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Old 07-07-2017, 08:40 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Default NUD (Ohana content)...

My wife and I belong to a uke group at the local community center, and as her technical proficiency (and understanding/appreciation of ukulele tone) has progressed she's finding her Ovation soprano (looks like a baby Adamas) increasingly inadequate; as I've done on a couple occasions in the past, I decided to surprise her with a little early anniversary present...

The obligatory pictures:

https://www.elderly.com/instruments/...or-ukulele.htm

- and a demo video:



(FYI it is the same instrument in the photos/video - we compared the wood grain/binding patterns)

While koa/acacia/mahogany are traditional - and, truth be told, I was ready to pull the trigger on the top-of-the-line TK-350G until someone snapped it up - I was extremely impressed by the brighter, more modern (and IMO more versatile) tone of this spruce/maple uke. Coming to the instrument as primarily guitar players we tend to take a guitar-oriented approach, for better or worse, and find that the broader dynamic range coupled with the longer scale length allows for not only the fingerstyle that's sweeping the uke world, but also non-traditional techniques (in uke terms) such as flatpicking and electric-style string-bending lead work (would've mentioned jazz chord-soloing, but Andy's got that covered). In addition, like any good maple-bodied guitar this puppy has loads of natural projection, not necessarily in terms of overwhelming volume (although that's also there in spades) but the "cutting power" associated with a fine archtop guitar: the ability to project sound well out in front of the player (not always obvious to the player, BTW) and be clearly heard in a dense instrumental mix - in our case, twenty local seniors happily strumming away on their $39 plywood Wal-Mart specials...

In terms of construction QC, somebody at Ohana has clearly done his homework: exceptionally lightweight (significantly less than the Kala and Lanikai tenors we've sampled, not to mention the low-end stuff) - which translates to lightning-quick response - tight clean construction/finish both inside and out, no dead spots anywhere on the neck (not exactly commonplace in a sub-$400 uke), first-class fretwork, ready-to-play right out of the box (although Elderly includes setup, I suspect they didn't need to do much if anything to this particular instrument - and it arrived in perfect tune), and let's face it, you don't see maple ukes every day (FWIW saw a video of an $850 LoPrinzi all-maple tenor and the Ohana compared very favorably - a bit more brightness and "ring" from the LoPrinzi's maple top, but whether or not that's a good thing is a matter of personal taste). Although we're relatively new to the uke thing, I'm guessing there's a good reason Ohana is somewhat of a "boutique," limited-distribution marque among factory-made instruments; if that's how they maintain such a high standard of tonal/structural quality, I say more power to them - they've made two fans here, and if they ever get around to producing some more (haven't seen them in a while) there's an Ohana TK-35G-10 tiple in my future...
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Old 07-10-2017, 04:09 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Default

Nice gift!

Ohana has a pretty good reputation among the ukulele world, although are not as widely distributed as Kala or Lanikai. If you really want a tonal treat, put a single low G on that tenor. (I use Aquila Red singles bought from Elderly). Most of my ukulele are now converted to low G, but I still retain one with a high G string for a more traditional sound.

Spruce tops do lend a crisper more modern tone over mahogany or koa. I've played several with various body woods and a spruce top. And a few Pono with cedar tops too. As with guitars, there are degrees of brightness and warmth.

Take a look at our club's web site to see if there is anything you can use in your studies: www.boiseukulelegroup.com
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Old 07-10-2017, 06:39 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Thanks, Earl - she's put in as much practice time over the last few days as she normally does in a couple weeks...

You're right about Kala and Lanikai being pretty much the standard among the better mass-produced ukes - a couple of the more proficient players in our group own examples in one or more different sizes/woods, and I own a Lanikai concert banjolele myself; as I said, I suspect that much of Ohana's quality and reputation result from the fact that, although competitively priced, they keep their output low, standards high, and distribution limited - I'm reminded of the highly-regarded/highly-recommended MIK Peerless jazz guitars in this respect...

I've already made preparations for the drop-G conversion: bought three sets of dedicated strings when I bought the uke, and we'll bring it into the shop for the requisite nut/bridge work when it's time for a string change. BTW I've been aware of this tuning for a long time - learned about it from Chuck Romanoff (of the Maine folk group Schooner Fare) who uses it on tenor banjo, and I've been doing the same for the last twenty years or so; FYI this was a fairly common practice among the better Jazz-Age uke players who wanted to pick up some good-paying jobs playing rhythm in jazz bands - although you lost the low-end extension, most of the time it wasn't even missed when the horns and drums kicked in full-tilt and you laid into it with a hard pick...

Thanks for the link to your uke group website; there's definitely a wealth of info there - which will take me a couple days to digest - and given the number of beginners among our ranks, I'm going to pass the link along to them at our Friday meeting; small correction: GHS makes a dedicated "Hawaiian" light-gauge fluorocarbon set for A-D-F#-B tuning...
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