Last April, I was lucky enough to have Bill Tapia perform at the shop on my birthday. During that visit, Bill fell in love with Mary's Dias reproduction soprano ukulele. Bill talked about how it reminded him of his first ukulele (a Nunes) and how he had a very small ukulele just like it that used to fit in his jacket pocket. A couple of weeks later, I get this phone call. It's Bill Tapia. He is in the car (somewhere in the Northwest, at 101 years old!) going off to another gig, and he called to ask about purchasing a Dias reproduction. I had a nice conversation and gave him some info and the price for the ukulele. I thought he might call back, but I did not hear back from him, so I decided to build him a Dias reproduction as time permitted. Well, Bill Tapia played at the new Freight and Salvage Coffeehouse in Berkeley last Sunday, September 27, 2009 and during the intermission I got to present the ukulele to him. (less info)