interesting concept, and nicely built, but ultimately a little flawed..
http://www.gotaukulele.com/2017/09/ashbury-lonely-player-travel-ukulele.html
http://www.gotaukulele.com/2017/09/ashbury-lonely-player-travel-ukulele.html
Ashbury Lonely Player Travel ukulele - REVIEW
- Thread starter bazmaz
- Start date
Croaky Keith
Well-known member
Maybe a mic stuffed up its rear end would work, & re shape the 'nut' end, with some foam rubber over the tuner end.
Edit: It would need to be concert or tenor scale for me though.
Edit: It would need to be concert or tenor scale for me though.
Graham Greenbag
Well-known member
Thanks for the review, it seems to confirm much of what I suspected - some months back I'd wondered about getting one and did a bit research. I've not played one but someone in the Uke Club that I play in has one - and about two dozen other Ukes two - and he occasionally brings it. He seems to prefer his sub Soprano size Caramel to the Ashbury, I guess it's louder and the more traditional shape maybe fits in better but I don't know whether that Sopranino size Uke still plays in C or needs special strings.
Edit. IIRC neither sounds appealing to me (a bit plinky as well as quiet) so if you're able to then 'try before you buy' is best or you'll likely just waste their small price and wish you'd bought something else.i
The 'Lonely player' name is maybe because they are for folk playing to themself (so probably alone) in say a tent, hotel room or cabin? In such places you probably wouldn't want too much volume so it's quietness wouldn't be an issue and maybe more of an advantage? Perhaps it's the quality of sound and playability that matters most but for a mere £45 they're surely not a bad buy for someone of limited means and maybe there are things that the home Luthier could do to improve it too? If the player wants to retain a Soprano scale then I can't think of any other Travel Uke that's as compact and affordable, I just wish that Asbury would rework and refine the design to make the best of what is, to my mind, potentially quite a useful bit of kit.
Edit. IMHO its a fine and personal judgement as to whether this Uke would end up being much use to a would be purchaser - so play one before you buy. Besides other issues IIRC they don't produce a sound that appeals so expect to change that or put up with it.
I wondered about how you hold it when standing up but isn't it more intended for use seated in a private room, tent or cabin? For that use a strap is probably not essential but even seated I do find them a real help and I'd want to install something on this travel Uke. Perhaps the tail piece would take a strap button and the far end face (beyond and around the corner from the zero fret) might take a small round head screw to tie a lace to? Maybe that's an imperfect solution but perhaps still a step forward?
Thanks again for the review and for covering such a wide range of Ukes.
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I'm not sure there is much that could be done to increase the breadth of tone and volume. There just isn't enough sound chamber and it's not traditionally braced in tension either.
Strap buttons - tricky - perhaps a screw at the head end would work, but the tail piece - not much to screw into without screwing it on the front of the lip which would have the strap coming off a the wrong angle. Not sure.
Strap buttons - tricky - perhaps a screw at the head end would work, but the tail piece - not much to screw into without screwing it on the front of the lip which would have the strap coming off a the wrong angle. Not sure.
Maybe one could tie a shoelace or small leather cord around the tuner area, parallel to the lines of the C & E shafts but betw them and the G & A tuner shafts, and like you said put a screw or button straight into the middle of the end of the head area, also parallel to the string path...
This would be similar to a normally strapped uke that has a single strap button at the butt-end, just reversed...
