Amahi Ukuleles Chart New Ground with Exotic Woods

As with most fretted instruments, ukuleles sporting beautiful tone woods carry a distinct advantage in the market. Koa, Rosewood, Zebrawood, and Mahogany – the names and the rich grains that they lend instruments are instant attractions. But with those luxuries often come a jump in cost.

Amahi Ukuleles has recently introduced a way around that jump. The new “Exotic Wood” line of ukuleles now offer dealers a handsome series of instruments (with Aquila strings and a padded gig bag) with MAP prices starting under $80. Amahi president Michael Schear says the instruments establish a new standard in what consumers can find with double digit price tags.

“We’ve hit a new price point here,” he says. “We’ve got a Koa ukulele that’s affordable for a child.” In an increasingly crowded uke marketplace, that could prove to be a real advantage.

It’s no secret that ukuleles have been the darling product of the MI world for several years now, combining portability, accessibility, and a relatively low price compared to most other instruments. Recently, though, customers have begun favoring more sophisticated lines and step-up models (for more, see MMR’s recent March survey and July industry roundtable).

That’s good news for dealers _ not only has the uke fostered a boom in first-time musicians and an affordable product to maintain sales during the down economy, but it’s now proving to inspire customer loyalty.

They’re coming back for more.

Amahi is a branch of Amati’s Fine Instruments, a 25-year-old Cincinnati-based strings supplier with diverse offerings of violins, violas, cellos, and basses (and accessories). Schear, who presides over both brands, says it was his wife who inspired the company’s first ukulele prototype.

“My wife is a public school teacher whose school had begun using ukuleles instead of recorders as an entry-level instrument,” he said. “She asked me if I thought I could source a model, so I checked in on it.” Soon after, the company introduced its first beginner models – the UK-120, 140, and 150. These carried a MAP price under $60.

After a bit more research, though (and a couple high-end, $1,500 uke models), Schear came to the realization that demand was strong for more quality instruments. Amahi introduced the “Snail” line of intermediate ukuleles in 2013. They were a hit. Schear says, “There isn’t a day in the week that we don’t receive an order for our Snail Ebony ukuleles.” A similar line of more conservatively designed “Classic” ukuleles followed.

But for this year, Schear decided to pursue a more aggressive price point. The work began with his manufacturing team in China, who were able to combine economies of scale with Schear’s own expertise in manufacturing orchestral instruments to produce the Exotic Wood series of instruments.

“The process took over a year,” says Schear, who describes a detailed collaboration in which everything from binding, tuning machines, veneers, laser designed soundholes, and the specially selected Aquila strings were all improved.

“We showed them how you’d install a violin neck, which are always dead center. So now they’re done exactly the same we do the violins. That’s one of the efficiencies we implemented with this new line.”

“I’m a strong believer in incremental improvements,” he says. “If you can improve your product incrementally and then add up all of those improvements, you might raise your cost by $5 but increase the value by 300 percent.” That was exactly his goal with the Exotic Woods series, which should bolster not only the Amahi uke brand, but boost the Amati’s brand school string program sales.

To bring an old retail comparison, Schear compares ukes to eggs, bread, and milk of the Amahi’s operation. “You come into the supermarket for eggs, bread, and milk and, while you’re there, you might buy some ground beef, some steak, some chocolate chip cookies, some chips, some pop. In our case, we’re selling ukuleles at a small margin so that dealers will give us a call and then maybe realize they need a violin or some bows.”

Meanwhile, the development of Amahi ukuleles is helping to build Amati’s Fine Instruments into a more complete supplier. “In this economy, which is not ideal, we have to find more products that our customers can use and be profitable _ we have to find things that can help them make a profit.”

In the last decade, there’s been no other instrument that’s personified that approach better than the ukulele, which Schear points out hardly had a presence in the market not long ago. “Ukes allow so many people to get involved rather easily and it allows retailers chances to set up these great classes and everything,” Schear says.

“Isn’t it all about making music?”