SteveZ
Well-known member
Last month the postman delivered a surprise - a new banjo-uke called the Duke 10. The surprise instrument is a prototype for a new release from the folk who produce The Duke banjo-ukes.
Over the years I've had several banjo-ukes, including one of The Duke folk's first endeavors in the banjo-uke market (the SideKick) and its successor (The Duke). Because of this experience Ed Ackman (the guru of DukeUke.com) in New Zealand asked me for my thoughts about his latest gem, the Duke 10. Ed said he plans to launch this new instrument on Kickstarter.com. How could I resist an opportunity to review a prototype? So, here are those thoughts.
The Duke 10 could be called the bigger brother of The Duke. The "10" indicates an increase in The Duke's drum size from 8 inches to 10 inches. Both are built to tenor ukulele scale. Another difference is in the body construction - the Duke 10 comes with a solid wood body while The Duke has a composite body. Both have a Schatten pickup factory-installed, a unique and handy addition for any banjo-uke. There are some other subtle distinctions between these two instruments, but these are the major ones.
The Duke 10 comes tuned GCEA with Aquila SuperNylgut strings. Being somewhat of a non-traditionalist, I tune my banjo-ukes the same as my tenor banjo, CGDA. So, I removed the high-G string, moved the C string to the #4 slot, installed a low-G Aquila wound string to the now-vacant #3 slot, detuned the E to D and the A string remained as-is. That gave me a "re-entrant C, CGDA" tuning with the similar tone range as low-G GCEA.
After letting the strings stabilize for a couple days, I put the Duke 10 through its paces. The sound is as I would expect from a 10-inch drum - loud and clean. The Aquila strings respond very well with the 10-inch drum, defintely stronger than with the 8-inch drum on most banjo-ukes. Whether one uses a pick (like I usually do) or finger-strums, the Duke 10 projects sound very well without any dullness or tinniness. Chord fingering is easy and the neck is comfortable to the hand. To see and hear a demo made by one of the Duke folk, go to https://youtu.be/UjL5w2ofPYI.
The tenor uke scale and the 10-inch drum are a natural pair. I used to have the Deering Banjo-Uke - a fine instrument - which comes with an 11-inch drum and weighs almost as much as my Deering tenor banjo. As much as I like the Deering banjo-uke, the Duke 10's reduced weight (just over two pounds) and 10-inch drum size make it more comfortable (to me) over longer playing sessions. In addition, being able to "amp up" if/when desired and be mixed when appropriate, thanks to the built-in pickup, is a neat plus.
The Duke 10 is open-backed. Like all open-backed banjos and banjo-ukes, a lot of sound can find itself being muffled by the player's body if the player holds it too close. The Schatten pickup provides an efficient way to compensate for any muffled output, something band members and buskers especially can appreciate. Since I have this too-close bad habit, I took a standard-sized Tone-Gard off a mandolin and tried it on the Duke 10 as an experiment. The Tone-Gard is designed to negate body-dampening effect and is popular with mandolinists. The Tone-Gard fit perfectly and worked like a champ, adding only about 3 ounces to the instrument's weight.
Okay, I like the Duke 10, a lot. No question about it! The Duke folk's decision to use a 10-inch drum was pure genius. While the Duke 10 is not a tenor banjo, it's more like one than any 8-inch banjo-uke I've played, and tenor banjo is the "banjo standard" for this breed of instruments. Band members, buskers and front-porch pickers alike may find the Duke 10 is just what's needed when a banjo sound is desired, especially when one would like to amp/mix the sound. I don't know what the Duke 10's price will be, but Ed Ackman said he hopes to keep it below US$400.
I'm not looking forward to sending the prototype Duke 10 back to New Zealand any time soon. I really need to convince Ed and his folks that I need to do a lot more testing and evaluating, at least through a couple more sets of strings. One should be thorough in whatever one does. Right, Ed?
Over the years I've had several banjo-ukes, including one of The Duke folk's first endeavors in the banjo-uke market (the SideKick) and its successor (The Duke). Because of this experience Ed Ackman (the guru of DukeUke.com) in New Zealand asked me for my thoughts about his latest gem, the Duke 10. Ed said he plans to launch this new instrument on Kickstarter.com. How could I resist an opportunity to review a prototype? So, here are those thoughts.
The Duke 10 could be called the bigger brother of The Duke. The "10" indicates an increase in The Duke's drum size from 8 inches to 10 inches. Both are built to tenor ukulele scale. Another difference is in the body construction - the Duke 10 comes with a solid wood body while The Duke has a composite body. Both have a Schatten pickup factory-installed, a unique and handy addition for any banjo-uke. There are some other subtle distinctions between these two instruments, but these are the major ones.
The Duke 10 comes tuned GCEA with Aquila SuperNylgut strings. Being somewhat of a non-traditionalist, I tune my banjo-ukes the same as my tenor banjo, CGDA. So, I removed the high-G string, moved the C string to the #4 slot, installed a low-G Aquila wound string to the now-vacant #3 slot, detuned the E to D and the A string remained as-is. That gave me a "re-entrant C, CGDA" tuning with the similar tone range as low-G GCEA.
After letting the strings stabilize for a couple days, I put the Duke 10 through its paces. The sound is as I would expect from a 10-inch drum - loud and clean. The Aquila strings respond very well with the 10-inch drum, defintely stronger than with the 8-inch drum on most banjo-ukes. Whether one uses a pick (like I usually do) or finger-strums, the Duke 10 projects sound very well without any dullness or tinniness. Chord fingering is easy and the neck is comfortable to the hand. To see and hear a demo made by one of the Duke folk, go to https://youtu.be/UjL5w2ofPYI.
The tenor uke scale and the 10-inch drum are a natural pair. I used to have the Deering Banjo-Uke - a fine instrument - which comes with an 11-inch drum and weighs almost as much as my Deering tenor banjo. As much as I like the Deering banjo-uke, the Duke 10's reduced weight (just over two pounds) and 10-inch drum size make it more comfortable (to me) over longer playing sessions. In addition, being able to "amp up" if/when desired and be mixed when appropriate, thanks to the built-in pickup, is a neat plus.
The Duke 10 is open-backed. Like all open-backed banjos and banjo-ukes, a lot of sound can find itself being muffled by the player's body if the player holds it too close. The Schatten pickup provides an efficient way to compensate for any muffled output, something band members and buskers especially can appreciate. Since I have this too-close bad habit, I took a standard-sized Tone-Gard off a mandolin and tried it on the Duke 10 as an experiment. The Tone-Gard is designed to negate body-dampening effect and is popular with mandolinists. The Tone-Gard fit perfectly and worked like a champ, adding only about 3 ounces to the instrument's weight.
Okay, I like the Duke 10, a lot. No question about it! The Duke folk's decision to use a 10-inch drum was pure genius. While the Duke 10 is not a tenor banjo, it's more like one than any 8-inch banjo-uke I've played, and tenor banjo is the "banjo standard" for this breed of instruments. Band members, buskers and front-porch pickers alike may find the Duke 10 is just what's needed when a banjo sound is desired, especially when one would like to amp/mix the sound. I don't know what the Duke 10's price will be, but Ed Ackman said he hopes to keep it below US$400.
I'm not looking forward to sending the prototype Duke 10 back to New Zealand any time soon. I really need to convince Ed and his folks that I need to do a lot more testing and evaluating, at least through a couple more sets of strings. One should be thorough in whatever one does. Right, Ed?