What? First off - please don't have me down as a Spector fan (the avatar) - I just think his hair looks funny is all. Don't let that rub you up the wrong way to the point of ranting at me.
Re my reviews - I bought this myself from Amazon - I wanted to see exactly what a non-setup version of what is their 'best selling' ukulele would arrive like. There was zero point in buying from a good uke dealer to do that, as they would have done setup on it - i.e. - EXACTLY my point.
But check out all my reviews before generalising. The main dealers get a LOT of my money, and the main brands also send me loan ukes direct. I keep them balanced across all sources in order to keep them as realistic as possible. I would dearly wish that everyone supported their local music stores, but in reality they don't - and this is the sort of thing that Amazon knock out.
Also - read all my reviews to see that I am hardly reviewing 'primarily' to promote stores - what horse s**! I review to tell would be buyers what I think of the ukes and nothing else. I ALWAYS state how I got the uke though and from where. The majority actually come very well setup by good dealers so your statement that they 'appear to you to be ukuleles straight out of the box' is just plain wrong. This one is straight out of the box precisely because that is what you get if you order it from Amazon. And a beginner thinking they have a £20 bargain may well take it to a tech to sort out - but that costs more money and the bargain price starts to diminish.
When I buy a uke, unlike your shoe comparison (odd choice) - I recognise that they are technical instruments and I DO expect dealers to ensure that what goes out is capable of the basics of play and tuning.
So, sorry to disagree with everything you say, but there you are. What matters to me is total impartiality from a range of suppliers, stores and elsewhere. I believe the range of reviews has that, and is not skewed towards any sort of cause you may hint at.
But... do I think this uke is s**? Yes I do. Do I think that Amazon check nothing - yes I do. Do I think reputable dealers check what they send out - yes I do.
EDIT - really do think you need to see my full list of uke reviews on http://www.gotaukulele.com/p/ukulele-reviews.html and now tell me that I am skewed to something or other, and that I don't disclose where they come from.
EDIT 2 - Avatar changed for fear of offending others who think these things matter...
Re my reviews - I bought this myself from Amazon - I wanted to see exactly what a non-setup version of what is their 'best selling' ukulele would arrive like. There was zero point in buying from a good uke dealer to do that, as they would have done setup on it - i.e. - EXACTLY my point.
But check out all my reviews before generalising. The main dealers get a LOT of my money, and the main brands also send me loan ukes direct. I keep them balanced across all sources in order to keep them as realistic as possible. I would dearly wish that everyone supported their local music stores, but in reality they don't - and this is the sort of thing that Amazon knock out.
Also - read all my reviews to see that I am hardly reviewing 'primarily' to promote stores - what horse s**! I review to tell would be buyers what I think of the ukes and nothing else. I ALWAYS state how I got the uke though and from where. The majority actually come very well setup by good dealers so your statement that they 'appear to you to be ukuleles straight out of the box' is just plain wrong. This one is straight out of the box precisely because that is what you get if you order it from Amazon. And a beginner thinking they have a £20 bargain may well take it to a tech to sort out - but that costs more money and the bargain price starts to diminish.
When I buy a uke, unlike your shoe comparison (odd choice) - I recognise that they are technical instruments and I DO expect dealers to ensure that what goes out is capable of the basics of play and tuning.
So, sorry to disagree with everything you say, but there you are. What matters to me is total impartiality from a range of suppliers, stores and elsewhere. I believe the range of reviews has that, and is not skewed towards any sort of cause you may hint at.
But... do I think this uke is s**? Yes I do. Do I think that Amazon check nothing - yes I do. Do I think reputable dealers check what they send out - yes I do.
EDIT - really do think you need to see my full list of uke reviews on http://www.gotaukulele.com/p/ukulele-reviews.html and now tell me that I am skewed to something or other, and that I don't disclose where they come from.
EDIT 2 - Avatar changed for fear of offending others who think these things matter...
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