Outdoor Ukulele Birthday gift!

Hi all,

I wanted a more durable uke to pack around in the car, take to work, hiking, trips etc. I was considering a Waterman or Woodi but the reviews were just too mixed. After reading good things about the Outdoor Ukulele Company, I ordered a soprano (birthday gift from my boyfriend).

Every single aspect of this purchase has been completely fantastic. I figured it would be WEEKS before I received it but they literally started creating my uke the minute I placed the order. I shared no less than 9 emails back and forth regarding my order and found their customer service to be excellent. I had my new outdoor uke within 3 days of placing the order. The added benefit of ordering from a company in my state (besides supporting a small, family run business) was that they shipped it 1 day priority for free.

I am SO HAPPY with this ukulele! They have resolved prior issues (squared off neck, frets, high action, cramped hand space below the headstock etc) and mine played beautifully right out of the box. Is it a solid wood uke? No. Does it sound decent? Yes. I wont even say "it sounds decent for a composite". It sounds decent just on its own and plays and sounds MUCH better than my laminate "beater" couch uke. Will these ever replace nice wood ukes? Of course not...but the fact that I can throw this in my 110 degree car without a second thought, play it while soaking in the tub, throw it in my backpack and even fish it out of the water after dropping it in....no harm done, totally makes this purchase worth it. I adore this little thing so much already. I got the bottle brown with all gold add ons and black Aguila Lava strings (pic shows the strings it came with though). It's sharp looking, plays nice and is as indestructible as a uke could be. It's a win win for me, and probably the best birthday gift I've ever gotten. If you are on the fence about this one....don't be. Just buy one!

Glad your quest led to a happy ending! This is definitely a better choice than the alternatives. Grats and happy birthday!

(Does it say that the plastic will be fine at 110F in a car?)

Congrats on your new uke! I'm glad to hear they resolved the issues the first generation of sopranos had.

Thank you! And yes...the Outdoor Ukulele website says their composite instruments are ok in temps -40 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ukester Brown has a great comparison between generation 1 and generation 2 on his website. I don't really need any more sopranos in my life (although there was a Martin at a local music store that sounded like heaven) but I am considering a second Outdoor Ukulele Tenor with a pickup.

My only gripe about the Outdoor Ukulele I own is that I took it to a big ukulele event (SCIUC) and I couldn't hear myself, and it also wasn't cutting through my classes like my wood (generally laminate) ukuleles can. Also...the first set of rye rabbit strings didn't last long, and while I liked them, I moved to Martin 620s as they are accessible just about everywhere.

Congratulations and happy birthday. I did not chime in on advice because I have never owned any of the plastic ukes, but I will. A good friend has the soprano and tenor Outdoor uke and I have played both. I have also played some other plastic ukes and the Outdoor uke was far and away the best of the bunch. Enjoy it.

Enjoy! Mine has given me a lot of pleasure from playing it in less than optimal conditions where I would never bring a wooden ukulele.

Nice review, just got my soprano outdoor. Compared it to my Makala pineapple soprano, and while it doesn't have the same volume or resonance, it sounds pretty much the same. I put low G strings on my ukes, my go to are aquila nylgut but since thier G is wire wound I had to go with d'addario on the outdoor, not sure how much of a difference they would make sound wise. For what it is, a go anywhere uke, I'm very happy with it. I will take it places and play it in conditions that I wouldn't dare to with my wooden ukes, and since I'm the outdoorsy type, that means a lot.

Happy Birthday and new Uke. I got a surprise Uke for my birthday too. It's a Waterman Glow in the Dark. The kids think it will be good if I or at least my Uke show up around the campfire. Don't care for the strings. I'll have to see if they glow before I change them.

ahoy

have second generation, soprano Outdoor ukulele
love it
it is my worry free kick around fun ukulele

mac