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Old 01-01-2016, 10:10 PM
J.R. Rogers's Avatar
J.R. Rogers J.R. Rogers is offline
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Default Polycarbonate Uke from Outdoor Ukulele

I just played this brilliant little Ukulele that sounded good and was nearly transparent. I had never seen this material used for string instruments before and was wondering if anyone had seen an acoustic guitar built from this stuff? A transparent acoustic.... just think of the possibilities (and great puns we can come up with)



JR
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Old 01-02-2016, 09:44 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Plastic ukes are nothing new - they were a staple of the five-and-dime stores in the 50's/early-60's - and Mario Maccaferri (of Selmer fame) made a line of high-quality, upscale plastic instruments (steel- and nylon-string guitars, violins, ukes) in the early-50's that unfortunately found themselves relegated to toy stores, when musicians of the day failed to take them seriously; while the bulk of these early instruments were opaque, I recall at least one uke from the late-50's made of transparent red plastic (my first case of GAS, BTW). If it's reasonably durable it could be a viable alternative to the POS entry-level ukes at the bottom end of the market...
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Old 01-02-2016, 10:54 AM
blue blue is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa View Post
If it's reasonably durable it could be a viable alternative to the POS entry-level ukes at the bottom end of the market...
That's a little strong. My Fluke is a great instrument. Some may not like the aesthetic, but if it's resonant, LOUD, has great intonation and action, it's a great instrument. No reason someone can't figure out a poly top that would work as well a poly back and sides can.

For the record the first generation square neck models were not a hit with players. This one is different from that one.

Here's a review of the original



and the new one

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Old 01-03-2016, 02:00 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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I love the Fluke ukes - I'm talking about the crap that sells for about one-tenth of what your Fluke cost new, that all the big-box stores (as well as Toys-R-Us) sell like crazy every Christmas...
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Old 01-03-2016, 04:09 PM
ukejon ukejon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by J.R. Rogers View Post
I just played this brilliant little Ukulele that sounded good and was nearly transparent. I had never seen this material used for string instruments before and was wondering if anyone had seen an acoustic guitar built from this stuff? A transparent acoustic.... just think of the possibilities (and great puns we can come up with)



JR
Very cool idea. I definitely need to try one of these. Thanks for posting JR.
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Old 01-03-2016, 05:19 PM
Matt McGriff Matt McGriff is offline
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I've had an outdoor soprano for a couple of years. Took it up to Canada on a trip and it served me well. I do wish it had metal frets though.
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