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Old 12-19-2019, 09:34 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Default NTD (New Tiple Day) coming...

Got one of these on order- should arrive sometime after the New Year (hands-on review to follow):





Back in the early/mid-70's I used to see these all the time on "Pawnshop Row" on Manhattan's 14th Street and at We Buy Guitars on 48th Street - '30s Martin T-28's with herringbone trim and killer Brazilian (they had a bunch of top-notch BRW that wasn't big enough to make guitars) could be had for $65-75, 18's for less, and 15/17-models for as little as $45. Thought they looked cool but didn't know what to make of them - not-quite-uke/not-quite-mandolin/not-quite-12-string ; found out they add a nice sparkle to a rhythm section (Teddy Bunn's Spirits of Rhythm used two of them at one point) - should punch up our senior center's uke group and bring a new voice to our band's acoustic sets...
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Old 12-21-2019, 10:47 AM
DownUpDave DownUpDave is offline
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Congratulations Steve those are very cool instruments. A member of our Uke Jam has one and it sounds great. He does open mic performances with it, he has a great Irish lilt to he singing voice and it blends wonderfully. Enjoy your new Tiple when it arrives. I look forward to your review
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Old 12-21-2019, 01:07 PM
JMFingerstyle JMFingerstyle is offline
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Very cool, Steve. Never saw one of these until this post, and had to look it up to find out how what a tiple actually is. I hope you'll post back with some audio or video when you receive it!
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Old 12-21-2019, 07:49 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DownUpDave View Post
...A member of our Uke Jam has one and it sounds great. He does open mic performances with it, he has a great Irish lilt to he singing voice and it blends wonderfully...
Kinda the same thing I was thinking, Dave - our band has a bunch of traditional/neo-trad tunes that we've pushed aside for a while due to audience demand for the electric stuff, and as soon as time/circumstances permit (and we find an Irish bar crazy/stupid/desperate enough to book us for a night ) I'll be putting it to good use...
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Old 12-28-2019, 03:11 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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FedEx tracking lists scheduled arrival for tomorrow (12/31) - review to follow...
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"Mistaking silence for weakness and contempt for fear is the final, fatal error of a fool"
- Sicilian proverb (paraphrased)

Last edited by Steve DeRosa; 12-30-2019 at 04:36 PM.
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Old 01-03-2020, 10:29 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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UPDATE:
Package arrived Tuesday morning, waited the requisite 24 hours before opening; what awaited me was a total trainwreck, IME far below the standard I've come to expect from Ohana, and in spite of the seller's claims this one never saw the hands of a tech for setup - here's the story:
  • Finish on back of headstock was heavily pitted - either a bad batch of finish or improperly cured
  • Tuner plates were tarnished - this one's been sitting around for a while
  • Strings were slack and had never been tuned - what I said about lack of setup
  • Strings had a grimy. sticky coating of crud that turned my fingers black - took me three wipedowns before I could even begin to try to tune
  • Finish on sides and back was rough, feeling almost like fine-grit sandpaper at some points, with fingerprints under the back finish
  • The back could be visibly/audibly flexed - which tap-testing traced to a loose brace directly below the interior label
As I said, this was purchased from a dealership with an otherwise good reputation in the uke community; while they have little control over what the factory produces/distributes - this one never should have left the Ohana plant - had there been due diligence on their part it would have been returned, if not upon receipt at least upon discovery of the multitude of issues/defects...

This one's going back, post haste - thing is, Ohana only produces a small batch every year or two, and I've been waiting for two years for one to become available; oh well, you live/you learn - should've grabbed one of those '30s Martins years ago...
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Old 01-03-2020, 02:53 PM
JMFingerstyle JMFingerstyle is offline
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Ugh. What a disappointment, Steve.
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Old 01-05-2020, 11:57 PM
PHJim PHJim is offline
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I got mine, a used made in Chicago Regal, from a yard sale for $100. It's holding up really well. I tune it to a C6, like a ukulele.

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