GString Ukulele Company 20th Anniversary!
It has been quite a journey since starting GString Ukulele Co. way back in 1997. From my grandparent’s garage (1993-1997), to my first commercial shop in Halawa Valley (1997-2009), then on to Hilo (2009-2014), and finally Las Vegas, Nevada (2014-???), GString Ukulele celebrates 20 years of building ukulele!
So why move to one of the hottest, driest states in the US? Believe it or not, with the right planning and shop setup, environmental control is really not that hard. Implementing evaporative cooling units provides adequate moisture to maintain 40-55% humidity in the shop while keeping temps at 80-90 degrees even when it’s 115 outside. Evap coolers also save a ton on electricity. Las Vegas can get below freezing at night, usually during January/February. For this reason, I suspend building and focus on milling and other prep work for the upcoming year.
Since the close of the Halawa shop in 2009, all ukulele are built 100% by me. Naturally this changes my business model focusing more on quality vs. quantity. I have limited dealerships to select retailers in Hawaii and Japan (see list on dealers page). I will also be offering instruments for online sales as well, just click on the What’s Available page to see what I have on hand.
To my past customers, I want to convey my deepest gratitude for your support of GString Ukulele Co. Without you, my company would not exist. For my future customers, welcome to GString! If you have any questions or comments, please click on the contact page.
Thank you, Derek Shimizu
