UkeTalk Interview with
John Mayes --
Mayes Ukuleles
September 2005

Thanks to John Mayes for this interview! Visit Mayes Ukuleles on the web!

Q: Your luthier career started in guitars, so how did you become interested in building ukuleles?

John Mayes: I’ve always been interested in building all sorts of instruments, but I got started out building ukuleles by getting an order for one! I had a fellow approach me and ask if I could build one. After some research I told him I could and hence my journey began. I did, however, build a few “test” ukes before starting on the commission and learned a lot from them. On the first few, the soundboards were left a little thick as I was coming from a guitar background, but I quickly learned that ukes are to be built very light.

Q: Do you think of the ukulele as a "little guitar" when building, or is it a new set of rules?

JM: Well, there are some things that transition directly over from the guitar, but for the most part I think of a ukulele as a completely new set of rules. The ideas are the same on some things, but the dimensions, and placement of braces are much different than a steel string guitar. The uke is very similar build wise to a classical guitar, but even within that there are a lot of variations so it is best to think of a guitar as a guitar and a uke as a uke.

Q: Does highly figured wood such as curly koa or curly mahogany have any sound benefits in building ukuleles?

JM: While curly koa, and other highly figured woods are beautiful to behold I see no correlation between looks and tone. Actually, lots of people think just the opposite. With really curly pieces the wood is actually weaker in longitudinal stiffness than it’s unfigured, quartersawn counterpart. So I think you actually have to look harder and be pickier when dealing with really curly wood.

Q: Is the figured wood any easier or more difficult when bending sides?

JM: For sure highly figured wood is much more difficult to bend. Because the curliness comes from the grain growing in a wavy pattern, the endgrain goes in and out of the face of the wood and when bending, the endgrain is very susceptible to cracking.

Q: What's the ratio of your output of ukuleles versus guitar?

JM: Well, I actually build about 25 guitars a year plus a few extra electric guitars, and I build roughly 12-20 ukuleles a year. So they are not too far off. I am, however, in the process of starting up a small production shop building Mayes ukes. They will be distributed throughout the world and players will get to see them in shops all across the U.S. as well. The production is going to be very limited as it will just be a couple guys building them, but I want to make sure they are as hand built as possible and I’ll still voice all the tops and backs that are used. So be sure to tell your local shop to check them out and maybe you’ll get to see some Mayes ukes in your neck of the woods soon!

Q: Is there a significant difference in the time it takes to build a high-quality ukulele as opposed to a guitar?

JM: There is indeed. It takes me about 5-7 days of 12 hour days to do the woodworking on a guitar and then about 1 month in finish. A uke can be built in 2 days for the woodworking if I really get after it, but normally a guitar will take me a couple weeks to build and I spend almost a week on a uke.

Q: Is there an ideal model that you began your ukulele design on?

JM: The first few ukes I built were Tenor ukes built from a tracing of a vintage Gibson. I liked the slightly larger size but still kept that uke sound.

Q: Are you a one-man shop, or do you have apprentices?

JM: It’s just me in the shop, but I have had, from time to time, some helpers that would do things that were really easy to do plus the grunt work. However I’m extremely anal when it comes to my instruments and I have a hard time letting go of the control over certain procedures that affect the tone or looks (ok that is about everything!) so I work best by myself.

Q: Do you build one instrument at a time, or do you pre-produce bridges, necks, etc?

JM: I have, in the past, work in small batches, but recently I’ve gone back to one at a time. Both have advantages, but I feel like I can concentrate more on the instrument at hand if I build on at a time.

Q: When a ukulele neck joins the body at the 14th fret (as opposed to the 12th fret), the bridge must be placed in a different location than with a 12 fret neck. How do you feel that affects the sound?

JM: There is a difference in the sound between a 12-fret and 14-fret instrument. Not just ukuleles, but guitars as well. On a 12-fret instrument, the bridge is lower on the bouts and tends to be more in the center of the lower bout, and therefore is a little more flexible, which translates into a more open, warm sound. On the flipside a 14-fretter will normally project a little better. Of course there are so many variables in instrument building that great results can be achieved either way.

Q: Does the size or material of the bridge make a difference in the sound of the instrument?

JM: I think so. As a general rule the larger the bridge the more tone it will kill. Also a denser bridge like ebony will accentuate the high end a bit more than a less dense wood like Indian rosewood, which tends to be a bit more transparent.

Q: I think your building instructional DVD series is great! Is that you playing and singing in the intro and outro of the "tap-tuning" DVD?

JM: Heavens no. Believe me I’ve done the world a favor by not singing. I can play all right, but singing is one gift I was not blessed with. The singing and playing is from a CD that I’m putting out that features my guitars and ukuleles from various Mayes Guitars/ukuleles artists.

Q: Are you gigging at all?

JM: I’ve played guitar in quite a few bands through the years, but I currently don’t even own a guitar! It’s the proverbial plumber with leaky faucets, but every time I build one for myself I always end up selling it because I need the money.

Q: Speaking of tap-tuning, that's a subject you don't see or hear a lot about. Is it one of those trade secrets that just doesn't get talked about, or do you think a lot of luthiers don't pay attention to it?

JM: Well, the reason why it probably does not get a lot of talk is because no one knows for sure what causes what. We have really figured out a lot, but there is, and always will be, so much more room for improvement. I think every luthier worth his/her weight pays attention to it in some form or fashion. Some guys use signal generators and produce glitter patterns, some tap tune, some go by deflection, but we all do everything we can to build the best instrument we can possibly build. Of course, some are better than others, but I think that just comes from experience.

Q: How long did you apprentice with Dana Bourgeois, and how did you like living in Maine?

JM: Well I was not an “apprentice”, I was just an employee in the shop he was in charge of. There were about 7 of us under his direction so I did get to glean a lot of very helpful insights from him, but it was not a one on one apprentice kind of situation. When you get a chance to work with someone of his stature and experience you absorb any tiny bit of information he puts out there. I learned a tone from him (in life as much as in guitars) and the other guys in the shop too, as they are all very skilled.

As for Maine, I really loved it up there. Maine is an amazing state. It is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever lived. The winters were beautiful and cold, and the summers are mild and crisp.

Q: What inspired you to create the "UkeTalk" website?

JM: UkeTalk was actually not my doing per se. I have a friend that used to help me out some in the shop and he wanted the website just as a place to get together with some folks and chat about ukes. He had some personal issues and was not able to continue running the site so I took it over.

Q: Are you your own webmaster?

JM: Yes and no. It really depends on which site your asking about. I have like 4-5 sites, and some of them I have done (like www.mayesguitars.com) and some of them I did not do (like www.mayesukuleles.com). I have a good friend in South Africa who does a lot of freelance design, and he helps me out with that stuff a lot.

Q: What made you decide to produce a series of how-to-build videos?

JM: Well, when I was first starting building guitars, I just had one book to use as guidance, and while it is a great book there is just something about seeing something done rather than reading that really helps in the process. Plus there are some videos out there that are on guitar building, but they skim the surface of many topics that really need in-depth instruction. So I decided to take each process step by step and produce a bunch of videos that explain each step in great detail. So far, they have been very well received. I'm just now finishing a DVD on building a cigar box ukulele that should be a lot of fun for people to build.

Q: John, you're a pretty busy guy! You build, you play, you manage several websites, you produce videos, you're active in many online forums; how do you find time for everything?

JM: I don’t! It is hard to find time for everything, and in reality something usually suffers. I usually let the playing suffer. I don’t get to play guitar (well, I don’t have one so that helps that along) or uke very much, or as much as I would like to. But I love chatting with folks all over the world about instruments, or just anything in general.