New Outdoor Ukulele Color!

lifereinspired

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Messages
72
Reaction score
1
Hey All!

I was just checking on you Outdoor Ukulele website as they are about to get in new stock of their Carbon Tenor as well as their new Carbon Soprano. What was in surprised to see? The new BLUE Tenor! It's gorgeous. I'm guessing they will also have it in Soprano, eventually but I don't know that for sure, it's just been the car for all their other colors. I know blue has been a highly requested color so you might want to check it out. I'm waiting for the Carbon Soprano but have to admit that the blue is so beautiful I was tempted! Enjoy!

tenor-blue-rocks-nickel.jpg



https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/ukuleles/products/outdoor-ukulele-tenor-blue-nickel

https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/ukuleles/products/outdoor-ukulele-tenor-blue-gold

PS Sorry if this stokes UAS in some people. It briefly did for me!

PPS The pricing difference, according to what I was told a week or so ago is due to the new tuners. Soon, the new precision ground tuners will be the only option and the price on all their current ukes will increase $10 accordingly (it's already built into the current price on the Carbon Tenor and Soprano & I think may be included in the new Blue model, though not 100% sure on that or if it's just the price of the Blue for whatever reason). The company said that the new tuners are much higher quality and stay in tune much better. They will shortly have their Outdoor Ukulele branding on the precision ground tuners.
 
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
I already have purple. I don't need blue.
 
I missed the purple last year. (And did they not do a blue already?) I totally missed the carbon uke offering.

In any case, I am getting in a stipend for a book review that will cover any of the OU ukes. Already have a tenor, and while I did not think I wanted a soprano since I have so many, I keep finding situations where I wish I had an OU soprano, so....

My decision will be between the blue and the carbon soprano. I love my regular OU tenor in brown with the standard tuners. So, the new style tuners are not a big deal for me. And, the blue fits with WVU colors :) But, I am curious about the difference between the composite polycarbonite and the carbon. When the blurb refers to 15% brighter, are they talking about brighter tone like spruce is brighter sounding than mahogany?
 
Nice. You can play it when you're feeling blue. :)

ha ha! The purple I had was gorgeous. Looks like they've got another winner on their hands.
 
I agree! I hope to see this in soprano.

If you're referring to the Carbon Soprano, they should be arriving very soon, now. I'm watching for this one myself. (I mean, it isn't like I'm refreshing the page on the OU site over and over multiple times a day, or anything, to see if they're showing up yet...) ;)
 
Last edited:
But, I am curious about the difference between the composite polycarbonite and the carbon. When the blurb refers to 15% brighter, are they talking about brighter tone like spruce is brighter sounding than mahogany?

Hi Laura,

Sorry, I had a whole response typed out to you yesterday and for some reason, the site lost connection and couldn't post it when I hit "Post". I tried to copy the response so I wouldn't lose it - and of course, lost it in the process. *facepalm* I just couldn't face retyping it all again on my phone.

In answer to your question, yes. My understanding is that they mean that the sound is "brighter" in exactly the way you describe where spruce is "brighter" than mahogany. In fact, OU put out a couple of sound samples at users' requests in order to share the difference in sound. I feel like I can hear a difference in the brightness just from the videos I've watched of the standard tenors on YouTube but since you actually have one of these tenors, you'll be able to get a much better sense of the difference in sound. In fact, I'd love to hear your thoughts, since you know the sound of your tenor so well to compare these sound samples to. Here's a link to the two samples:

https://soundcloud.com/user-314778693/outdoor-ukulele-tenor-carbon

https://soundcloud.com/user-314778693/tenor-carbon-sample-two

You can also see the sound samples directly on the Carbon Tenor pages on the OU website. Here's a link to the Carbon Tenor Nickel: https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/ukuleles/products/outdoor-ukulele-tenor-carbon-nickel

As it happens, according to Jennifer at OU, the Carbon OU is also just slightly lighter weight than their glass filled counterparts. Approx 1oz lighter in either size (give or take, given the size difference). She said she'll be updating the info to reflect this shortly. The carbon is also approximately 50% stronger. Now, I think most people would argue that for average applications, this won't make a great deal of difference, but hey, stronger is stronger. And, OU isn't really designing for average applications. ;) The other thing I had learned is that the Just out of curiosity, do you happen to have something like a kitchen scale? I'd be interested in knowing what your OU Tenor weighs. I only ask because the website states 28oz for all the tenors but I've seen the boxes that the OUs come in on different YouTube videos and the weight is showing on there as 20oz. I wondered which one was correct, assuming one or the other was a typo. I can't imagine the weight having actually changed that much.

I seriously cannot wait till these Carbon Sopranos come in. So excited. It will be my first uke. I've been playing on a borrowed one (which I'm grateful for!) but it's time I had one that I can actually "get to know", now.

EDIT:
PS I tried to find where I read this but cannot seem to locate it. I thought it was somewhere on a Facebook comment. Probably can't find it because I'm too tired (at 4am). Anyway, someone was asking OU about a uke with the traditional carbon fiber patterning on it, saying that would look cool. And OU's answer was that the carbon fibers actually lay out straight in the molding/blowing process (not sure the correct terminology for working with these types of materials) making it impossible for them to have the traditional pattern. But from what they described, the carbon fibers actually form a type of "grain" within the material, which is why these do sound different than standard plastic ukes (likely the same with the glass, too). OU talks about their ukes' resonance and it makes sense after learning about how the carbon or glass fibers lay within the composite polycarbonate. (No, I'm not trying to say these will sound like wood, but that they can have a similar resonance from the grain-like structure of the material.) I just found that quite interesting. Some people are comparing these OUs to something like the Kala Waterman simplifying them all into a "plastic" category but I do think they are very different.
 
Last edited:
Just learned that the beautiful Blue SOPRANO model will be available as soon as THIS week! Yay! If I wasn't in love with the Carbon model, I would be getting this ASAP. In fact, the color is so gorgeous, I almost thought about getting blue instead. It's like that fantastic cobalt blue of vintage glass. OU said it took a long time to get the color just right.

Oh, and this is NOT a limited edition color, it's a new permanent member of the family. Great choice. It's definitely my fav of the glass filled model colors.
 
The Blue Soprano is now available! Yay! So beautiful. If I didn't have my heart set on the Carbon (which will be back in stock shortly for the Tenor and will be available for the first time in Soprano about the same time!) I would be ordering the blue today. A great choice for a new permanent addition to the OU color family. As much as I loved the amethyst color, this will likely appeal to a wider audience. I also read fairly recently that in terms of demographics, blue is the first choice favorite color for the largest number of people. Outdoor Ukulele did a such a great job with the color blue that they chose. It's really saturated but still somewhat translucent. (Also check out the photos on the Tenor page as they tend to show the translucence a bit more.) Here is a photo of the new soprano:
soprano-blue-nickel.jpg


The cost is $105 for Soprano Blue Nickel, and $115 for Soprano Blue Gold. These both come with the new precision ground tuners (which is why there is a $10 price difference to other soprano models). The new tuners are made to a higher tolerance and OU seems really excited about them. They say they will stay in tune even better than the current tuners. They will soon be branded for OU. All of their ukes will be made with these precision ground tuners in the future and, as a result, all the ukes will shortly be the same price as the blue models are now. Here are links to both of the new OU Blue Soprano Models:

Blue Nickel: https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/ukuleles/products/outdoor-ukulele-soprano-blue-nickel
Blue Gold: https://www.outdoorukulele.com/collections/ukuleles/products/outdoor-ukulele-soprano-blue-gold

Enjoy!
 
The only thing I find questionable is the need for the company (which I like very much) to defend the change in tuners. What I understand is that they are switching from Grover tuners (which two of my Outdoor Ukuleles have) to a different tuner which may even be branded for their company (why not?).

To say that they will hold better in tune is truly a stretch...and an unnecessary one. They may have a different gear ratio making it a little easier to fine tune a ukulele—but the existing Grover tuners work as well as any other tuner. If your Outdoor Ukulele goes out of tune, it is because your strings are stretching—not because of the tuners.


So...go with another tuning head...that’s fine. But let that be a style issue or a desire to be in control of the entire product. No need to make up a reason for the switch.
 
Curious, are the poly OU's quite a bit heavier than a relative sized wood ukulele?
 
The only thing I find questionable is the need for the company (which I like very much) to defend the change in tuners. What I understand is that they are switching from Grover tuners (which two of my Outdoor Ukuleles have) to a different tuner which may even be branded for their company (why not?).

To say that they will hold better in tune is truly a stretch...and an unnecessary one. They may have a different gear ratio making it a little easier to fine tune a ukulele—but the existing Grover tuners work as well as any other tuner. If your Outdoor Ukulele goes out of tune, it is because your strings are stretching—not because of the tuners.


So...go with another tuning head...that’s fine. But let that be a style issue or a desire to be in control of the entire product. No need to make up a reason for the switch.

Maybe I didn't share that correctly. They weren't so much defending the new tuners, I just asked the differences and this is what they said. I think they feel that the tighter tolerances and cast metal base, etc will do a better job. I do understand what you're saying about the Grovers (in that they didn't go out of tune for most folks so not necessarily something that needed to be to improved upon). But, they seem excited about the new tuners and appear to feel it will improve their product enough to switch over to them entirely. That's all I know. I was trying to share what I had learned from our conversation since I'm about to buy one myself. :)
 
No need to apologize or clarify...I’ve read the same comment about the tuning heads. I don’t know anyone who has had issues with the Grovers (the original plastic ABS friction pegs on the model 1 were another matter) and while Gotoh UPTs are considered the Cadillac of the tuning head industry, Grover is generally considered the standard.

I just think it is silly to say the ukulele will stay in tune better, when it will stay in tune the same. The new tuning heads, unless they self tune, will have no greater ability to keep strings from stretching as they do.
 
Top Bottom