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  #31  
Old 02-06-2015, 09:37 AM
Watt Watt is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kupuna50 View Post
Some good thoughts from AGF members.
Living in Hawaii and playing ukulele semi-professionally, I have a somewhat different take on the question:
For your first uke, Pono's or Kala are OK. Good pricing, good quality.
But.....the tone on each is, in my opinion, missing.
If you've never played a uke, you'd never know.
Soon, after hearing other ukes, you'll feel like you wasted good bucks on your uke.
My suggestion is to get one of the "K's" - Kamaka, Kanilea or Koaloha.
A few more bucks, but well worth it.
Wonderful tone, great 'feel', excellent construction, beautiful woods.
As well, if you decide that playing a uke is not your 'thing', you can sell them with ease, whereas selling a Pono or Kala is significantly more difficult.

IMHO!
Since the OP already selected a Pono (a good choice for a well-made first uke), the point is largely moot. But I'll add my 2 cents anyway. The Ks are great ukes, no doubt. But for most of the music that I play on the uke - Americana and other traditional folk - I prefer my Gibson. And for classical and the like, I prefer my luthier-built cedar-top. The bottom line is that, while one of the Ks (or an old Martin koa) might be best for Hawaiian or similar styles, it's not, in my opinion, best for all.

Nick
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  #32  
Old 02-06-2015, 10:49 AM
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Originally Posted by nkatsonis View Post
Since the OP already selected a Pono (a good choice for a well-made first uke), the point is largely moot. But I'll add my 2 cents anyway. The Ks are great ukes, no doubt. But for most of the music that I play on the uke - Americana and other traditional folk - I prefer my Gibson. And for classical and the like, I prefer my luthier-built cedar-top. The bottom line is that, while one of the Ks (or an old Martin koa) might be best for Hawaiian or similar styles, it's not, in my opinion, best for all.

Nick
I have a luthier-built cedar top tenor with walnut back/sides and a low G string. I really don't care for that Hawaiian sound.
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  #33  
Old 02-15-2015, 11:13 AM
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BrunoBlack BrunoBlack is offline
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Originally Posted by joeguam View Post
You should check out www.theukulelesite.com, they have ukes in all price ranges and have awesome YT videos of the free setup they perform on every uke before it ship.

I'm not affiliated to that site by any means, I've just purchased a couple of ukes from them for family members who live in places where I can't set the uke up for them.
Great Advice: I purchased the ukulele from http://www.theukulelesite.com/ as recommended. Excellent communication throughout. During the setup they noticed the instrument had a small ding in the headstock. It was the last one of that model in stock, so they offered an upgrade(significant) at no additional cost to me - then shipped it from Hawaii 2-day air. They have locked me in as a customer!
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  #34  
Old 02-15-2015, 08:25 PM
joeguam joeguam is offline
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Glad to hear, they really set the bar!
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  #35  
Old 02-15-2015, 09:22 PM
Mooh Mooh is offline
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Some solid advice here.

I have a few Kala ukuleles and they're all very good bang for the buck. The all solid acacia tenor is real nice, and my favourite.

My advice is to ignore all laminate ukes, except maybe a resonator uke, or something to be used as a beater. I have yet to hear a laminate uke that could compare to a solid wood model.

Ditto on www.ukulelesite.com, their service and products are great.
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  #36  
Old 02-15-2015, 10:07 PM
joeguam joeguam is offline
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Originally Posted by Mooh View Post
My advice is to ignore all laminate ukes, except maybe a resonator uke, or something to be used as a beater. I have yet to hear a laminate uke that could compare to a solid wood model.

Have to agree with you here for the most part, except for one that I tried: Islander MT-4

This guy is all laminate but built real well. It sounds quality unplugged, and with a K&K Aloha Twin...I'd gig with it for sure.

Check it out if you get the chance...even the demo videos from theukulelesite.com shows how amazed they were.
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  #37  
Old 02-17-2015, 01:13 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joeguam View Post
Have to agree with you here for the most part, except for one that I tried: Islander MT-4

This guy is all laminate but built real well. It sounds quality unplugged, and with a K&K Aloha Twin...I'd gig with it for sure.

Check it out if you get the chance...even the demo videos from theukulelesite.com shows how amazed they were.
Well, amplified is hardly the same thing as acoustic, even when it's an acoustic with a good pickup or microphone. I don't doubt you though about the specific model, it may well sound great. Exceptions test the rules all the time.
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  #38  
Old 02-17-2015, 01:53 PM
joeguam joeguam is offline
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Originally Posted by Mooh View Post
Well, amplified is hardly the same thing as acoustic, even when it's an acoustic with a good pickup or microphone. I don't doubt you though about the specific model, it may well sound great. Exceptions test the rules all the time.

Yup, this is the only exception to laminates that I've encountered in my 19 years of playing ukulele. Most of the laminates aren't worth the hassle.
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  #39  
Old 03-15-2015, 01:14 PM
Bazmaz Bazmaz is offline
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Agree with most of the advice here - particularly in favour of Pono, Mainland and Fluke.

Disagree totally with the any friction tuners thoughts - most really serious uke players of the smaller scales I know are in agreement that geared pegs look silly on sopranos. The trouble comes with cheap friction pegs. But, GOOD quality friction pegs can be found - like Grover 4 series - it's surprising how different cheap and quality friction pegs can be. This video shows you more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vG3zNQCa8g

Otherwise my only tips for uke buying are

1. Read as many independent instrument reviews as you can. All things are not equal - and many very cheap solid wood ukes can be worse than many good quality laminates - construction is everything.

2. Choose a reputable ukulele specialist dealer. I know plenty of big name music shops in the UK who stock ukes, but don't have any staff in the store who know the first thing about them
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  #40  
Old 03-16-2015, 02:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mooh View Post
My advice is to ignore all laminate ukes, except maybe a resonator uke, or something to be used as a beater. I have yet to hear a laminate uke that could compare to a solid wood model.
This depends greatly on what one can afford, as it's difficult to find a uke with just a solid top for under $150.

For a "good" instrument, I agree that solid wood is best, but I've heard some all-laminated ukes from Kala, Luna, and Islander that were quite good -- maybe not quite as good as solid-top instruments, but good regardless. I recommend in the strongest terms buying from a reputable dealer like HMS (especially them, for their no-cost setup), but laminate doesn't necessarily mean "beater."

I recently bought a Kala KA-SLNG (long-neck soprano) which has excellent intonation and a sweet tone that's good enough to be mistaken for a solid top uke. It is not my "good" uke, but it's a lot of bang for the $91 it cost. Now, I admit that I bought it primarily as a traveler, but it's still a very nice uke. HMS has it posted with a video at http://www.theukulelesite.com/kala-k...-longneck.html. Here's a hastily-snapped picture of mine:



Like others here, I have no financial interest in or connection with HMS aside of being very happy with their offerings, prices and service.
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Last edited by cpmusic; 03-16-2015 at 02:27 PM.
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  #41  
Old 03-16-2015, 02:38 PM
quiltingshirley quiltingshirley is offline
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Any uke is better than No Uke. Yes, there is a difference with solid wood (you have to worry about humidity) but I've got to say my K brands do play better and make me a better player. My go to really does play itself with little effort on my part. I'm sure the semi custom build and set up did make a difference and the fact I paid so much more than I thought I would on my first ukulele has kept me playing.
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  #42  
Old 08-03-2015, 10:53 AM
SeamusORiley SeamusORiley is offline
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I come here for Ukulele advice because this forum has served me well for many years with guitar advice, custom purchasing, recording, lessons, and so much else.

I went from strumming a few chords for many years on a plastic chinese guitar to fingerpicking a Martin, practicing 1 hour per day on average, with 2-3 per day on weekends, for 5 straight years, having only DVDs as my instructor.

Last year, I noticed pain and weakness in my left thumb and struggle to cover F# with the thumb, and other related issues.

Arthritis.

I have been playing with my daughter's ukulele and see that Fred Sokolov has a new "blues" ukulele DVD which seems like fun.

I am looking for a Tenor, and although limited in funds, I do not want to "buy twice" and certainly don't need something difficult to press on.

Advice?

Do many Martin Ukuleles come up for sale in classified? Do some of our respected online dealers sell?

Newbie jumping in and following this thread, and its' links!

thanks!
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  #43  
Old 08-03-2015, 12:30 PM
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For under $400, Pono makes fine instruments. The well built but no frills tenors can be had in mahogany (my choice), acacia, or mango. Built by skilled craftsmen treated well, you will be proud to own one. Could be the last one you'll ever need, or set you on a course to financial ruin.
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  #44  
Old 08-03-2015, 01:30 PM
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Pono makes excellent ukes. I don't own one but have played enough to know they're worth the cost and then some. On the other hand, the big K brands while sounding very nice, have never inspired me to purchase one.

Ko'olau is much more of a custom shop...wonderful ukes.

None of my current ukes were built on the islands but a Ko'olau super soprano may change that at some point.
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  #45  
Old 08-03-2015, 05:47 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Br1ck View Post
For under $400, Pono makes fine instruments.
I agree. I haven't tried all of the ukes in this price range, but I have a Pono MGT (mango tenor) which is a beautiful and sweet sounding instrument with build quality matching much more expensive ukes. And while Pono ukuleles and guitars are made in Indonesia, Ko'olau (Pono's parent company) owns the shop, trains the workers, and pays them well for that market.

If that price range is out of reach, consider Kala, which has some nice solid-top ukuleles in the $200-300 price range.

Another brand I've heard of is Koa Pili Koko (KPK), which sells imported, all-solid wood ukes at very nice prices, like $215 for a basic tenor. I haven't seen any myself, but they get good notices by some of the folks at Ukulele Underground.
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