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#1
03-26-2012, 10:16 PM
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Any advice on a Ukulele?
Hey guys I picked up a Uke the other day to play and it was kind of fun. I think I want to buy one but am curious what I need to spend to get a decent one and what size people generally recommend. I want to keep it reasonable in price like a thousand or less. Can you get a good one for that or are they more? I know Collings and Martin both make them but is it better to go with a lesser known builder like with a classical guitar and if so which one? I am pretty clueless when it comes to ukulele so any advice would help. Thanks.
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#2
03-26-2012, 10:29 PM
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My friends at http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/ make some pretty amazing stuff. They've been growing like crazy. Just a wonderful couple that wakes up every morning and walk out to the barn and builds ukes all day together. Of late they've made ukes for people like Dave Mathews, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Douglas, Eddie Vedder.. I have a mango concert uke they made me that I love.
   
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#3
03-26-2012, 10:29 PM
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You have a lot of choices for a thousand dollars. I just picked up a used Collings UT2 Koa and am very impressed with it.
Google ukulele underground and check out their forums. A lot of good info. Easy transition from acoustic guitar to uke...enjoy.
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#4
03-26-2012, 10:50 PM
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#5
03-26-2012, 10:55 PM
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For what it's worth, Zee Avi plays the same brand of uke as min7b5 mentioned. The first hint was the headstock, I'd seen it in a few of her videos, and when I checked the "Artists" page on their site, here name was there.
http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/artists.php
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#7
03-26-2012, 11:57 PM
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[QUOTE=min7b5;2985352]My friends at http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/ make some pretty amazing stuff. They've been growing like crazy. Just a wonderful couple that wakes up every morning and walk out to the barn and builds ukes all day together. Of late they've made ukes for people like Dave Mathews, Joni Mitchell, Jerry Douglas, Eddie Vedder.. I have a mango concert uke they made me that I love.
Is this the concert or soprano or what size? also which model is it? The website doesn't make it very clear what the difference is between a classical and a traditional other than price. I am looking for just the classic hawaiian sound. Do I get anything more than cosmetically higher graded wood with the classical? Also nice uke and thanks for the tip. These guys look like kind of what I am looking for. Pretty crazy they have only been around since 2008 and already have such a large following.
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#8
03-26-2012, 11:58 PM
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#9
03-27-2012, 12:41 AM
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I suggest you hunt up a vintage Martin and get familiar with the sound. There are two families of tone. Martin and Hawaiian.
I love them both. The old Martins are punchy and loud with great tone. The more modern Hawaiian ukes have a lovely warm bell-tone quality. Welcome to the world of the uke. :-) You will never look back. They are addictive.
__________________
Mike MacLeod, Calgary
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#10
03-27-2012, 01:28 AM
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Whatever you do, just be sure you check out the intonation carefully before you commit to a particular ukulele. The low priced ones tend to have TERRIBLE intonation. Even some of the higher priced ones have troubles too. We came close to buying a used Koaloha in the $600 range that had wonderful tone. But it had simply awful intonation problems that a good, experienced repair guy told us would be very difficult if not impossible to fix. With some of these ukuleles the problems are just weird - on some we have tried out the intonation problem is not linear as you go up the neck. In other words, the intonation does not necessarily get progressively worse as you head up the neck, but might be worst, say, around the 5th or 6th or 7th fret and not so bad at the 12th fret.
I can hardly believe that some of the lower end ukulele manufacturers can ship their instruments out and call them instruments in good conscience. I have played some much more expensive ones with perfect intonation (and lovely tone), so it is obviously possible to build a good ukulele. And I'll bet that beautiful ukulele in the photos posted above is a quality instrument.
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#11
03-27-2012, 10:55 AM
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There's cool. There's expensive. And there's just plain works. The Magic Fluke company ukes just plain work! Check the reviews online and on Youtube. One of these at $180 will give all the performance, and accuracy of intonation you will ever need. Your next uke purchase will be for Aesthetic or UAS (uke acquisition syndrome) reasons, not because this one wan't enough of an instrument. As a National Player I have frequent bouts of UAS for a National Uke! But my two flukes keep me happy as a player.
 
__________________
I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators
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#12
03-27-2012, 11:53 AM
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Yes, I should have mentioned the Flukes and Fleas in my post about intonation problems. They are the exception to my comments about intonation problems in lower priced ukuleles. All the Flukes and Fleas I have tried out had great intonation. Some of the more expensive all-wood ukuleles sound better to me otherwise, but a Fluke or Flea is a solid, playable instrument for not a lot of money.
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#13
03-27-2012, 04:05 PM
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You can spend low, and go with Blue's suggestion, and a good one. You can spend high and go with Mya, or a vintage Martin. Good suggestions as well. But stay away from the new Martins, they aren't there yet. Yes, the Nazareth Style-2. I sent one back yesterday, and I was so looking forward to it. Horrible intonation, poor design. Tall nut, just seemed very pedestrian.
Kiwaya makes a fine uke in the Martin style though. IMHO, all of the above.
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#14
03-27-2012, 04:44 PM
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Quote:
__________________
I only play technologically cutting edge instruments. Parker Flys and National Resonators
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