January 27, 2013

I sent my uke to a fellow who applies lacquer finishes to guitars and ukes as a service (read: $$$) to guitar builders who avoid finishing their own.  I got a call last week essentially letting me know the uke wasn’t ready for lacquer application.  I could tell he was a bit nervous having to inform me of this situation.  He was kind enough to say this is typical of the dance he goes through with new clients, but that his interest was only in producing the best finish possible.

He will put post-it notes on the uke with a description of the issue for each post-it.  He implied there would be many post-its.  In the past, I may have felt that this was an insult to my building ability.  But today, I consider it a healthy critique of my process and understanding of how detailed I need to take an instrument before it is ready for finish work.

I’m standing by, awaiting the return of my uke, so I can detail it down to “finish ready”.