21st c. Luthiers from Europe click for more
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Mark Michell Baritone/Tenor Guitar |
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In being on the look out for nice Ukuleles I see the work of a number of full and part time luthiers. The instruments they make look very nice and worthy of note.
He is a Englishman who started out making instrument in 1967 and relocated to Portugal sometime after 2010 when he is based now. He is most famous for his Archtop Guitars and Mandolins but has made a few Ukuleles over the years, including a Soprano for John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin fame.
He is based in Verona, Italy and founded Antica in 2013 when he graduated from the Civica Scuola di Liuteria in Milano. He specialises in Ukulele building and uses a kind of crescent moon symbol on his headstocks and often puts a name on the back of the headstock. In his main catalogue which he calls the standard ranges he makes the Antico, (very traditional), the Moderno with different bracing and beveled half cutaways, and the Libero, minimal bracing, no decoration and usually cypress and pear wood to minimise weight. He makes all of these as a Soprano, Concert or Tenor scale Ukulele. He then does what he calls the Nerd range, which include Banjoleles, where he experiments a lot more with design and materials. Under this banner he has started a range of electric plastic Ukuleles he calls UFOS, (Ukuleles From Outer Space), coming a number of colours and Soprano or Tenor scales plus the middle can light up on some of them.
Based in Stranraer, Scotland he started making instruments in the early 1980s working for luthiers Stephen Barber and Roger Rose, noted historical instruments makers. When he set up on his own he moved on to mainly Guitars and Mandolins, (though he will still make a historic instrument if asked). Ukuleles don't really feature in his catalogue, though I have seen a custom Tenor he made, however he does include a 21 inch scale 17 fret Tenor Guitar that outside of his workshop is more likely to be taken for, (and of course can be used as), a Baritone Ukulele.
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