Before we left Bali, I made a visit to the music man.
This guy is amazing. He's just a sweet, quiet guy, sitting in the back of a tiny little hole-in-the-wall shop - about half the size of a one-car garage, making guitars, ukuleles and mandolins.
Unlike most stall holders on Bali, he's not standing out the front, hawking his wares or hassling people to come in his shop. He doesn't quote inflated prices that you then have to haggle over. He just loves his instruments, and they are truly incredible works of art - guitars with Balinese filigree carving, ukuleles clearly made with love and care...
He sits, works, and plays music. If you go into his shop, he'll have a friendly chat, jam with you, show you the latest masterpiece he's built (with a gentle, humble manner), and not try to sell you anything.
I love this guy so much, I stop by his shop every time I'm on Bali... I play a little music, I drool over his craftsmanship...
And this time, I bought myself a mandolin! just a simple, cheap mandolin, but I love it! It was $60, with a hand made, very high quality case. I used to play mandolin years ago, but I haven't had one in years... I've been vaguely planning to get a new mandolin for a while, but unable to afford it.
I'm so stoked to not only get a mandolin, but to support a local craftsman. Honestly, I also support this particular guy because he's so quiet and humble. I suspect he makes just as good a living as anyone else selling stuff in the area, but without the intense hassling and overcharging and bargaining. I think everyone should support this guy, and artisans like him.
Most of all, I love my new mandolin, and I’m so happy to have it!
Posts
We have mandolin players in the Italian part of Switzerland too:)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad, you like your mandolin.
xo
Orianne
Fantastic!
ReplyDeleteSounds wonderful. Could you tell me how to find the music man? Have you got an address for him? Would love to get a couple of instruments.
ReplyDeleteMoomah, if you go to Jalan Double Six in Seminyak, about halfway between the main road and the beach, on Jalan Arjuna, there's a little side street that goes towards Kuta, there's several western places serving coffee on the corner saying "Double 6", you go down about 100M or so, maybe a bit more, and he's somewhere just there. A taxi from pretty much anywhere in the Kuta area would take you to Double Six for about 20,000 max.
ReplyDeleteThank you! We are in Kuta now, so will go and check him out today :)
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ReplyDeleteHello! Thank you for your post! Thanks to You we found Ian and his shop and bought a wonderful Balinese ukulele! One is made with great love - he played us a tune before giving away his creation. Just love it and all you wrote is 100% true!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. We've been looking for ukulele around Kuta and Denpasar. It has been a week and we only found either the toys one (difficult to tune) or the real instrument from music store which is very expensive for an ukulele (USD 200) for a beginner like my daughter. Until we found your post and decided to look for this shop. It's a bit challenging for us to find the location. We've been searching 3 times around the area and finally we find it. Thanks for the picture. It does help.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post. We've been looking for ukulele around Kuta and Denpasar. It has been a week and we only found either the toys one (difficult to tune) or the real instrument from music store which is very expensive for an ukulele (USD 200) for a beginner like my daughter. Until we found your post and decided to look for this shop. It's a bit challenging for us to find the location. We've been searching 3 times around the area and finally we find it. Thanks for the picture. It does help.
ReplyDeleteHello and thank you for the post and directions. I picked up a beautiful solid mahogany concert ukulele and bag . The music man in the picture wasn't there, but I met his brother who also builds the instuments. His prices may have gone up now though, as a mandolin like yours is now 2 million rupiah. Approx $200 AUD. Thanks again for the post, beautiful hand made and carved pieces, I'll be back to visit next time.
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