|
|
#1
03-22-2017, 08:58 PM
|
|||
|
|||
Guitaleles, piccolo guitars, baritone ukeleles, mini's, travel guitars . . .
There's a whole category of little itty bitty fretted instruments out there.
Convenient for close quarters, convenient in situations where you don't want much volume, convenient for travel -- but how would a person decide among all these different little instruments? For example, I chose my Cordoba Mini M because I trust Cordoba, I prefer nylon strings, and I'm a cheapskate. (And it's so dang cute I can hardly stand it.) But how would someone else decide? What would be your choice if you were looking for a small fretted instrument?
__________________
A. Riley rebeginning after a long, long hiatus Ibanez Artwood Vintage grand concert acoustic La Patrie Motif parlor-size classical Cordoba Mini M travel-size classical Cordoba Guilele even smaller classical (so cute!) and Ohana SK20-S soprano ukelele 
|
|
#2
03-22-2017, 09:32 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I chose a Pepe Romero Sr. Signature 6 string as an advancement beyond the baritone uke, and it is designed by his luthier son, a high end classical and uke builder.
|
|
#5
03-23-2017, 01:03 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I have a Taylor GS Mini M. Love the sound. Great travel guitar. I also like my ukes just coz they're fun.
__________________
Phil Playing guitar badly since 1964. Some Taylor guitars. Three Kala ukuleles (one on tour with the Box Tops). A 1937 A-style mandolin.
|
|
#6
03-23-2017, 03:41 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
GS MiniE Rosewood for me
__________________
Martin OODB JT Gibson J45 Yamaha LLTA Yamaha SLG200S Yamaha NTX1200R Taylor GSMiniE Rosewood Joe Brown Uke AER Compact 60 Marshall AS50D Now 100% Acoustic and loving it ! No more GAS
|
|
#8
03-23-2017, 05:48 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Yes they are very nice. I had this one made just for me. I told em' to us the best wood available. 
|
|
#9
03-23-2017, 06:06 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Who built it, what kind of wood, etc? I love the small guitars too. In order from smallest to largest I've got A Yamaha guitalele, A Lanikia Uke, A harmony baritone Uke, A Martin 2-17, A CA Cargo An 0-17 and a Huss & Dalton 00 I'd like to upgrade the guitalele some day. A while back I was lusting after one made by Pono so far it's just lust.
|
|
#10
03-23-2017, 06:12 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
missing from the list
Missing from the "small guitar" list is a Tiple. If you are a master, there's great music to be made from them. Me, I can't figure out what to play, wrong genre perhaps. Used with a pick, they are very loud, at least as loud as a loud guitar. With fingertips, quiet. And, due to the 10 strings (2 sets of 2, 2 sets of 3, 4 courses total, like a uke has), they sound like a heavenly chorus. And they are smaller bodied than a uke.
Mostly in the recent past, they have been used for Hawaiian and South American music.
__________________
The Bard Rocks Fay OM Sinker Redwood/Tiger Myrtle Sexauer L00 Adk/Magnolia For Sale Hatcher Jumbo Bearclaw/"Bacon" Padauk Goodall Jumbo POC/flamed Mahogany Appollonio 12 POC/Myrtle MJ Franks Resonator, all Australian Blackwood Blackbird "Lucky 13" - carbon fiber '31 National Duolian + many other stringed instruments.
|
|
#11
03-23-2017, 06:30 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
I had it built by http://kanileaukulele.com/about-kanilea/ about 8 years ago. I asked them to use the best Koa available. I think I paid about 1800. You can see and hear it here: https://spark.adobe.com/page/SwoXvKisodGiW/
|
|
#12
03-23-2017, 06:44 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
__________________
My YouTube Page: http://www.youtube.com/user/ukejon 2014 Pono N30 DC EIR/Spruce crossover 2009 Pono koa parlor (NAMM prototype) 2018 Maton EBG808TEC 2014 Hatcher Greta 13 fret cutaway in EIR/cedar 2017 Hatcher Josie fan fret mahogany 1973 Sigma GCR7 (OM model) rosewood and spruce 2014 Rainsong OM1000N2 ....and about 5 really nice tenor ukuleles at any given moment
|
|
#13
03-23-2017, 07:10 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I recently bought a Cordoba SM-CE mini.
That's the newer one... Spalted Maple exterior veneer, cutaway, pickup. 20" scale... I installed the "E" or standard tuning string set... And have hardly played anything else since. Thing sounds good, is very light and handy (the perfect armchair guitar) and the 20" scale is close enough to a full-sized instrument that it feels very similar to my full-sized "crossover" guitar. My only complaint... When I plugged the thing in with the "A" tuning strings, it sounded fine. The pickup seemed to work well. However, changing over to the heavier E-tuning strings threw the bass response way out of whack... I haven' t been able to get a good amplified sound since.
|
|
#14
03-23-2017, 07:14 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I started with 00 and 0 sized guitars a number of years ago thinking those were "travel" guitars. After realizing that they aren't that much easier to pack in a car than any other full size guitar I dabbled with travel guitars like the Taylor baby. As I moved smaller at first I looked at instruments like the guitarleles and baritone ukes thinking I wanted to stay with or similar to guitar tuning. Last year I took the plunge and bought a soprano uke re-entrant tuning and all. After a while of playing and learning new chord forms I've come to appreciate these small instruments for what they are. They have their own unique voice and my preference now is to stay away from the "hybrid" small instruments aimed at guitar players. If anyone is looking at these small instruments like the ukulele, baritone ukulele, tenor guitar, etc. don't be afraid to take the plunge with their different tunings. I've found it more rewarding than trying to play them like a guitar. As an aside I've now got a Martin T1K tenor uke on its way to add to the stable. They can become as addicting as guitar.
|
