Liking my Outdoor Ukulele - want another

igorthebarbarian said:

I saw this on their Facebook too. I liked the original new one and want to get the moonshine Tenor white, but they were always a little quiet. Tough decisions- argh

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Loud enough on its own...but my moonshine does get lost at a jam. I learned that the hard way, and now my KoAlohas go with me to jams. As does my Baton Rouge 8 string.

Ziret said:

What's that mean, carbon fiber polycarbonate? Why is it better, and how does its use affect sound?

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I would imagine by laying in carbon fibres it will give it more strength in a thinner layer, therefore making it more resonant, & lighter.

Choirguy said:

Loud enough on its own...but my moonshine does get lost at a jam. I learned that the hard way, and now my KoAlohas go with me to jams. As does my Baton Rouge 8 string.

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I've sat next to Choirguy at a jam while he was playing his Baton Rouge 8, and that is one loud uke!

Not as loud as the singer!

I hope to get an Outdoor soprano green someday--but I can't get Outdoor to respond to my emails or phone messages, or to answer their phone. Is there a trick to getting access to them to order? (I want to send them a check, which is why I can't place my order online. It may be that they respond to online orders faster?)

I don’t know why they wouldn’t get back to you, unless your e-mail is caught in a spam filter. Do you have a secondary e-mail address that you can send from?

BrightSound said:

I hope to get an Outdoor soprano green someday--but I can't get Outdoor to respond to my emails or phone messages, or to answer their phone. Is there a trick to getting access to them to order? (I want to send them a check, which is why I can't place my order online. It may be that they respond to online orders faster?)

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They are very responsive on their Facebook page FYI

Choirguy said:

Loud enough on its own...but my moonshine does get lost at a jam. I learned that the hard way, and now my KoAlohas go with me to jams. As does my Baton Rouge 8 string.

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I got my green soprano yesterday and I'm pretty happy with it. It is a bit soft, but I like that I don't have to worry about it. I can keep it in the car, strap it on a camping backpack, and let my two small boys learn on it if they want. I already want a brown one, hehe.

I've bought two ukes since Christmas. I have to stop for a bit or sell and get rid of some other stuff to justify it.

Choirguy said:

I’m not trying to promote, but I made a video comparing the three models of Outdoor Ukulele the other day. I don’t want to embed the video here, but here is a link if you are interested. There is an odd cut on the video. Long story made short, My microphone wasn’t mounted in a traditional way, and I hit it with the tenor Outdoor Ukulele and it brought the whole set-up down (it was on our kitchen table).

The main thing I wanted to address was the “square neck” thing that people keep bringing up, even though it has now been a few years since Outdoor Ukulele changed their design. The internet memory (mainly from YouTube) really seems to keep that criticism going strong.

https://youtu.be/4apH7CpirIY

Also: both sopranos were gifts from members of this forum, and I am incredibly grateful for those instruments. The black model works surprisingly well, and the bottle brown is now the around-the-house ukulele as I don’t need to worry about my five and nine year old boys doing what boys do to ukuleles that are left on couches, next to couches, and on tables.

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Thanks for the video. Good job. I got my green soprano a couple of weeks ago. I'm a concert guy, but it wasn't as cramped on my hands as I feared it would be. I almost ordered a tenor, but I'm taking this one in the car and camping, so compactness is key. I also ordered a backpack case from amazon. In the few weeks I've had it, I've had two church kids, two nieces and nephew and my two boys play it, toss it around and my 17 month old has even stood on it.
No scratches and still sounds good. It's nice having a truly care-free uke.

What's a NUD?

I've had my Carbon Tenor black for a little over a week. First impressions...
It doesn't appear to be significantly thinner or lighter than the Rawhide Tenor that I have. I don't have any good way to weigh it so that's just an impression from holding both of them together.
It definitely can't be called "pretty." There is no translucence to the material, which is one thing I like about the Outdoor Ukes in regards to their appearance. It's BLACK! Not pretty but appealing in an odd sort of way.
It does have a slightly "brighter" tone than my Rawhide. Strings may be contributing the difference as I have Living Water strings on my Rawhide. The sound is very pleasant especially with fingerpicking or chord-melody style playing.

My "other" ukulele is a Blackbird carbon fiber tenor. Obviously, this OU can't compete with my Blackbird for sound but I really like these Outdoor Ukes. The OU's sound great, are easy for me to play, and I will readily travel with them where I might not want to risk the Blackbird. Overall, I think the Outdoor Ukulele is an excellent choice for a good quality knock-around uke that sounds nice and frees you from worries about weather and humidity. By the way, I own two of them because my wife, who is learning to play, prefers the Rawhide OU and pretty much monopolizes it!
Also, in my two interactions with the Outdoor Ukulele Company I experienced excellent customer service, before, during, and after the sale.

My impressions...you're mileage may vary!

What's a NUD?

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New Uke Day.

They've got BLUE!

Cannot buy. Don't want the wrath of the wife. I still want a brown tenor, next... or moonshine.
I'm vacationing in California for a week and a half this summer. Gotta have my worry free beach uke, or when I'm in the mountains, right?

https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/ukuleles

So what strings do you folks like on these? If possible, I'd like to get something a bit louder for my soprano, though I know there's only so much you can do with an unmodifiable uke.

What's the appeal of the $100 Outdoor vs the $50 Waterman?

IMO, just about everything. I like the build and the sound quality better. Not that the sound is outstanding, but it's good. It's a heavier, sturdier instrument. I didn't care for the first generation model of outdoor, but with 2, they fixed the things I didn't care for.

Jerryc41 said:

What's the appeal of the $100 Outdoor vs the $50 Waterman?

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1) Design. The Outdoor Ukulele (current models) were supposedly based off of the measurements from a well respected ukulele builder. As a result intonation and set-up are very, very good.

2) Sound. Waterman, Bugsgear, and Woodli ukuleles, made of ABS, have a plastic sound. Some Waterman are okay—others have been atrocious with intonation and action. The Outdoor doesn’t sound as if it is made of wood, but it does sound different than the ABS ukuleles.

3) Durability. The Outdoor can withstand 240°F to -40°F. Waterman and Bugsgear have a very attainable point (in the sun in a hot car) where they can melt.

Thanks, Choirguy and Josh.

joshsimpson79 said:

So what strings do you folks like on these? If possible, I'd like to get something a bit louder for my soprano, though I know there's only so much you can do with an unmodifiable uke.

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Looking forward to hearing feedback from people with the carbon soprano. It is supposed to be somewhat brighter and I am wondering if that translates to volume and projection.

My buddys second ukulele was a waterman, and it was terrible.
He now has a OU, and the difference is huge.
I'm going to order a carbon black tenor for a dedicated car instrument.
The Kala Waterman is the only Kala ukulele I've ever dispised, normally I'm a huge fan.
YMMV