NOEHANDS GUITARS
Eduardo dos Santos Bettu - BAHIA BRAZIL
Where he started
Born in Paraguay but grew up in Bahia Brazil. At a very young age, Eduardo always had a passion for creating things, consistently curious about why and how things worked. Over the years he was exposed to many arts throughout Brazil and through his travels, he discovered his love for music. Intrigued by many different instruments, the music they produced but most of all how they were constructed, this is when Eduardo’s passion for building started.
The very first ukulele he built was from scraps of materials and leftover wood from carpentry, made with simple tools a simple instrument was constructed, today this very ukulele belongs to one of the greatest musicians in the history of Brazil.
Best playability, sound and finish….
Eduardo doesn’t measure his efforts, but what he enjoys the most is the effort that goes into the instrument to get the best results: best playability, sound and finish. He enjoys constant evolution and improvement in quality in every build. He believes the most critical part of the construction, is tuning the top soundboard to the correct frequency, and ensuring that the back and air inside matches this frequency. By doing this will result in the best possible sound for the wood tones chosen, then finishing the rest of the instrument without disrupting this result. He has always found the ukulele instrument very interesting, and feels that it is extremely rare to find ‘good’ quality sounding ukulele. So his drive to achieve this is always front of mind!
Let’s hear from Eduardo…
As a builder, what is the most important to you? “What is most important to me is the satisfaction of those who play my instruments, because then all the work and study of my life makes sense, it is where I fulfil myself as a luthier, so it is important that the instrument has balance between bass, mids and treble, good sustain and impeccable playability. This all guarantees that my client feels happy to have one of my instruments, and that makes me very happy.”
What makes you stand out? “I have studied in-depth regarding issues of sound response, frequency balance, and my care with every detail. I don’t just make instruments for money, it’s not just a business for me, it is something I decided to dedicate my life to, so I don’t settle for anything less than the best! This is why I focus so much of my time studying and testing for the best sound possible for ukuleles, because despite the size it is extremely difficult to get good sound. The strings are very light and any weight in the wrong place can be a disaster. I use Shellac as a finish on the entire instrument to ensure the best sound, the shape of the neck is built so that the player can easily access any area of the neck, making difficult chords easier.”
…my main goal
for all my instruments to always achieve something that has never been experienced by my customers before, that it is a complete instrument.
Whether they are playing solos or with a group, an instrument that meets all expectations at a very high standard not only sonically, but also aesthetically.
