Im in the market for a nice uke. preferably concert size. I just want the best intonation i can get. I really dont care about cute decorations and i really dont want to pay for them or anything purely cosmetic. just sound. Price is not a concern however i dont really see why i would need to spend more than a grand. Where should i start?
Of shelf ukes, the ones with the best intonation are probably those with compensated saddles. The companies I know that use compensated saddles are Takumi, Kiwaya/Famous (even for the laminated FS- and FC- series), and aNueNue (at least in the Moon Bird series). There are probably others.
I have first hand experience with a Famous FS-5G (there is a concert version of this) and the aNueNue Moon Bird concert (just got it yesterday, not written a review yet - may do it later today or over the weekend) and both have "perfect" intonation up the entire neck. Both have compensated saddles and extremely good playability.
Check out Mim's current Opio Concerts...$425? She sells on eBay or you can contact her at her website. The Opios are the most "plain" but loudest ukuleles that you will ever play at the price point.
The Opio I had didn't have the best intonation I've seen. It was good, but not outstanding (actually had the vendor comment on this when he imported a Famous for me; said he hadn't seen a uke with similarly good intonation at the same price point). My Opio didn't have a compensated saddle.
Get a Kanilea, KoAloha, Kamaka, or Kiwaya set up from a good shop. Here is the dirty little secret that can bite you in the back side. You can have perfect intonation with one make of strings and be way off with other manufacture. Nylon and or florocarbon strings are made with widely varying compounds and diameters.......a whole can of worms that changes tension and therefore intonation.
well I think Im gonna have to just go outta town to demo a bunch of ukes. The music stores around here dont really have anything other than kala. I need something that has nice resonant percussive sounds. I played a kala spruce top concert which was decent. Sad to say Id still prefer my 80 dollar cordoba over any kala instrument ive played with a 200 dollar price tag. But the intonation is not that great. Would a deeper body and a spruce top be ideal for more percussive stuff?
What type of intonation problem do you have with your Córdoba? Do all strings get increasingly sharper as you play up the neck? If so, the intonation might be fixable with a new saddle and nut (might also further improve the sound) if the neck is straight. Using thinner strings might help some also, if it has the original Aquila strings on it.
A deeper body gives more sustain, so might not be ideal for percussive stuff.
it actually depends on the string. The C does go a little sharp up the fret board. they all go 7-11 cents sharp on the first fret. the other strings then go about 5 cents flat as you go up the fret board. a couple frets have buzz. dont get me wrong I still love it. I just want to upgrade.
And sustain wouldnt be a problem as i can mute with my hand. actually sustain would be be better giving more time to tap before i have to strum again to keep the melodic feel going.
