resoman
Well-known member
I hate starving, LOL
I think you make good points. I just stumbled upon this site as I am deciding whether to make or buy my first Ukulele. For me, based on this discussion and other considerations, however, I have pretty much decided to buy instead.I was talking about the old tenor kit which differed significantly from the old soprano kit in its construction. We are talking peaches and apples here. The biggest difference in the "old" tenor kit and the new are in the laminated sides (saves costs but is icky in my mind), the lack of rosette (which was fun), the simplified and crude neck and tail blocks, but mostly in the bracing pattern which used to be a classic triple fan and is now some sort of X-bracing (???) pattern with weird floating side bars which make me curious on the difference in sound. I'm not saying it sounds any worse. Maybe it sounds killer. I don't know. I just wonder at why they went in this direction. I think they went this direction because the kit is easier to assemble, it costs less to produce because milling is much simplified, and it reduces the cost of having to field technical questions on the the tech help line, a not inconsiderable expense. Basically the whole thing has been cheaped and yes, dumbed down, and I think that is a shame. I take the ukulele seriously and I think SMD should also and put out a serious uke kit.
Harummmphhh. I feel better now.
It's market driven, if this is what the consumer wants, then this is what they get