My Journey
My granddaughter, Ayla, starting early.
I call him George the genius, because of his vast knowledge regarding string instruments and their chords. He and his wife Claire own Maple Street Guitars in Atlanta. Not only do they both play beautifully, they teach, repair and sell instruments too. I believe George can fix almost anything. I brought in some pretty pathetic string instruments for repair that he brought back to life. I can honestly say my Journey started with George.
As a violin player (love my violin), it's standard to play a max of 2 notes at a time. And even though I dabbled with a little mandolin and guitar as a kid, I never paid attention to anything more than where I should put my fingers for the note or chord I wanted. George took the time to teach me the subtle difference between a string instrument in 4ths like the guitar, and ones in 5ths like the mandolin and violin. No doubt about it, my violin brain definitely thought in 5ths. GDAE to be exact.
I wanted an easy step from the violin, keeping that GDAE tuning, that could also do chords. Was there an instrument out there for me? Guitars, mandolins and ukuleles were nice but each one left something still wanting.
Different instrument experimentation.
The experimentation started. What could I modify into GDAE strings? I tried the Banjolele. George modified it. It was OK, but didn’t rock my boat. I tried modifying a soprano ukulele…still no sparks. The tenor Ukulele had a wonderful sound but that fret spacing was too wide for me to feel comfortable. When George modified my Mandolin with 4 guitar strings… I knew we were getting closer. Then he modified a Concert Ukulele. Wow, I was almost there...Almost... And that put me close enough to the sweet spot to finally realize what I wanted. But to get there I needed a body change, not just a string change. Next step... I had to find a Luthier skilled enough to build this new idea.
That took me to Jay Lichty. It seemed all roads led to Jay. I called around for recommendations and Jay’s name came up time and time again. With customers world wide, people loved his work. He made both guitars and ukuleles (and recently made a great sounding violin). Even better, he made his instruments with a side sound port. There's a creative spark in his instruments. Jay taught me about the woods used in making instruments and how they created different sounds like the mellowness of the Mahogany, or the brightness of the Koa etc. His shop was filled with many exotic woods...the options could be overwhelming. But it didn’t take long before I realized my favorite was a Spruce top (for projection) with Zyricote sides and back (for the added warmth and beauty). We played with shapes, and then the first Ukaylen (a precursor to the Ukaylyn) was actually born. The sound was everything I had hoped for! I loved my instrument! As an added bonus, after a year of playing, the maturing sound improved even more! If you want a high-end, great sounding Ukaylyn, Jay is the guy to make it for you and in any look you want. Check out his sight at www.lichtyguitars.com.
While Jay was building my Ukaylen, I was having the time of my life playing on my Beta version of the Ukaylyn. I loved it so much I had to share it. One of my first shares was with a vivacious talented violinist and music teacher named Sandra Lynn, who not only played the violin, but knew the ukulele too. I love people like her, who don’t live their lives in pre-defined boxes...the creative geniuses who are not afraid to explore. She appreciated it, and immediately saw it’s potential. Sandra Lynn is now officially the first Ukaylyn teacher on planet Earth. She showed me one of her students with a captivating voice playing a Beta Ukaylyn. The song was mesmerizing. I look forward to seeing this rising star in the future and hear her play on her new real Ukaylyn.
Your advantage. People spend thousands of dollars on their instruments all the time (I did, and don't regret it for a moment ). But what about the new Ukaylyn player or the curious one who isn't ready to make a large financial commitment? What about the struggling musician? Where can they get an inexpensive Ukaylyn? There was no place. That prompted my decision to have a few Ukaylyns manufactured at affordable entry level prices...so you can enjoy this instrument, too.