Shima Ukulele anyone?

How new is the listing? Did the website literally go up when this topic was made? Have not heard of a single soul owning one yet.
I may be one of the first..

What puzzles me about this ukulele is that there are no announcements on Jake's official website about it, at least not that I could find. You'd think that he'd have something along the lines of "Bruce and I are proud to introduce..." If I were a businessman, I'd certainly be promoting something like this, especially considering the charity connection, at every opportunity. Perhaps the promotions are lagging behind the release. Another curiosity about the website is a glaring spelling error: "assessable" in place of "accessible" (I was a technical editor in a former life). Makes it seem as though the website was thrown together hastily.
 
Another curiosity about the website is a glaring spelling error: "assessable" in place of "accessible" (I was a technical editor in a former life). Makes it seem as though the website was thrown together hastily.

Good to know I'm not the only one that noticed this !



It appears the Facebook page was only created on 14th March 2018
https://www.facebook.com/shimaukulele/

So it looks like this endeavor is very new - yet to be officially announced?
 
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Few days after its release, the Shima ukulele (at the time of this post) is out of stock.
This isn't a huge surprise - and I guess I'm glad I got my order in :)

And the first sound samples are beginning to pop up on the internet:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJrty_j-PtA


Sounds pretty good from what I can hear :)
 
It's listed as a wide neck. Do you know how wide it is? Wider than 1 3/8" I assume.

Great playing in the video, & a good write up.
 
Reupping to ask about the neck width. Is it 35 mm like a Kamaka? Or wider, since it's billed as a "wideneck"?

Pledge Music has this ukulele as one of the items available if you pledge towards Jake's upcoming CD - and pay the extra money for the ukulele, of course. But it's the same price on Pledge Music as on the Shima ukulele website.

The form to contact them on the Shima ukulele website doesn't want to work for me, (I tried on computers with 2 different operating systems, so I don't think it's my computer), so I thought I'd try asking here again.
 
I got a response from Bruce Shimabukuro, who told me that it's 1.5 inches at the nut and 2 inches at the joint, in case anyone else is interested.
 
I got a response from Bruce Shimabukuro, who told me that it's 1.5 inches at the nut and 2 inches at the joint, in case anyone else is interested.

I've just measured my Shima Uke - can confirm that those measurements are correct.
The wide neck makes it a pleasure to use fingerstyle and hold chords. Feels a bit classical guitar-like, but not quite as wide.
 
Thanks, kissing. It sounds like you're really enjoying your Shima uku meek.
 
Has anyone found a case that fits?
 
It fits snugly in most soprano ukulele cases - but I guess test before you buy.
Soprano cases have enough wiggle room at the headstock area to allow the Shima to fit, which isn't that much longer than a soprano.

A potential problem with a concert case would be that the body cavity would be significantly larger than the Shima uke's body.
 
I saw Jake in concert last night. He told the audience that he'd promised his brother he'd play a Shima uke in the show and give it a plug, which he did. He played a couple of pieces on the Shima, unplugged. It had a lovely sweet tone and the intonation was pristine.

Jake seems like such a sincere and wholesome guy. I'd like to think he was demoing an actual production instrument and not one made especially for him. Who knows.

He said it was designed with students in mind, to offer an instrument that played like a higher-end brand for a reasonable cost, so that when the time comes for a student to progress to a finer instrument, the transition would be smooth. He emphasized the feel and playability more so than the sound but we thought the tone was lovely.

So I got the impression that it's designed to feel like a Kamaka.
 
I saw Jake in concert last night. He told the audience that he'd promised his brother he'd play a Shima uke in the show and give it a plug, which he did. He played a couple of pieces on the Shima, unplugged. It had a lovely sweet tone and the intonation was pristine.

Jake seems like such a sincere and wholesome guy. I'd like to think he was demoing an actual production instrument and not one made especially for him. Who knows.

He said it was designed with students in mind, to offer an instrument that played like a higher-end brand for a reasonable cost, so that when the time comes for a student to progress to a finer instrument, the transition would be smooth. He emphasized the feel and playability more so than the sound but we thought the tone was lovely.

So I got the impression that it's designed to feel like a Kamaka.

As someone who owned the production model, I can assure you that the production model is more than enough for someone like him to perform with on stage. There isn't much that can be done to make it better. The factory setup is immaculate, and far better than those offered by most other makers.

It pretty much feels like it comes with a luthier's custom setup.
 
As someone who owned the production model, I can assure you that the production model is more than enough for someone like him to perform with on stage. There isn't much that can be done to make it better. The factory setup is immaculate, and far better than those offered by most other makers.

It pretty much feels like it comes with a luthier's custom setup.

That's good to hear!
 
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