In the market for a tenor uke

[Luke_]

Looking to buy one here soon to pluck around on. I've seen and heard about martins of course (little too expensive) the gretsch and eastmans. Who recommends what? I want a quality instrument, so no cheap junk.. Trying to keep it between $150-$250ish

[bohemian]

Why Tenor ?

[Eclectichick]

In that price range, I'd recommend a Cordoba. It was my first uke and a great instrument, I think. Definitely not a toy. Enjoy the search!

[Luke_]

Originally Posted by Eclectichick

In that price range, I'd recommend a Cordoba. It was my first uke and a great instrument, I think. Definitely not a toy. Enjoy the search!

I've been skeptical of cordoba... Just no experience with them. Never heard never seen.

A tenor cuz my hands are too big for a Soprano or classic

[joeguam]

Whatever uke you decide on, make sure you get it from theukulelesite.com because they do this to every uke for free before it leaves their shop:


But as a professional uke player for 15 years, my recommendation for a first uke in the $150 range would be the Islander MT-4. The cordoba's are also good instrument builds.

Whatever you do, please save yourself headache and do not buy Lanikai.

[Luke_]

Well placed an order thru the ukelelesite opted for the 9121 gretsch. It's a cutaway tenor with electronics. Also got the canvas hard case. Thanks for the tip joe...

2day shipping

[harpon]

Love Cordoba classicals, so when I wanted a concert uke- I tried one of theirs-

They are put together well, and the basic model has a sharp abalone blue inlay, nice Aquila nylgut strings, but I found the laminate body to be a little dull sounding- not bad just not that lively-

I had on order a cheap uke from China that advertised itself as tenor sized with sharp fingerboard inlays, die cast tuners,
and a sappelle mahogany-like body- at a price just not seen this side of the Pacific

when it arrived it was in fact a 23" concert- but sounded so much warmer than the Cordoba- I'm still trying to sell

a mahogany body is the sure bet in the lower price ranges- something porous and not laminate or clear coating- difficult to find on the net unseen unfortunately- so don't be afraid to ask questions of the vendors

I'd probably recommend Kala

[joeguam]

Originally Posted by Luke_

Well placed an order thru the ukelelesite opted for the 9121 gretsch. It's a cutaway tenor with electronics. Also got the canvas hard case. Thanks for the tip joe...

2day shipping

Wow, I just looked up the spec page on theukulelesite for that Gretsch and man that thing looks pretty sweet! The demo also sounded real nice too. Congrats.

Just a bit from experience, even though it said two-day shipping, it make take 2-3 days for it to leave their shop because of the setup work. If you can imagine the amount of time it would take for a luthier to perform the same setup among their other orders, they're actually pretty efficient.

Let us know how you like it, looking forward to the "NUD" thread!

[Luke_]

No bout! NUD will be upon us soon enough. If it makes it by the end of the week I'll be happy. I know so little about them but I know that it may be a good release for guitar slumps. Maybe it will turn into a flame of its own someday. Any suggestions on where to start? I've looked up basic chords and technique... But playing songs are where it's at I'm sure. So anybody got any suggestions?

[Matt McGriff]

This is a good resource-

http://www.uvukeclub.com/handouts

Chord shapes right in place.

[Luke_]

Appreciate that, looks like a great place to start. Lots of info and material

[joeguam]

If you prefer videos more than handouts, this should keep you busy for a while:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATta...6F28C13A0A9AC2

That playlist has 62 "play-alongs" or tutorials.

[Luke_]

Nice, I do learn better from videos thanks

[Luke_]

Some poor communication so far. I placed the order on Sunday sent an email on Tuesday asking if they could give me an idea on the expected processing time. (And also wanted to clear up some details on the purchase notes) haven't heard from them yet.... Kinda bores me a little. If its a week they should say that on the site

[Luke_]

Evidently I can't read got looking on the site ant there's a spot that states they are a week out on setups.... Still no return email..