Any reason not to buy a Vita uke?

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Hello everybody!

I've had the uke bug a few years, my first was a fluke firefly, which I dearly love..It was a gift and has friction tuners..I love the banjolele, but got annoyed at the friction tuners.


A couple of years ago I bought a $99 les Paul amazon special that has been great, but I have just about worn that sucker out.I've really been into finger picking lately, and having trouble doing well on the firefly ..I've spent the last couple days reading up and had my mind set on a kala travel tenor, until I went into a local retailer and held one...Way bigger than I thought...was kinda looking at the concert sized kala exotic mahogany, or maybe the pacific walnut laminate....

But I keep coming across the Ohana vita uke... I really like it,and it seems to be ok for finger picking...But I can't find one local to get my chubby little fingers on....Mim has a couple with her "set up" for sale....Would this fit the bill for someone five or so years in and wanting to work on his finger picking?? Thanks!
 
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I've played a few and they are nice for what they are, but it is always better to try one in person to see if it's a good fit..go to a uke club meeting or a festival and see if someone will lend you one to try. But, no, there is no reason not to buy one.
 
Mim also has a concert sized ohana solid mahogany pineapple for not much more I really like, but it doesn't seem like the kinda unit I want to toss in the trunk of my car camping and fishing trips and the like...That and down the road as the skills improve I kinda want a pono mango wood concert pineapple....Maybe the pear now, pineapple later?
 
You wore out a uke? How do you do that?
Some of my ukes have been played and played for years, and they don't seem to run out of ammunition - at least with decent care and maintenance..


Anyway...
The Ohana Vita ukulele is fine for fingerpicking and strumming.
Very loud and clear tones - each note will have clarity. Soprano scale means that the string tension is a bit lighter than on Tenor, which I always find to be a plus.
However, I guess you need to know whether your hands will be comfortable on a Soprano scale.

There's no "right" ukulele to get. The world offers literally thousands of different selections. It's just a matter of seeing what appeals to you in factors like sound, looks, feel, quality and value. The Vita uke is quite a high value uke - I've owned two in my years (one Ohana and one generic Clearwater model). Both had excellent tone and I was able to give it a fantastic setup. Only reason I let them go is because I prefer to have more frets (ie: range) than standard 12 fret soprano.

As for durability - the Vita uke is as durable as any other ukulele.
That being said, the ONLY kinds of ukuleles that I'd feel comfortable just tossing in trunks of cars would be one made of all-plastic (or carbon fiber).
Any ukulele containing wood, either on the top or the neck/fingerboard will have some vulnerability to extreme heat/cold conditions.

I do take my inexpensive Mahalo on camping trips, but even then I do take caution not to leave it baking in the hot sun.
 
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Ended up pulling the trigger, thanks guys! Kissing, my $99 amazon special les Paul has tuners that have cheep stamped sheet metal holding the tuning gears, the a string keeps getting sloppy, and I'm afraid the next time I really bend it back in shape will bust it off... I've been real gentle with it....When the new uke comes in I will take the strings off and try to squeeze the metal back, If it breaks so be it....but I've been afraid to as it is my go to pick it up /therapy ukulele....It has been great tho.... Sure got a hunskie's worth of smiles out of it in the last couple years!
 
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Ended up pulling the trigger, thanks guys!

I’m trying to figure out if you bought the Vita. I started to reply the other day that Vic reviewed the Ohana Vita...and Pete McCarty bought a very nice REAL “vintage” Vita (via Ukester Brown) and shared it, too. You might want to look at both videos.

I was also trying to figure out what Ohana is actually selling right now...I think they used to sell a concert model, but I only see Soprano right now.

I’m not convinced there is any benefit to the shape or seal cut-outs, other than the historical significance of the instrument (designed or sponsored by Roy Smeck) and a person’s personal preference about the look of the instrument. I think they look cool, and if a concert Ohana popped up for sale, I might consider adding it to my already too large collection.

Depending on how you define fingerpicking, the current Ohana Vita may not be ideal. It has a 14” scale, which is about an inch longer than most sopranos, but still only 12 frets. Don’t get me wrong...you can do A LOT with four strings and twelve frets, but a lot of the tablature that I have been playing lately frequently passes the 12th fret (including a number of Ukulele Mike’s Chord Melody selections). Therefore, you might want to consider a concert (or larger) scale instrument with 15 or more frets (and more room on those higher frets) if that is the kind of finger style playing you wish to do.

But no matter what, I think the Vita is a pretty cool look...you can’t go wrong with that, because not everyone will have one!
 
I hope you get it and post pics/ and a review for us here. I've seen them online but never "in the wild". It's definitely a unique design. I could see love-it or hate-it in terms of looks. I actually like it. I imagine the spruce top 'pops' too.
 
I was also trying to figure out what Ohana is actually selling right now...I think they used to sell a concert model, but I only see Soprano right now.

I have two of the Ohana Vita Ukes - the mahogany laminate, and the rosewood laminate. Both are 12 frets to the body, soprano scale, on a large, concert-sized body. That, to my knowledge, is all Ohana ever made.

Volume-wise, they are cannons. Lots of clean, rich, and loud sound. Great for picking or strumming.

I don't go past the 12th fret too often, and I have plenty of other instruments for when I do, but the Vita Uke is what got me to where I am able to play a soprano uke; my fingers were just too cramped on the soprano neck when I first stated playing, so I stayed with tenor until I got the first Vita, and it became my pick-it-up-while-sitting-at-the-computer uke.

Yes, the seal shaped sound holes (more impressionistic than the original Vita Seal holes) are for aesthetics - probably any sound hole would give a similar sound,if there was enough wood to vibrate.

But I like the looks, I like the sound, and I like playing it. Not for everyone, sure, but then - what ukulele is?


-Kurt​
 
Hello everybody!
But I keep coming across the Ohana vita uke... I really like it,and it seems to be ok for finger picking...But I can't find one local to get my chubby little fingers on....Mim has a couple with her "set up" for sale....Would this fit the bill for someone five or so years in and wanting to work on his finger picking?? Thanks!

I got one recently, and the people in my group love it. One person ordered one and another is about to. It is beautiful, light, and it has a nice, distinctive sound.

I bought it partly because of the historical connection. I have a Roy Smeck uke from about 1940, and I thought this would be a nice addition since the original Vita Uke was developed and endorsed by Roy.

Mine is a 70R, with spruce top and rosewood back and sides. With rosewood now being a controlled commodity, I suspect these will not be available for much longer. The only place I see selling them is Butler Music. The person in our club bought from Butler and got the rosewood - a demo model - for $200 delivered, with a gig bag. Mim had just one 70R and one case, and I bought them both. The uke was $209, and the case was under $60.

The mahogany will probably continue to be available, but not so much the rosewood.

Butler Music -
https://www.butlermusicstore.com/14...e-ukulele-with-bag-demo?search=ohana vita uke
 
Thanks for the heads up! I really like that little uke, but didn't want to spend the coin to have a local luthier work on it... But for under 20 bux I'll take a shot at it myself!!

I'm replacing the tuners in my Fluke - not much of a challenge, but I wish there were longer tuners available.
 
Got it! Mim was fantastic to deal with! Hooked me up with a deal on the hard case too! Shipped fast. This thing is gorgeous! I am so absolutely in love with this thing! Tuned right up. The cream colored tuners are beautiful and work great. The seal holes are a little rough to the feel, I've been just running my thumbnail around it compulsively ....Probably take a little emory cloth or fine grit to it at some point, but other than that it is just freeking sweet! I picked it up yesterday on my way from work the coast for the inlaws big St patty"s dinner.....Spent all evening sitting on the porch full of corned beef and an ice chest full of guinness draught, just playing the bejaesus out of it and passing it around to family....Played like a dream, made me look like I knew what I was doing! It was a huge hit. I'm just giddy... My fingers and my smile hurts...I'll try and get some decent pics up tomorrow......
 
I've built quite a few vita ukes - currently a re-imagining of an original as a concert (never seen a survivor or know of anyone who has). Of all ukulele I think they are my favourite. Have two to make later in the year.
 
I've never played a Vita uke, or even seen one in person, but saw one called a Vital Uke over on Flea Market which recently sold. Anyone ever seen/played one of those?

@ Ukecaster. I held one at a show but it was completely out of tune and the noise within the hall ment that I couldn’t really hear it. What I do recall is how it felt just right to hold and had me wondering about whether the strings were wide enough apart for my fat fingers. If they were more available in the UK and better priced I’d be very tempted.

A UU member has posted several videos of these being played, I don’t see posts from John anymore and I think that he plays an old Martin now but the video’s are great : https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xXhY_iWHChQ

@ Kissing. I’d be interested to hear how similar the Clearwater and the Ohana products are, virtually one and the same or just the same shape?
 
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