Joyner Instruments

Joyner Instruments We are a small batch instrument company in the heart of Central Oregon specializing in solid body electric ukuleles made from hand selected hard woods. Enjoy."

At Riverbend Instruments we strive to innovate by creating new designs and instruments that are accessible to musicians of all levels. Our flagship instrument, the solid body electric ukulele was created not only as a way to push the instrument into new territory, but as a way to bring a new tool to singer songwriters and musicians. Founder Adam Mendel, started building instruments in 2014 by brin

ging a cajon building class to the high school where he taught. After teaching over 50 students to build cajons and cookie tin banjos, Adam re-ignited his long time dream of building stringed instruments. Mendel says, "With the success of my first few instruments I was hooked and was searching for a way to continue building. I knew that I didn't need walls full of instruments in my house, so I wanted to find a way to share my work and get it out to the public. I had been plucking the Ukulele for several years after being inspired by musicians like Jake Shimabokuro and Gabby Pahinui and realized that the intersection of this interest and my newfound love of building instruments could be a jumping off point. I started sketching up solid body ukes and dreaming big. Riverbend Instruments is the result of those dreams.

Top and back fully braced. That was quite a project. Lots of inspiration and help from  in figuring out and executing th...
07/18/2022

Top and back fully braced. That was quite a project. Lots of inspiration and help from in figuring out and executing the bracing pattern for the top and on the back. Im so excited that this guitar can incorporate ideas and knowledge from friends (who just happen to be incredible builders). On to the next step...
*p

More progress on my offset body guitar. This time getting the top braced.  A few more pieces to make and glue then I can...
07/09/2022

More progress on my offset body guitar. This time getting the top braced. A few more pieces to make and glue then I can start the cleanup and detailing process before closing the box!
*p

After a long hiatus im back to work on this offset guitar. I took some inspiration from  for the x braced back. Still so...
07/05/2022

After a long hiatus im back to work on this offset guitar. I took some inspiration from for the x braced back. Still some wood to remove, but im liking the way its taking shape. On to the top next.

Something old/something new. I just finished this nylon string solidbody. Its virtually silent when unplugged, but has a...
06/14/2022

Something old/something new. I just finished this nylon string solidbody. Its virtually silent when unplugged, but has a sweet tone through the amp. Something I'm particularly excited about is the way it takes distortion. Since its a solidbody, there's nothing to feed back, so you can crank the gain way up. Mix that with the nylon strings and you've got a really unique sound. More pictures soon.

Who needs a uke?
12/10/2021

Who needs a uke?

Looks like a good hand to me!
12/07/2021

Looks like a good hand to me!

Finished this sweet tenor just in time to arrive for my customer's 70th birthday! It has lots of special details, but on...
11/20/2021

Finished this sweet tenor just in time to arrive for my customer's 70th birthday! It has lots of special details, but one of my favorite is the custom shaped cutaway to match is 1954 les paul Jr. Im loving the subtle of the mahogany and combination of black and chrome hardware on this build. Oh yeah, and it plays even better than it looks 😜

That grain....
11/10/2021

That grain....

Just sent this beauty to  to record with for her upcoming album! I'll be doing a small production run of these new pinea...
11/09/2021

Just sent this beauty to to record with for her upcoming album! I'll be doing a small production run of these new pineapple ukes in the next few weeks. If you'd like to get on the list to reserve one and pick out your wood before I get going shoot me a DM.

How about something acoustic for a rainy morning? This soprano scale pineapple rounds out the 3 builds I just finished. ...
11/01/2021

How about something acoustic for a rainy morning? This soprano scale pineapple rounds out the 3 builds I just finished. I started this little uke for myself, but when a good friend mentioned she was looking for a new uke I knew it had found a good home and finished it out with her in mind. Makassar ebony back and sides with a port Orford cedar top and crazy curly koa binding and headplate.

This uke heads to New Orleans today. What a fun project with ! Highly figured maple top and back with walnut, maple and ...
10/29/2021

This uke heads to New Orleans today. What a fun project with !
Highly figured maple top and back with walnut, maple and mahogany core. A true hippie sandwich.

Gotta love a koa bari! This custom uke heads to its new home tomorrow.
10/28/2021

Gotta love a koa bari! This custom uke heads to its new home tomorrow.

Address

Bend, OR
97701, 97702, 97703, 97707–97709

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