N... Luthiers (21st C.)

Yaron Naor comes from Bat Hefer, Israel and makes all sorts of folk instruments and Guitars, but specialises in Ouds. He studied at the Faculty of Industrial Design, Tel-Aviv University before starting his firm the Unique Musical Instruments Building and Repair Co. His main job is graphic design so the luthiery must only be part time.

From Darwin, Australia, he trained as cabinetmaker and learned luthiery from on line lessons, then went on to make some instruction videos. I believe he started making Ukuleles in 2009.

Based in Nakamura, Tokyo he has been working as a luthier since before 2002 and the name Yumetsuru-do seems to crop up with his work as well as Mugendoh. He learned luthiery at the Roberto Venn school of luthiery in Arizona, USA and makes Guitars, Mandolins and Soprano and Concert Ukuleles, (he also makes Banjo necks but you have to supply your own drum). With Ukuleles as well as making the figure 8 models in 12 or 14 frets, for Soprano and Concert, and Pineapples he makes a couple of more unusual models. One is a kind of Ukulele / ƒ type Mandolin hybrid he calls the Mandolele; in truth it is just a Ukulele with a fancy florentine flourish though it could quite easily be tuned as a 4 string Mandolin. The other is a square necked slide Ukulele in the Weissenborn style, (though I don't think being Soprano or Concert scale still they have a hollow neck?) He calls this type of Ukulele the Waizenropu. He also likes doing double neck ukulele or Ukulele / Mandolins too but it is only on the double necks that I have seen him make Taropatchs. Two distinctive features of his Ukuleles are the two part saddle one saddle for the G and another for the C,E and A angled to improve the intonation. The other is the little blue figure playing a pipe that he uses as a logo. Apparently it has something to do with Hopi indians and he picked it up during his time in Arizona. This appears on the headstock, and the owners name can too, as a custom option.