Ukulele Testimonials
Our ukulele classes are loads of fun and our students are often surprised by the quality of the instruments they make. Here are a couple testimonials from recent graduates.
Nick Pain
Ukulele Level One
"I just brought home the fruits of my labors from the one-week ukulele building course with Scott Hausmann at the Whetstone School in Brattleboro, Vermont.
The result of Scott’s expertise and hands-on approach to teaching was a uke which is easily a match for any other instrument in my collection. It was made as a gift for my wife but we are constantly fighting over who gets to play it…
This is not a kit-building experience - you will start with bits of wood, so expect to learn side bending, neck carving, fretting, a little inlay (for the rosette and side dots) and a host of other skills. Whether or not you are familiar with using tools, Scott provides fantastic instruction and you will leave the course with a lot more confidence and ability than you had when you started it.
The workshop is comfortable and very well equipped, so the week you spend there will be a pleasure as well as a learning experience. There were three of us on the course, and such was the standard of teaching that all of us left with great sounding ukes, which none of us really believed we were capable of building at the start of the course. Scott uses high quality woods - Honduran and African mahogany, rosewood, and Sitka spruce. The design is elegant and something you will enjoy showing off. The instrument boasts an innovative top bracing pattern and a radiused back, not features you will find on any budget ukulele.
I would not hesitate to recommend this course as an introduction to lutherie, as well as a fun course for those already making instruments. I will be signing up for Scott’s guitar building course next and I am certain that I will once again be on a steep learning curve, albeit with a great deal more confidence having built this uke."
Nick Pain
Bennington, VT
Peter Ling
Ukulele Level One
"As someone with limited woodworking experience, it was quite intimidating to be presented with a pile of neatly laid out mahogany and Sitka spruce on our first day of class. How on earth was I ever going to turn this into a soprano ukulele that represented anything like the one Scott had showed us?
From the get go however, it was clear that Scott is both a master luthier and an inspirational teacher. He had thought through each step of the process with military precision, and had created numerous jigs, templates and cauls to help simplify the various tasks. With patience, watchfulness and the wisdom to step in and take charge when things were getting off kilter, Scott kept us on schedule and helped us avoid any irreversible mistakes.
Although Scott warned us from the beginning to expect a good but not perfect instrument, I was delighted that the end result was a very credible and playable instrument. I would wholeheartedly recommend the Whetstone School of Lutherie to anyone looking to augment their interest in acoustic instrument building."
Peter Ling,
Croton, NY