2014 GAL Convention.
2015
AL#123 p.69
C.F. Casey
▪ Quick info on suggested standard action for ukes.
2015
AL#124 p.4
Michael DaSilva Bob Gleason Jay Lichty Woodley White
▪ Four prolific uke makers take us into their shops to talk about how and why they build. From their 2014 GAL Convention panel discussion.
2015
AL#123 p.39
Craig Sullivan
▪ This popular plan gives full-scale views of each of four sizes of ukuleles. Be sure to read the article “A Modern Uke Family” in AL#123.
2015
AL#122 p.60
Bob Gleason
▪ Gleason is a subjective builder, everything is tactile, and he gets his signature sound regardless of bracing style. From his 2014 GAL convention workshop.
2015
AL#123 p.34
Craig Sullivan
▪ The organization New England Luthiers puts the challenge to its membership to each build a ukulele and share the finished instruments when complete.
2015
AL#121 p.60
John Calkin
▪ Calkin looks at several books on ukulele, guitar, and American history, and finds interesting connections.
2015
AL#121 p.65
David Freeman
▪ Sanding delicate pierced inserts on two mirror-image ukuleles using a doorstop spring and an L-shaped bracket.
2015
AL#121 p.71
Jason Villa
▪ The four traditional sizes of ukuleles and their tuning details.
2014
AL#120 p.54
Jerry Hoffmann
▪ Hoffman’s ukes look like their necks have no heels. They do, he says, but the heels are just on the inside of the body. He gives us a detailed look at building two different styles.
2015
AL#121 p.28
Woodley White
▪ At the 2014 GAL Convention, each of the four makers on our ukulele panel took the opportunity to present short workshops in which they brought the attendees up close to some of their workbench techniques. Our coverge starts here with Woodley White, who showed six different neck joints for ukes; Spanish, dovetail, spline, domino, barrel-nut, and threaded-insert. He made one of each, and explains the differences.
2013
AL#113 p.67
John Pendergrast
▪ Making ukuleles from recycled dresser drawer wood.
2012
AL#111 p.69
Phillip Stafford
▪ Approaching the steam bending of ukulele sides based on steam bending in furniture manufacturing.
2011
AL#108 p.52 ALA2 p.78
John Calkin
▪ A ukulele side bender design, simpler and cheaper to assemble than others on the market.
2011
AL#106 p.64
Paul Poliski
▪ Resetting the neck of a Gibson uke-2 with a short fingerboard extension with no frets over the body.
2011
AL#105 p.42
Thomas Johnson Ray Cowell
▪ Cowell salvages wooden interior trim from Titanic sister ship Olympic for uke making, assisted by luthier Thomas Johnson.
2010
AL#104 p.70 ALA2 p.71
C.F. Casey
▪ Little cam clamps made with aluminum rods.
2009
AL#99 p.3
Thomas Johnson
▪ Johnson’s letter introduces us to English uke maker Ray Cowell, who began his career by making instruments from wood retrieved from the ocean liner RMS Olympic, sister ship to the ill-fated Titanic.
2008
AL#96 p.50
Bob Gleason
▪ A low key (not to mention fun) description of how uke making varies from guitar making. Gleason also describes some of the varieties Hawaiian wood he likes to work with, a slick method for removing lacquer from the bridge foot print, and some of the construction tricks he has come up with. Owning a shop in Hawaii must surely take the lutherie life to another level. With 15 photos.
2007
AL#90 p.8
David Hurd
▪ Hurd believes that the fastest way to great instruments is science, and it’s hard to argue with such a rational man. His jigs measure the deflection of top plates while under tension, and once he carves the top and braces to the numbers he wants he’s done. Period. Sort of makes intuition obsolete. This could also be math heavy if he didn’t offer an Internet spread sheet to ease the pain. With 7 photos and 7 figures/charts.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
2006
AL#86 p.68 read this article
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer finds that neither of these books is that great but that Wickham’s is probably a better value than Gilbert’s.
2004
AL#77 p.67 BRB7 p.492
Carl Formoso
▪ A few useful approaches to making sides for ukuleles.
2002
AL#71 p.24 BRB6 p.424
John Calkin Duane Heilman
▪ Heilman builds quirky, imaginative ukes that he auctions on-line. He’s also made hundreds of exotic picks that he sells the same way. With 17 photos.
2001
AL#67 p.46 BRB6 p.262
John Calkin John Kitakis
▪ Kitakis and his sons make high-end ukes in Hawaii.
2001
AL#67 p.48 BRB6 p.264
John Kitakis
▪
1998
AL#56 p.32 BRB5 p.240
Peter Hurney
▪ Uke builder Hurney offers a description and plans for the Martin Tenor, as well as outlines of the Martin Soprano and Concert models. The plans are available as GAL full-scale Plan #43. With front and back photos of 3 sizes of Martin ukes.
1998
AL#56 p.34 BRB5 p.242
Peter Hurney
▪ A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.
1998
AL#56 p.44 BRB5 p.285
John Calkin David Hurd
▪ David Hurd’s classical guitar drew accolades at the ’98 convention’s listening session, but he’s better known for his ukes and his info-jammed ukulele website. He’s also had the opportunity to build instruments from species of Hawaiian wood that most of us have never even heard of. Life is different in Hawaii. Still. With 3 photos.
1998
AL#56 p.4
Tony Graziano
▪ Graziano sends in a photo of a double-neck ukulele made in his shop.
1997
AL#51 p.49 BRB5 p.472
John Calkin
▪ The reviewer enjoyed his time spent with this book, but decides its appeal will be to those who are already ukulele enthusiasts. If you aren’t one, it probably won’t make you one.
1990
AL#24 p.38 BRB2 p.460
Bob Gleason
▪ A Hawaiian guitar maker passes on some of his tricks for the successful use of an indigenous wood. With 4 photos of his sidebending procedure.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1987
AL#11 p.40 BRB1 p.436 read this article
James Garber Roy Smeck
▪ This is an interview with the man who may have been the best known instrumentalist of his time, the Chet Atkins of vaudeville, if you will. The conversation is mostly about his instruments.
1986
AL#7 p.29 BRB1 p.256 ALA6 p.8
Mario Maccaferri
▪ Maccaferri speaks about his life as a musician, luthier, and inventor. Mentions the Selmer company and Django Reinhardt.
This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.
1985
AL#1 p.31
Bob Gleason
▪ Gleason admonishes luthiers to respect the ukulele as a legitimate instrument with its own challenges and rewards. Martin and Kamaka ukes are mentioned.