Famed Ukulele Craftsman Racing Against The Clock

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)-- Snowdonia looks as majestic as its name sounds: a Welsh landscape of jagged peaks and cascading waterfalls. Visitors are first greeted by curious sheep, and on the second floor of a former church, inside a small workshop, a man and his apprentice make music.

And in the pacific state of Hawaii, Howlett's Ukulele is considered one the best.

Howlett said thinking about his name and instrument showing up halfway around the world can be a bit bizarre, but it's not hard to understand when you look at his finished product.

"There is something about making a ukulele, that you either got it or you haven't. You've either got the mojo to do it or you haven't," Howlett told TV 10/55's Jonathan Vigliotti.

Howlett's mojo begins in the wood room, a treasure chest of rare species from around the world. The wood is molded, chiseled, sanded, and polished to perfection.

Each piece fetches up to $3,000. Thirty years ago Howlett struggled to make ends meat.

"I ran a furniture design business for eight years, sold insurance for five years. It wasn't until 1994 when I lost a business and a local guitar maker said, 'come and have some therapy, make yourself a guitar,'" he said.

That guitar would later catch the eye of a Hawaiian ukulele dealer. Howlett was a quick study and soon outpaced Hawaiians' who had other distractions.

It was performances like "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by the emerging Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain that would increase popular demand for ukuleles and make Howlett a name beyond the islands.

Howlett has made 725 Ukeleles so far and had the the goal of 1,000 by the time he's 70.

But in December a shaky hand and a visit to the doctors changed everything.

"I went to see a specialist who in minutes diagnosed me with Parlkinson's," he told CBS2.

Howlett was told the neurological disease would eventually rob his hands of their craft.

"There's two ways of approaching it, either I give in to it and just become a miserable old man. Or you say, okay, it's an opportunity for me to do something completely new," he said.

And that's where Howlett's young apprentice steps in. Two years ago, Tommy came to the workshop from Germany to intern with the master craftsman.

After Howlett was diagnosed he asked Tommy to come back and help him with his race against time. Tommy's hands will not only help Howlett reach his 1,000, they will eventually inherit the business.

When Howlett does finally hand over his tools, you'll still find a piece of him in each of his ukuleles.