Liking my Outdoor Ukulele - want another

[Crazy Canuck]

How long from the time you ordered it?
I'm really excited too, I have no idea yet how long it'll be.

I placed the order on December 30th, and they shipped January 5th. It's been held up in Customs due to Christmas volume for a few days, but tracking shows it's on it's way

[Ukecaster]

Hope it doesn't get held up by CITIES regulations, those unendangered plastic trees are really taking a beating lately.

[dgame]

These are good values - psychologically it's under $100 for a good USA-made uke. Get it, you know you want it.
I have had the tenor and soprano versions and they're both very nice. I preferred the tenor but you can't go wrong.
If anyone has any string recommendations to make these louder though, let me know. My only minor gripe was that they're a little on the quiet side, presumably due to the plastic material. Aquilas would be my guess.

I put Martin M620 strings on my Outdoor Ukulele Tenor and it seems louder. It could be because the Martins are thicker strings and I can strum harder. The stock strings are thinner and felt sharp to me so I did not strum as enthusiastically.

[jer]

Awaiting a tenor. I see PeteyMike64 on youtube installed an Ebony saddle. He stacked two ebony saddles in front of the bridge to make the saddle slightly higher than the existing saddle, making it the primary saddle/string contact point. Anyone else try any mods? I plan on doing the same saddle mod with some bone to see if there is any change in volume/resonance.

Got a link? I looked a bit on youtube but didn't find it. It looks like a lot of his videos are with the old version sopranos.
If he actually put a new saddle forward (more towards the neck) of where the original is molded in, that's going to cause the intonation to be sharp...especially if it's also raising the action at the same time.

The bridge and saddle are molded into the instrument itself, so you don't get any better saddle to top contact and transfer of vibrations than that. Rigging up some sort of new saddle could add a bit of sustain, if it was heavy enough, but that'd be at the expense of volume. Anything you're adding to the top is going to be dampening some sound. Sure it could change tone too, but whether that was for better or worse would be personal preference.

The only mod I can think of that would actually not change something for the negative would be cosmetic...such as painting (assuming you didn't get too heavy with it). Everything else is molded in, so adjustments are just not really there without damaging something.

[Uke Don]

I think it's actually PeteyMack64. Here's the video where he talks about it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAb0HnX8sWQ at about 6:20. Problem is that by shortening the scale you are going to mess with the intonation.

[Choirguy]

Okay. I can clarify here...the ukulele Pete is playing in that video IS NOT the current model. It is the first version—and they MASSIVELY redesigned the ukulele. It is a different beast and the experience is different than the 1st Generation. I was very, very kindly gifted a 1st Generation and I love it because it is the 1st Generation. I do not have a 2nd Generation Soprano. I do have the tenor, which is the same, generally, as the 2nd Generation Soprano.

I don’t think you would need to modify any saddles with these instruments. Whatever other plastics may have wrong—Outdoor Ukulele has right.

[jer]

Thanks for the link Don.

As Choirguy stated, there's a big difference between the original and the newer ones.

Assuming the saddle of the old one was designed and put in the right position (I think it was) moving it to another place is most definitely going to mess with the intonation. Maybe if you never play past the first few frets it'd be okay, but the farther you get towards the bridge the worse it will get.

[Heavy2600]

If the production saddle is hollow and connected to the top via the bridge border, then it's worth trying. Shortening the distance of material the vibrations travel and having them traverse a solid material verses a hollow chamber. There must be some reason wood ukes do not have all wood one piece hollow bridge and saddle. The whole instrument at just a few years old is experimental. I find it hard to believe moving a saddle forward a few milimeters will ruin intonation. Does every ukulele have the same saddle distance? I like to tinker and this mod is not permanent. If the experiment fails, loosen strings and pull out the saddle. I will record some sound samples.

[Choirguy]

I would assume that the saddle is removeable to allow for adjustment on a neck that can (will?) shift over time, and to allow for a dense material to transmit vibrations to the soundboard. Bone, Nubone, ebony, heavy plastic, and corian have been used to knowledge.

The original version of the Outdoor Ukulele seems to be made with a different material (reformulated?) than the current models—and that new material is plenty dense, and the neck will never warp in a habitable climate.

I am strongly considering getting these as our next ukulele for our school—as I am tired of 14% humidity in the winter months with buzzing (while dry) and constant fret end exposure. We don’t talk about if, but schools throughout the winter climate are a terribly rough place for our water-based bodies to live for 8-9 (or more) hours a day as a student or teacher— and much more for things made of organic materials that live there 24 hours a day.

[jer]

There must be some reason wood ukes do not have all wood one piece hollow bridge and saddle.

Yes. For starters making a one piece hollowed out wood bridge/saddle combo would not be practical at all from a manufacturing standpoint. Furthermore, you couldn't adjust or replace and repair as easily.
Some makers, other than OU do use one piece bridge/saddle combos. They are not hollow though. German made Bruko does this. The Magic Fluke company also makes some of their instruments with a piece that is both a saddle and a bridge combined. None of these are adjustable really. I guess you could try to adjust, but if you mess it up there's no going back.

I find it hard to believe moving a saddle forward a few milimeters will ruin intonation. Does every ukulele have the same saddle distance? I like to tinker and this mod is not permanent. If the experiment fails, loosen strings and pull out the saddle. I will record some sound samples.

Moving a saddle will absolutely affect intonation. That's not just my opinion; it's fact.
No, of course every uke does not have the same distance to the saddle. It depends on the exact scale length of each instrument. The saddle distance from the nut works along with the fret spacing for that scale to make it play in tune. The fret spacing must match up to the scale length. When you move the saddle, the fret spacing that was once correct gets thrown off. This is assuming that any given manufacturer has built their instrument to the correct specs.

Of course there is no such thing as perfect intonation, especially on a uke tuned gCEA that is soprano scale. You can get pretty close though. I find most tend to be a bit sharp, when read by a tuner, when they're a little off on some notes. The C string on sopranos is the main culprit in my experience. That said, unless you have perfect pitch your ears won't notice it unless it's way off. I'm glad I don't have perfect pitch. My electronic tuner hears better than me. ha.

I appreciate your experimental thinking, but some things are as they are for good reasons and some things are facts that can't be changed. As I mentioned before, if you stay on the first few frets, you might not notice as much of an issue. The farther up the neck you play the more the intonation will be off though.