21st c. luthiers from Mainland USA click for more
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.
David (DS) Gill
He was a retired mechanical engineer turned luthier from Indiana. He was building Ukuleles since a least 2007 and mainly built Concert Ukuleles though he has made some Sopranos and at least one Tenor. He was also fond of Pineapples and Paddles as a Ukulele design. One common factor on all of his Ukuleles was the diamond shaped fret markers. He put DS Gill with a G shaped volcano as a headstock logo on a lot of his work and "DS Gill Handmade Ukuleles" on the sound hole label (though I don't know if Handmade was supposed to be a statement or a brand name?) On his old website it says he use to build Ukuleles for others to brand in the past too and I have read it was for Bushman under the Bluebird branding) He past away in January 2015
He is the nephew of David Gill, and a cabinet maker by trade from Greenwood, Indiana who started making Ukuleles full time in 2013. So far he only makes a bell, or pear as he calls it, shaped Tenor but the are plans for a concert scale one and possibly some other shapes. He also puts "Handmade Ukuleles" on his soundhole label and I don't know if this is suppose to be branding or not either? He sometimes puts a G on the headstock but not always
Based in Emmaus, Pennsylvania and starting his own firm in 1997 having studied as a cabinet maker, he primarily makes Guitars but he does also make Mandolins and in 2015 he added a Soprano Ukulele he calls the "Diamondhead" to his catalogue
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