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I am a guitar player primarily (though I have played at various times: piano, e. bass, alto sax, clarinet, flute, and kazoo) and I've been in a bit of a funk for the past few weeks. I've tried strange tunings, learning new types of music, jamming with people and drat if I just can't feel the magic anymore. I think I want something that I can just chill out and play. I've been looking at baritone ukes, since I have big hamfists. Are there any other good tunings for them than DGBE? I'm interested in playing all sorts of music, and I'd actually prefer something that is unlike guitar tuning. Also, any recommendations on a specific model? I'll probably have to sell a guitar or something, but I'd like something that isn't just an entry level cheaply built uke. I wouldn't mind buying used if it would save me some money, but I also don't know quite what to look for. Are there any good ways to electrify when I want to get loud? Some kind of piezo system I'd guess
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Aug 8, 2013 21:28
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I have an acoustic/electric tenor and its awesome. It was probably $250-ish if I remember right. Baritone is cool and all, but the smaller ones are gCEA which is pretty unlike other instruments, banjo is the only real popular instrument I can think of off the top of my head where the top string is higher. Anyway, tenors aren't actually that small when it comes to the fretboard. My roommates guitar has pretty similar spacing.
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Aug 8, 2013 21:44
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Daedalus Esquire posted:I have an acoustic/electric tenor and its awesome. It was probably $250-ish if I remember right. Baritone is cool and all, but the smaller ones are gCEA which is pretty unlike other instruments, banjo is the only real popular instrument I can think of off the top of my head where the top string is higher. I guess I should try to hold some tenors and baris before committing. Problem is that the local music store shut down and the only place nearby is Guitar Center, which I absolutely loathe.
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Aug 8, 2013 22:24
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Reminder that if this dude can play the uke, your "hamfists" will be fine. I played in public for the first time a little while ago at a Meetup here in NYC. Nerve-racking, and I definitely rushed my song a bit, but it was fun. Pics of me and my little Gretsch soprano.  Edit: Actually, I have a question. I have been wondering if I am weird. For me, playing chords is much easier if I hold the neck at a 3/4 angle like you see in that pic, resting the headstock between my thumb and index finger. Every other player seems to play chords from directly below the neck. Am I weird/doing it wrong? Trying to come up from below seems to put incredible strain on my left hand. I wonder if this has anything to do with my being lefty but playing righty... zakharov fucked around with this message at 00:12 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 8, 2013 22:53
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Tater Love 
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TopherCStone posted:I guess I should try to hold some tenors and baris before committing. Problem is that the local music store shut down and the only place nearby is Guitar Center, which I absolutely loathe. They usually have Lanakai ukes which are a pretty standard uke. Not a $30 entry level one, but not exactly top tier. If you are just going to sample playing them and feel the fretboards, those are a good one to try out.
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Aug 9, 2013 02:08
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zakharov posted:
I can only speak from my guitar experience, but I say as long as you're not hurting yourself and it isn't impeding your progress, play however you please. Put my strat on the chopping block today, hope to get $450 out of it which will comfortably allow me to get a decent uke and put some in savings
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Aug 9, 2013 19:04
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TopherCStone posted:I guess I should try to hold some tenors and baris before committing. Problem is that the local music store shut down and the only place nearby is Guitar Center, which I absolutely loathe. At least go fondle their gear, even if you don't end up buying it. Yeah uke pickups are gonna be piezo-based, with the rare exception of some uke-ish instruments with steel-strings instead of the uke-standard nylon. I don't have enough familiarity to opine whether you want to buy a bari with a built-in piezo, or just buy a cheap bari and add a Barcus Berry stick-on pickup later. The main point of advice I'd note: you can get string sets that allow you to put "standard" ukuelele gCEA tuning onto a DGBE baritone ukulele. So if you get a bari you can still restring and get the standard uke tuning with a nice big body to it, so if you get a DGBE or dGBE strung bari you can always swap it up to the high tuning. quote:Are there any other good tunings for them than DGBE? As noted above, you can string a bari in standard re-entrant tuning, or "low G" linear tuning. However, aside from that ukulele players are surprisingly conservative about the guitar-esque fourths tuning. I've tried discussing alternate tunings on Ukulele Underground, but such has a really small following. I've had some fun applying banjo-type tunings to uke, such as gCEg "open C" tuning, or gCFG "Sawmill" tuning but I'm really in the minority there. Even the clawhammer uke players tend to use standard gCEA tuning rather than using banjo-inspired tunings for their instruments. That's not to say you shouldn't do it, just noting that there's a remarkable adherence to standard uke tunings. Not me, but all those other dudes. Overall, find a baritone you like (whether equipped with a built-in pickup, or add a stick-on later). Try DGBE at first, but be aware gCEA is easily done with a re-string, and don't be afraid to try alt tunings. A buddy of mine was a really serious classical guitarist, as in had a BA in and was considering an MFA in classical guitar, and when I gave him a tenor uke he ended up incorporating it heavily into his gigs. So your instinct that uke might help shake up your guitar playing may well be correct. In whatever case, definitely report back. TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 19:19 on Aug 10, 2013 |
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Aug 10, 2013 05:42
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Called the Guitar Center so as not to make a wasted trip. They have only a few ukes in stock and they're all in boxes. They won't pull one out just for me to mess with, which is understandable. I may just have to fly blind on this. Thanks for the tips, I have a few models in mind. I think I will get on just acoustic for now, then add a stick-on pickup when necessary
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Aug 10, 2013 21:08
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My uke came in from Elderly today! I got a Lanikai tenor marked down considerably because of a minor finish flaw (it looked much worse on the site than in person, I don't even notice it unless I look for it). Nicely set up, good strings, and it was relaxing and fun to play after a long day at work Now to learn some songs instead of just randomly strumming
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Aug 14, 2013 23:34
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TopherCStone posted:My uke came in from Elderly today! I got a Lanikai tenor marked down considerably because of a minor finish flaw (it looked much worse on the site than in person, I don't even notice it unless I look for it). Nicely set up, good strings, and it was relaxing and fun to play after a long day at work Lovely! And playing random chords is half the fun!
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Aug 15, 2013 01:04
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I was thinking about getting a uke for my daughter and I to learn to play together. She is 5 would her hands be to small? Thanks.
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Sep 7, 2013 01:58
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LunaSky posted:I was thinking about getting a uke for my daughter and I to learn to play together. She is 5 would her hands be to small? Thanks. Probably not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWc6PZhFd7s
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Sep 7, 2013 03:03
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Oh the cuteness is too much. Thanks!
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Sep 7, 2013 09:19
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I posted on the first page of this thread and never even picked up a ukulele.....until now that is! I went to the local ukulele place (ukerepublic) and the guy who runs it is just plain awesome. he was so excited about ukuleles. He showed me how to play a c chord, and proceeded to stick every ukulele in the whole drat shop in my hands to strum. He seemed genuinely excited. I told him I'd love to buy one, but I don't get payed until tomorrow and it turned out our schedules didn't coincide again until next week, as he closes at 5:30 and is closed on Sundays and Mondays. He told me not to worry about it, to go ahead and take one home, he'd paypal invoice me. Unbelievable. he also invited me to a couple ukulele meetups. So I picked out a concert size that just really felt nice and sounded nice to me. It was kind of cheap too, which is a bonus. I got this.. http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/hulala-ocean-dancer-concert What do you guys think? Did I do OK? The guy said it was a very solid uke for the price, especially with a bag. I'm in love with it, even though I am just strumming C over and over. My daughter loves it too. I told her I'd buy her a dolphin as soon as she learns one song.\ Long story short, ukerepublic are awesome folks and I recommend the hell out of them. The Dregs fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Sep 12, 2013 |
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Sep 12, 2013 19:39
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Kerbtree posted:I've got a Tanglewood TU7, and I noticed last week that it started to sound a bit dull. Picked it up today, tuned up as usual. Open strings sound right, Pitchlab's happy. Start off practicing single-finger chords, I get to A7 and Something Is Wrong. I keep my finger on A7 and just pluck the C-string and there's a nasty buzz coming out the saddle end of things. There's a tiny little bit of buzz fingering the next fret down, too now I'm listening for it. A little late, and I have bad news for you. Unless you were able to fix it with other strings, it sounds like you have a wolf. My uke does the same thing on the C string, but only when played open and in tune, if it is out of tune then no problem. It doesn't do it all the time either, which is kind of annoying since it makes it hard to demonstrate if I were to take it to get fixed. As it was described to me (by a cello player because this seems to be pretty rare in the ukulele world) what is happening is that something inside of the body is vibrating at those exact frequencies. I tried changing strings, but that didn't do anything. I would have brought it in to a luthier by now if it weren't for the fact that it doesn't always do it. That and I found a "solution". While quitting cigarettes it started to buzz one day. Being short tempered I hit it right at the bottom of the fret board with my palm. Not a devastating destroy it hit, but a good firm smack. I find that makes the buzz go away for a couple of days. Probably not the best and I really should bring it in next time it starts to buzz, but I'm never done playing when it starts and I have to "fix" it. Hope you figured it out! P.S. For the record, I'm also in the U.K. and the uke is a Kala acacia tenor
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Sep 12, 2013 22:56
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This way harder than the guys on Youtube make it seem. After about 3 hours with this little torture device, I can transition from C to F and almost back again. I can almost keep time with strumming and even get a fancy upstroke in every once in awhile. My left had aches like a motherfucker and my ringfinger has a deep groove in it. But I played Camptown Ladies. My first song. poo poo yeah!
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Sep 13, 2013 00:18
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The Dregs posted:This way harder than the guys on Youtube make it seem. After about 3 hours with this little torture device, I can transition from C to F and almost back again. I can almost keep time with strumming and even get a fancy upstroke in every once in awhile. This is how it starts, but very quickly (compared to other instruments) you'll be at the advanced level! Keep up the awesome work!
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Sep 13, 2013 00:28
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I have bought four ukuleles in one week. Four. On your heads be it. My kids were having so much fun with mine that I told them they could have one if they learned a song. Of course, I had no idea how easy it was to play a song then. It didn't really bother me, though. it is awesome to see them so interested in something that is so good for them. So I called the uke shop and ordered them three ukuleles strung with multicolored uke strings. The colored strings make it super easy to teach them chords. The ukulele owner said he wondered why he never thought of that. I bought two plastic dolphins and one Makala ukadelic that was marked way down to 55 dollars. My wife bought some brandy. Also, I have a small problem with my ukulele. It has sharp edges all the way around. I have a heavy forearm and it's pretty uncomfortable to rest it on the back edge of the uke after awhile. This doesn't happen when I mess around with my kids' more rounded plastic ukes. Any decent looking suggestions out there that are better than taping a sock to it?
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Sep 15, 2013 10:31
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Hate to bump the thread when I was the last one that posted, but I hope some of you other guys start posting again. Me and my kids are coming along. My daughter and I do Little Talks by Of monsters and Men together, and it's a blast. I can almost do In the jungle now...with the singing. Adding singing to a ukulele strum is way harder than I thought it'd be. Also, I noticed that playing a ukulele in public makes people want to come up and hang out with you. I took my kids to a local park and I was practicing my strumming while they ran around. Three different women and one old man came up to me and started chatting me up about the uke. One even wanted me to teach her a little. My wife says I'm not allowed to take my ukulele in public anymore.
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Sep 21, 2013 12:32
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The Dregs posted:Hate to bump the thread when I was the last one that posted, but I hope some of you other guys start posting again. Me and my kids are coming along. My daughter and I do Little Talks by Of monsters and Men together, and it's a blast. I can almost do In the jungle now...with the singing. Adding singing to a ukulele strum is way harder than I thought it'd be. This is awesome.  Please keep posting these stories.  I played the uke for my 9 month old niece a week ago, trying to find things to amuse her, and she clapped along and laughed, I even let her strum the strings a few times. It is just such an amazingly fun and easy to pick up instrument. I have been playing guitar on and off for 10+ years, and my only regret is not picking one up earlier.
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Sep 21, 2013 13:15
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My niece loves it when I play for her. I do an improvised Spanish-sounding little ditty, starting at Bb I strum 3 times, releasing to mute each time, slide back a fret, strum that, then strum the next 2 frets up. Sounds fun and the kid starts dancing like crazy!
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Sep 21, 2013 18:31
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We traded in our small car for something even smaller and I'm starting to realize that the days when I could bring guitar + bass on a holiday trip are gone. So I think I'll celebrate the end of my next project by getting a uke. I have a good contact at a music shop that will probably let me buy one at close to cost, but any recommendations? I don't mind paying decent money for a decent instrument. This is their website (for reference, 1 Danish kr is around 19 cents): http://www.4sound.dk/shoppingsystem/produkter.asp?page=1&gruppe=Ukulele Any advice / suggestions is much appreciated.
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Oct 6, 2013 00:39
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Dane posted:We traded in our small car for something even smaller and I'm starting to realize that the days when I could bring guitar + bass on a holiday trip are gone. There is nothing that could go wrong with this plan. quote:This is their website (for reference, 1 Danish kr is around 19 cents): http://www.4sound.dk/shoppingsystem/produkter.asp?page=1&gruppe=Ukulele Of the items shown there, I'd advise getting any of the Kala or Lanikai, except for their bargain lines (Makala and Kohala) respectively. The bargain ones aren't terrible, but they're the kind of thing you'd buy if you were really short on cash and not sure uke was for you, and since you already play guitar you're past that point. The main thing is to try out the different sizes and see which appeals to you the most. You may also enjoy at least messing around with a Kala U-Bass, but the Ashbory Bass is basically the same thing (tiny bass with huge thick rubbery strings to make low enough notes) and much cheaper than the model on your friend's site. Though since then Kala has introduced (in the US at least) more and cheaper variants of the U-Bass. Of the other brands, Fender has an iffy rep (and are disproportionately expensive on that site compared to other brands), and I've found the Ibanezes I've tried to be too plasticky and muted. "Blue Moon" is some other generic off-brand. None of the Lanikais or Kalas on the page are necessarily amazing, but they're pretty much the basic decent-quality models with some solid wood and some ply. Perfectly decent players, but nothing fancy. The prices actually don't seem bad, considering how expensive Denmark is; the KA-T Kala tenor is US$170, whereas it's US$125 in the States, so not at all painful markup considering VAT and all that. And if you're getting this at a friend discount, all the better. Be forewarned though, if you get serious about uke you'll find yourself driving down to some big uke store in Germany to find a high-end upgrade in a year or two...
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Oct 6, 2013 03:01
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So after using a Lanikai Lu-11 for a few years (including lots of idle time) I started to get back into uke and bought a Kala spalted maple soprano. I'm really liking it, it has a small soundhole and a very soft mellow sound. Although I don't do the piece or the instrument justice - here is the first thing I played on it.  It seems like a very good instrument for the price and I'd highly recomend it.
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Oct 7, 2013 01:44
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Prince Reggie K posted:So after using a Lanikai Lu-11 for a few years (including lots of idle time) I started to get back into uke and bought a Kala spalted maple soprano. I'm really liking it, it has a small soundhole and a very soft mellow sound. Although I don't do the piece or the instrument justice - here is the first thing I played on it. I was going to ask if you got this tune from one of the several books of Baroque guitar tunes for ukulele that've come out in the last few years. But I see this track a lot of folks have gotten from Rob Mackillop's 20 Progressive Fingerstyle Studies for Uke; is that where you got this version from? Both that book, and the couple Baroque Spanish uke books, are pretty awesome, but there are at least intermediate-level books, so not something for our beginners to dive into too fast. Uke does a great job imitating Baroque guitar (particularly the 6 or 8-string ukes, so say I), and I was working through a few tracks of those books last year with moderate seriousness. But then I jacked up my hand playing Gaelic football, so fingerpicking was right-out for a good four months after that. I would say I've learned my lesson, but I just took a hurley-stick to the thumb in today's games, so apparently not. Here's some Baroque guitar for folks less familiar. Note that Spain and Portugal had a ton of different guitar-type instruments in a broad continuum over the last 500-800 years or so. A lot of those died out or became highly localised (in Europe or in pockets of Latin America) over the last few centuries, but what we now know as the "classical guitar" survived handily, and the predecessor of the ukulele survives to this day in parts of Portugal, while in the 1800s Portuguese emigrants to Hawaii brought the instrument there with them, to great success. In any case, here's a 10-string Baroque guitar, between the uke and modern guitar in size. An 8-string uke does a pretty good job of replicating these (though lacking some bass), but I'm surprised no uke manufacturer has yet made a 10-string baritone to replicate fully the old Baroque guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI-mN11-1wI 
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Oct 7, 2013 13:01
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I love baroque guitar music, and yes, I got the Rob finger studies and Gaspar Sanz book. Sorry about your thumb man 
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Oct 8, 2013 00:23
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onecooldana posted:My niece loves it when I play for her. I do an improvised Spanish-sounding little ditty, I just had a thought. Does anyone play the uke in "classical Spanish guitar" or Baroque renaissance style, or is it too small? I think it would be a hoot to try. 
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Oct 15, 2013 20:09
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I've been a lurker here for a while and can say I'm no longer a terrible uke player! I've even participated in jam sessions with several people I need to take a picture of my Lanikai and post it, but I'm hoping to add another to it around the holidays so maybe I'll wait. I just wanted to throw out there that the Mike who prepared so many people's first ukes has passed away (according to Ukulele Underground). RIP Mike.
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Oct 26, 2013 17:58
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I figure this thread might be a good place to pass this story along since most people I know won't care: My step-dad's mother passed away a few weeks ago. While he and his sisters were sorting through her stuff they were trying to Last Thursday it gets delivered to me (along with a few other unplanned inherited knick-knacks). I pull it out and discover it is a (as best as I can tell) late 70's Kamaka standard. It is white label but not date-stamped. It also had a piece of tape inside with my step-dad's brother's name and address in it, and he died in the early 80's so it is at least that old. I immediately called my local uke shop to see about getting the bridge fixed, and he points me to a local luthier (I didn't even know we had one of these) who happens to be about four blocks from my house. Long story short, $143 in repairs later (including re-leveling some frets and new strings), I now have a very nice (literally heirloom) uke that my daughter is going nowhere near for the foreseeable future!
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Nov 1, 2013 17:54
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How can you hold out on us with a story like that and no pictures?
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Nov 1, 2013 18:54
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Faltion posted:How can you hold out on us with a story like that and no pictures? Because I just thought to post it while at work and I don't have any pictures of it  . I'll try to remember to take some when I get home today.
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Nov 1, 2013 19:04
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quote:I just wanted to throw out there that the Mike who prepared so many people's first ukes has passed away (according to Ukulele Underground). RIP Mike. Hey Sabs, thanks for passing the word. That is really tragic, Music Guy Mic (MGM, Michael Aratani) was a great guy who did a lot to get good ukes out to the public. He's the guy who made "settup" of inexpensive import ukes a requisite thing for any serious shop, instead of just pulling one out the crate and chucking it in a USPS box without proper luthier quality control. He also had a lot of influence with Kala, so helped shape their product line by dialoguing with them about what uke players wanted to see. He was suddenly struck by some serious illness a few years back and fell off the scene, then was back in for a year and some in a more mentoring/advisory role, but I guess health eventually caught up to him. Great guy, sad to see him go, but someday that's going to be all of us so it's good to be happy for all he accomplished in his life.  http://theukulelereview.com/in-loving-memory/ quote:I immediately called my local uke shop to see about getting the bridge fixed, and he points me to a local luthier (I didn't even know we had one of these) who happens to be about four blocks from my house. Long story short, $143 in repairs later (including re-leveling some frets and new strings), I now have a very nice (literally heirloom) uke that my daughter is going nowhere near for the foreseeable future! So for an outlay of $143 you got a vintage Kamaka with a family history? That's a great piece of gear. If you don't already, I'd make sure you get a nice hard-sided case for it, and check with your luthier as to whether he recommends in your local climate that you use one of those tiny humidifier widgets that goes inside your case. For some kinds of climates you want a little extra humidity in the case so there are perforated discs with tiny sponges inside that you can dunk in water once every few months that will release tiny bits of humidity into the case over the months. Glad to hear that the damage could be fixed, and that it's in the hands of someone who will enjoy it.  I'm not expert, but of the many ukes I've mucked with I've been most consistently pleased with Kamakas, and should really get around to buying one someday. There aren't the absolute craziest expensive ukes by any means (they start around a grand), and they are made by crews in a workshop rather than an individual luthier. Granted it's a workshop in Honolulu that's been making ukes for a century. But the point is the fame of the name is well merited. Effingham posted:I just had a thought. It's a smaller but well-established niche in the uke world, with a few books and albums of Spanish baroque or ren uke out. There are a few other good books of broader European baroque and lute music for uke, and lots of Bach (John King was famous for that). For Spanish, the work of Gaspar Sanz has particular popularity applied to uke. This subset doesn't have the popularity of pop covers, jazz, or clawhammer on uke, but it's certainly visible in the community. Here are a few good Spanish uke clips: - Here's Rob MacKillop, the guy who's written several books of baroque uke arrangements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5TzF9EYN3I - More Gaspar Sanz covers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFTjsnh9eec Again I find it interesting that the serious Span-baroque uke enthusiasts appear to mainly use 4-string ukes, while actual baroque guitars tended to have some/all doubled courses. This clip has a good long/slow shot of a baroque guitar and some decent playing for comparison: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-0ycGy8lpc I'd said earlier in the thread that since modern baroque guitars are so expensive, some uke manufacturer should look into making some kind of hybrid baroque-uke. Not some cosmetic lute-looking and rosette'd normal uke, but a decent tenor or baritone uke modified to have five courses. I'd be fine if it didn't even have the baroque body shape or cosmetics, so long as it had four doubled courses and a single or double top course. Doesn't seem like it would be unduly a hassle to design. While I was thinking that though, just recently I ran across someone who did something quite similar, but with the charango rather than uke. The charango is a distant uke cousin, a small double-coursed gut/nylon strung instrument, often made with an armadillo shell to save the trouble of carving a big curved back. In the modern era, a South American luthier names Feerico Tarazona developed a variant of the charango to play classical/baroque music, called the "hatun charango". It has seven courses, just one of them doubled, and this weird bit where the two harp-bass strings have a different scale length making the fret pattern very distinctive: http://www.federico-tarazona.com/thehatuncharango.html Per his site there are a bunch of luthiers in the Latin world that have made at least one or two of these. And there are a decent number of YouTube clips: - The originator playing a tune from a turn of the century Peruvian composer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me1bTDT6uwc - A Bach menuet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkUtVDEdKyI - Duet with guitar that really highlights the sharp/bright top end of charango in general: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIHFh_VULsk - Traditional Swedish tune on hatun charango: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwWryWUdQt0 This is a really interesting variant I just ran across a few days ago, and my initial impressions of this variant are pretty positive.  EDIT: Regarding MacKillop's books, etc. If you do not already play fingerstyle ukulele or guitar (plucking individual strings with individual fingers to play melodies with harmony, rather than just strumming), a lot of the books of fingerstyle uke would be a bit above your level at first, so I'd suggest getting an intro book on the style like "Easy Fingerstyle Studies for Ukulele" or "Progressive Fingerstyle Studies for Ukulele" ('progressive' meaning the difficulty of the tunes increases from intermediate to easy over the course of the book). That way you can ease into the genre without too much frustration.  If you just want to try out really simple fingerpicking, here's a quick tutorial on some simple nursery rhymes arranged as fingerpicking: http://www.ukuleletricks.com/ukulele-fingerpicking-nursery-rhymes/ TapTheForwardAssist fucked around with this message at 17:28 on Nov 3, 2013 |
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Nov 2, 2013 19:20
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Does anyone here have any experience with Hola! ukuleles? They have positive reviews on Amazon and UU, but I can't find much information about the brand. I'm on a very tight budget, trying to decide whether to take a gamble on one of these or wait a few more months for a Kala.
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Nov 8, 2013 11:07
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RoeCocoa posted:Does anyone here have any experience with Hola! ukuleles? They have positive reviews on Amazon and UU, but I can't find much information about the brand. I'm on a very tight budget, trying to decide whether to take a gamble on one of these or wait a few more months for a Kala. If money is tight, the greatest setback would be getting a bad uke even at a good price. The old "greatest economy lies in buying the best you can afford." That does not in the slightest mean that you have to spend a grand on a Kamaka, but it does mean that you want to buy with strong confidence that you're getting a good product. Buying unfamiliar cheapies is fine if you're just mucking around and can chuck it in the closet if you don't like it, but if this is going to be your only uke for a good while, you want to do it right even on a <$99 budget. You want a uke from a reputable brand, and one that's been properly "set up", that is QC'ed by either a uke-savvy seller or by an experienced player. Even if a given seller charges $75 for a Kala KA-S instead of $65, if they specifically mention and detail the QC checks they make, rather than just taking it out of a crate from China and mailing it to you unchecked, it's worth it. Kala is generally a good choice, and if this is your main uke for a while I'd skip the "MK" series which are among the better of the bottom-rung ukes, but still not something that will hold you for years. Set your lowest sights on a KA-S, KA-C, or KA-T Kala model, or a model above those if you find a good deal on one. If you aren't sure on size, the C (concert) is the safest middle-of-the-road bet.  Also, consider checking out the Selling forum at Ukulele Underground, see if you can find a decent used uke in that $100ish range, again of good make and properly set up. Buying a uke on a budget is fine, but you want to play it conservative with your funds to make totally sure you're getting all the bang you deserve for your buck. And given there are great starter ukes in the $100 or less territory, there's really no reason to take a risk on a "maybe it's good, maybe not" $50-60 uke.
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Nov 8, 2013 13:56
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Just a small plug for PHD brand strings, since I do not think they are widely sold or known about. When I got my first uke, I took it in to Smiley Kai at Ukulele Source in San Jose, and he recommended that brand and put them on for me. I like them a lot - they are lively, easy on the fingers, and have a very bright sound. When I took my new soprano in to the luthier for repairs, he put on Aquila strings. I didn't like them as much because they felt too stiff and clumsy to me, and were harder to tune properly because of the stiffness (combined with 30-40 year old tuning pegs of course). It's all based on my personal preference and what I am used to, so everyone will have a different opinion on them I am sure. I just put PHD strings on my soprano, and like them much better. For $10 it might be worth trying out though.
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Nov 8, 2013 22:52
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furushotakeru posted:When I took my new soprano in to the luthier for repairs, he put on Aquila strings. I didn't like them as much because they felt too stiff and clumsy to me, and were harder to tune properly because of the stiffness (combined with 30-40 year old tuning pegs of course). It's all based on my personal preference and what I am used to, so everyone will have a different opinion on them I am sure. I just put PHD strings on my soprano, and like them much better. For $10 it might be worth trying out though. I hear Aquila get reccomended in TWO situations: for cheap laminate ukes, and for really really old mahogany sopranos. Aquilas sound like butto n most ukes IMO but on my old Gibson they sound great...but I think about any strings would, that little box is magic!
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Nov 9, 2013 05:08
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How are La Bella strings regarded? I replaced the D string on my baritone ukulele with one when the prior one broke (the rest are Aquilas). But this is my first and only baritone ukelele, so I have no idea which strings are best. (This is actually my only ukulele, period, since my wife snagged my soprano.)
ibntumart fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Nov 9, 2013 |
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Nov 9, 2013 06:38
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:You want a uke from a reputable brand, and one that's been properly "set up", that is QC'ed by either a uke-savvy seller or by an experienced player. Even if a given seller charges $75 for a Kala KA-S instead of $65, if they specifically mention and detail the QC checks they make, rather than just taking it out of a crate from China and mailing it to you unchecked, it's worth it. I understand and agree completely; I just wasn't sure whether Hola! was a reputable brand. Normally, the price point (comparable to the solid plastic Makalas and lower than other wood laminate starters) would set off alarm bells, but with all the positive reviews mentioning the finished fret edges and general level of workmanship, I figured it was at least worth asking. I'm looking at sopranos because a) I have itty-bitty girl hands and b) my house has paper-thin walls and my housemates don't appreciate my accordion. Concert-sized is also a possibility, but all but the cheapest ones are out of my reach for the foreseeable future. I also probably should have mentioned that I have an Amazon gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket; so while a set-up uke from a reputable seller will cost what it costs, an OOB from Amazon would be $35 below retail. How steep is the learning curve for setting up a ukulele? I have some basic woodworking skills and tools, and I've been looking at videos-- from hobbyists and professional luthiers-- about leveling the frets and adjusting the nut. I assume it's harder than it looks, but it looks ridiculously easy and I love tinkering. Fake edit: I've heard Ohana is a good brand in the $100-$250 range; how do their <$100 laminate models compare to others in that market?
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Nov 9, 2013 16:50
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RoeCocoa posted:I'm looking at sopranos because a) I have itty-bitty girl hands and b) my house has paper-thin walls and my housemates don't appreciate my accordion. Concert-sized is also a possibility, but all but the cheapest ones are out of my reach for the foreseeable future. Given your willingness to try out settup as noted below, there's not much reason not to give a shot to the Hola! if it jumps out at you, especially since you want to burn a gift cert. That said, given that you're already a musician, just bear in mind that even properly set-up a cheap uke is pretty basic, so by all means play the heck out of it, but don't be surprised if you outgrow it rather quickly. But even if you do, at least you have a spare beater or one to loan to friends, etc. You really can't go too wrong there, worst case you'll just have to set aside a penny jar next year to start filling for a nicer uke to follow it up with. Small hands are a fair reason to play soprano, but note they aren't necessarily greatly quieter than other ukes, so you still may want to use a scrap of cloth down under the strings to muffle it if you're going for extra quiet play. What kind of accordion do you play? Piano or something weirder? quote:How steep is the learning curve for setting up a ukulele? I have some basic woodworking skills and tools, and I've been looking at videos-- from hobbyists and professional luthiers-- about leveling the frets and adjusting the nut. I assume it's harder than it looks, but it looks ridiculously easy and I love tinkering. I've mostly done action jobs on dulcimers, but I don't see any reason not to give it a shot on a cheap uke, especially since you have materials. The single most useful things I found was a cheap set of needle files (some broad, some blade, some triangle, some round) etc. It was like $3 from eBay, and they're good for adjusting all kinds of small bits that need smoothing, deepening, etc.
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Nov 18, 2013 03:38
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:What kind of accordion do you play? Piano or something weirder? Toy button accordion; I think I posted about it in your other thread. I don't get to practice much because of the housemate situation, but I have fun with it. I hadn't thought about putting a scrap of cloth under the strings, seems like a good idea.
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Nov 18, 2013 04:42
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