Barebones Folk Instruments

Barebones Folk Instruments Designer and maker of handcrafted instruments. Ukuleles, Mandolins, Banjos, Dulcimers, Cajons

Barebones Folk Instruments is a owner operated business located in Auckland, Aotearoa, New Zealand. I am self taught as a Luthier and design my own particular styles of Ukuleles, Octave and standard mandolins, resurrected Banjo's and also build a unique range of Cajon percussion boxes. I offer a range of models, all with options to custom build in various woods and with opportunity to add furthe

r upgrades in materials, hardware, finish and accessories. I also have a range of completed instruments available ex-stock through my website. I welcome you to view my product and also photos of my work on the website galleries.

WOW, this is a real beauty. After purchasing both a Barebones Waterview series dulcimer and a baritone Crown Royale uke,...
14/05/2026

WOW, this is a real beauty. After purchasing both a Barebones Waterview series dulcimer and a baritone Crown Royale uke, one of my South Island clients commissioned this custom 3/4 scale parlour classical guitar in the same design. Some beautiful recycled mahogany for the neck, back and sides with a spruce top, wenge fretboard and walnut for overlays etc.
A few extra customer requested tweaks from a typical classical guitar: A narrower neck (43mm at the nut, 55mm at 12th fret) similar to that found on a steel strung guitar. A full set of fret markers on both the fretboard face and side.
Also, we added 18-1 ratio Wilkinson open geared guitar tuners for ultra fine tuning.

I took it to Ray Taylor for him to test drive.... his comment:
"If she doesn't like it, get her to send it back, because I'll have it!!" 😎

Goodbye to this gorgeous Trad series Mandolin, build #304, a special order by a client who just collected it from the s...
30/03/2026

Goodbye to this gorgeous Trad series Mandolin, build #304, a special order by a client who just collected it from the showroom. Some lovely mahogany for back and sides and a spruce top, black walnut scratch plate, overlays etc. Wenge fretboard and ebony floating bridge topped off with a quality set of Grover machines. It has a slightly wider fretboard than standard mandolins to customer specification, and a reasonably wide, deep body. Very pleased with the sound, especially from an instrument that has not been played in yet, and a very nice action. This will mature superbly as time goes on.😎

Just completed in time for Hamsterfest folk festival next week. This Crown Royale model tenor uke has all the goodies yo...
29/03/2026

Just completed in time for Hamsterfest folk festival next week. This Crown Royale model tenor uke has all the goodies you've come to expect from Barebones + more...... All solid woods body, (mahogany with spruce top), NZ native tawa neck, wenge fretboard and bridge, black walnut overlays and inlays. Lightweight Graph Tech planetary tuners for balance, bone nut and saddle and a great action with a deep warm tone.😎

Over the years several people have asked me customise their banjo armrests, adding a wood top to prevent the chrome surf...
12/03/2026

Over the years several people have asked me customise their banjo armrests, adding a wood top to prevent the chrome surface irritating of the skin (hence why I make my Wayfarer banjos with this feature). I'm now offering them as an accessory, available with maple, walnut or mahogany top surface, finished with a hard, gloss lacquer. They fit most 24 bracket 11" head banjos and others with slight modification.

31/01/2026

A number of people have asked for a demo of my Dulcimers. Well, thanks my friend Phillipa, after many years we finally managed to grab a vid of at Auckland FF 2026.

A milestone reached at Barebones... Our 300th stringed instrument produced. Come and visit our display at the Auckland F...
19/01/2026

A milestone reached at Barebones... Our 300th stringed instrument produced. Come and visit our display at the Auckland Folk festival, this weekend at the Kumeu showgrounds.😎

Last build for 2025 just completed. Another one of our Wayfarer Irish tenor banjos, to replace stock sold previously. Ma...
27/12/2025

Last build for 2025 just completed. Another one of our Wayfarer Irish tenor banjos, to replace stock sold previously. Maple neck, mahogany body with black walnut heel cap and overlay to headstock and armrest. Twin rods through the body secure the neck and aid tuning stability. These are astonishingly robust, despite only weighing around 2.2kg, and they'll fit in a baritone uke bag making them the idea travel instrument. Adjustable truss rod installed under the wenge fretboard, topped with paua fret markers. Sweet action and really easy to play with the 19-5/8" scale.
😎

Address

Waterview
Auckland

Telephone

+64211324217

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Barebones Folk Instruments posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Barebones Folk Instruments:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category