17 - Ukulele Builders, Luthiers and Manufactures: D

DaSilva Ukulele Co. in Berkeley, California is the workshop of Michael DaSilva where he makes high-quality , handcrafted ukuleles. You will also find the full-line of RISA Solid and Electric instruments and inexpensive beginner ukes. The shop is also host to house concerts, ukulele lessons and workshops, the occasional jam session and meetings of the Berkeley Ukulele Club. Check the Calendar for events.

Daisy Rock Guitars mission is to provide females of all ages with whatever it takes to learn to play guitar or bass.

Having a life long love of music and instruments and over 50 yrs of wood working experience I have moved my focus into Ukulele construction. After retiring from the building trades and being involved with the Lansing Area Ukulele Group (LAUGH) I was inspired to begin building ukuleles.

Hello, I’m Phil Davidson, I have been handcrafting fine instruments for over twenty five years, beginning with banjos and diversifying to mandolins and guitars. Difficulties in sourcing quality hardware has led me to produce my own design mandolin and guitar tailpieces, and scalloped and top-tension banjo hoops, made and nickel plated in house. Learning the trade repairing and restoring damaged and well-worn instruments, I discovered very early on that “Quality is never an accident” (John Ruskin). My dedication is to produce instruments of superior quality while maintaining realistic price levels.

Luthier "James R. DeCava" was born and raised in Stratford, Connecticut. As a young teenager, he began playing guitar and banjo and soon realized that if something needed repair on his instruments, he had to do it himself as there were few repair people around at that time. He began meeting others with similar interests and came into contact with the well known Liberty Banjo Co. He worked for them for many years making banjos, doing repairs, and cutting-inlaying mother of pearl with intricate designs. Over the years, he has built hundreds of guitars, banjos, mandolins, and one-of-a-kind instruments. He has also become well known for building multi-string instruments.

** DeVine Guitars & Ukuleles** have become known as some of the best handmade ukuleles in the world. From the beautiful curly koa they are made of, to the extremely smooth playability, DeVine ukuleles are truly musical works of art.

DeVine Guitars & Ukuleles has called Hawaii home since 1997. We draw a lot of inspiration from our home in the islands. The culture and building materials here in Hawaii are very conducive to instrument building and have been the foundation of DeVine Guitars & Ukuleles.

by Jeff & Margaret Burger in Bemidji, Minnesota, USA

A little about me: Primarily a self taught guitarist, pursuing the ukulele for approximately six years, I have spent the last couple of years concentrating on the ukulele. Not being able to find tablature for the ukulele in the same quality and format as was (and still is) available for the guitar is the motivation behind this site. Since books containing ukulele tab were not available, I decided I would try to transcribe the songs myself and make them available for others to learn from as well.

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.

Don's first efforts involved the steel from the door of an old Volvo car but I soon realised it was way too heavy. Don would lay awake at night thinking of ways to overcome difficulties and eventually got one guitar made well enough to string it up.

Doug made his first guitar in 1970, when dissatisfaction with various commercial guitars prompted a colleague to suggest he make one. His association with making and repairing instruments has been continuous since then.

James Drury studied at Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery. He has been building & restoring guitars & ukuleles, as well as furniture for over twelve years.

DS Gill ukuleles are hand crafted one at a time by David Gill.

David Gill is a retired mechanical engineer turned luthier. He first started building dulcimers, and a couple mandolins, before beginning to build custom ukuleles full time for a nationally known instrument company. After a couple years, he went out on his own to build soprano and concert sized ukuleles. Currently, he predominately builds more concerts than anything else.

Les guitares que vous allez découvrir dans ces pages sont le résultat d’une recherche permanente de la meilleure qualité. Les bois utilisés comme l’épicéa, le cèdre, l’érable, le palissandre, le koa, etc…, font l’objet d’une sélection très rigoureuse et apportent leurs particularités tant esthétiques que sonores.

Duke of Uke is London’s one and only Ukulele and Banjo Emporium. We stock a wide range of new and vintage ukuleles in all shapes and sizes. If you’re new to the ukulele and you’re not sure what you should be looking for in your first uke, then please give us a call and one of our team will be more than happy to find an instrument that suits your needs.

All of DJ Morgan Ukuleles are completely handmade, all wood components are individually crafted by David Morgan, including the kerfed linings. The only finished components Ihe buy are the strings, fret wire and the tuners.

After thirty-five years as a cabinet maker and joiner of which the last sixteen were as a business owner, I decided in 2013 to give it all up and spend the rest of my working life building ukuleles.

John D’Angelico was born in Little Italy, on Manhattan's Lower East Side. At only 9 years old, he became an apprentice to his grand uncle Signor Ciani, an expert violin and mandolin maker. This apprenticeship would become the basis for construction principles he later incorporated into his world-renowned archtop guitars.