Hi everybody! I need your help in this sea of ukuleles.
I've played for years with an Arrow, 30 euros laminated uke, nothing special, but it's really well made. I setted it up with D'Addario carbon strings and really low action, it's like butter.
however, even if it sounds good for a laminated cheap uke, it's nothing compared to a solid wood one.
I've had for more than an year an Ohana SK38, and I really liked it, nice warm sound, ultralight weight, great look, BUT I couldn't stand the narrow nut.
after years with the Arrow I got used to the wider nut, 35,80mm, and the 34mm Ohana's nut was too narrow for me. it also had noticable dead spots on the B and C notes.
I tried for an year to get used to it, but nothing... so, after thinking about it a lot, I decided to sell the SK38 and look for something similar, so I bought a Kala SMHS... or I must say that I bought two of them...
the first one (brand new) came from the shop like it was used by a miner during his lunch break... dingles all over, even on the fretboard, and even a piece of rosewood "chewed" on the G string edge of the first fret.
the shop took it back and gave me my money back, so I bought another one from another shop, aesthetically perfect, but playing it a bit showed me some issues:
- 35mm nut, wider than the Ohana, but still narrow
- larger body, with the "classical guitar" bridge
- overall weight a bit too much, so it's not that comfortable while playing standing.
- various dead spots (G, G#, A, in particular the G#). also the first and "ruined" one had them, I checked before shipping it back.
now here I am only with the Arrow, that doesn't have dead spots (probably due to the fact that it's laminated and don't vibrate much), has the perfect nut, it's small and light, but sounds a bit to brittle and clearly "cheap".
PS: I love the friction tuners behind the headstock.
so, with all the above said, I'm trying to figure out which uke to buy, considering that I live in Italy and have to buy it online, there aren't shops with a wide range of uke. for years I thought that a ukulele couldn't cost more than 50/60 euros...
the most important things are:
- wide nut (35,80, 36mm)
- light body
- friction tuners and overall vintage/simple look
- possibly the simple bridge like the Ohana
- I prefer 12 frets fingerboards
for example,
I like the look of the Ohana sk38, but also the sk28, "nunes style", but I don't know the size of the nut (it seems, however, wider than the Sk38).
I like the look of the Ohana sk39, but it's still not available, only presented at the NAMM: it looks like the nut is super wide, but it has 17 frets.
also, and most important thing, I'd like to stay between 200 and 300 euros
can you help me ?
I've played for years with an Arrow, 30 euros laminated uke, nothing special, but it's really well made. I setted it up with D'Addario carbon strings and really low action, it's like butter.
however, even if it sounds good for a laminated cheap uke, it's nothing compared to a solid wood one.
I've had for more than an year an Ohana SK38, and I really liked it, nice warm sound, ultralight weight, great look, BUT I couldn't stand the narrow nut.
after years with the Arrow I got used to the wider nut, 35,80mm, and the 34mm Ohana's nut was too narrow for me. it also had noticable dead spots on the B and C notes.
I tried for an year to get used to it, but nothing... so, after thinking about it a lot, I decided to sell the SK38 and look for something similar, so I bought a Kala SMHS... or I must say that I bought two of them...
the first one (brand new) came from the shop like it was used by a miner during his lunch break... dingles all over, even on the fretboard, and even a piece of rosewood "chewed" on the G string edge of the first fret.
the shop took it back and gave me my money back, so I bought another one from another shop, aesthetically perfect, but playing it a bit showed me some issues:
- 35mm nut, wider than the Ohana, but still narrow
- larger body, with the "classical guitar" bridge
- overall weight a bit too much, so it's not that comfortable while playing standing.
- various dead spots (G, G#, A, in particular the G#). also the first and "ruined" one had them, I checked before shipping it back.
now here I am only with the Arrow, that doesn't have dead spots (probably due to the fact that it's laminated and don't vibrate much), has the perfect nut, it's small and light, but sounds a bit to brittle and clearly "cheap".
PS: I love the friction tuners behind the headstock.
so, with all the above said, I'm trying to figure out which uke to buy, considering that I live in Italy and have to buy it online, there aren't shops with a wide range of uke. for years I thought that a ukulele couldn't cost more than 50/60 euros...
the most important things are:
- wide nut (35,80, 36mm)
- light body
- friction tuners and overall vintage/simple look
- possibly the simple bridge like the Ohana
- I prefer 12 frets fingerboards
for example,
I like the look of the Ohana sk38, but also the sk28, "nunes style", but I don't know the size of the nut (it seems, however, wider than the Sk38).
I like the look of the Ohana sk39, but it's still not available, only presented at the NAMM: it looks like the nut is super wide, but it has 17 frets.
also, and most important thing, I'd like to stay between 200 and 300 euros
can you help me ?