My journey in ukulele building started with classes from a local Kona luthier, the late, much respected, Andy Berard. The original class was to build only a single ukulele for myself, but I found I enjoyed building them so much I kept going and soon needed to start selling them or buy a bigger house. Over the years I have evolved my own techniques but the emphasis on quality and willingness to experiment is directly descended from Andy’s philosophy of building.

Basically I build every part of the instrument myself except the strings, tuners, fret wire and pegs if I use them. None of my ukuleles are the same, for instance I hand shape the necks with draw knives and spoke shaves until it feels right, if I can free hand it, that’s how I’ll do it. I prefer feel to copying.