Mele Ukes

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Love Mine

I have the 4 string Koa Tenor double puka and love it. Granted, I'm a beginner just starting out, but I did have a previous guitar infatuation so am not totally blind to quality in fretted instruments. This thing sounds fantastic to other similarly priced models. A good buy if you ask me.
 
I LOVE my MELE Koa concert pineapple, sweet sounding, and a concert most pineapples being only available in soprano.
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This is an interesting thread, because I am thinking of getting a concert or tenor uke. I've been considering three: 1)Kala solid cedar top, 2)Mainland mahogany, or 3)Mele concert pineapple. (If I had more $$, KoALoha would be ideal!)

I am wondering if anyone knows:

1. Does the Mele neck more resemble the Kala, Lanikais & KoALohas? Or is it wider, with wider string spacing like the Pono?

2. Does the Mele Concert Pineapple have a truss rod ?

Mahalo!
Franulele

My Ukes:
Kiwaya KS-a Soprano
Barkcloth Flea Concert
Lanikai CK-TEQ Tenor
Pono PT Tenor
 
I just picked up a Baritone Braddah Uke & it is a really nice instrument.
S.
 
Hey all, new to the forum. But I must warn all of you off MELE Ukes. I traveled to Maui in 2000 and purchased a Koa Concert Uke. At first I was ecstatic about the price and sound of the instrument. While in Hawaii, I played it for hours every day. I returned to my home in New Jersey and put the Uke in my humidity controlled room where I keep about twenty of my vintage, hollow body guitars (some as old as 50 years). Within a few months the MELE uke started to collapse upon itself with several long cracks in the top and back of the instrument. I was distraught! I contacted Cheryl in Maui and she at first told me that she would replace the uke with her apologies. But after a couple of weeks I received the same instrument by UPS, with the cracks and separations along the binding sanded down so that they were slightly less noticeable. I was quite angry and disappointed. By email and by phone Cheryl accused me of keeping the instrument in "an oven" to have caused such damage. I explained to her that I gave the uke the same care I would to any hollow bodied instrument and that she should replace it, not (a half-assed) repair it according to the company's guarantee. She flat refused. This is not the kind of company anyone should have to deal with and I cannot urge any of you strongly enough to avoid MELE ukes. A company is not only judged by what products they sell but by how they deal with trouble. MELE is the worst company I have ever dealt with in this regard. If you bought one and it has been issue free then you're okay....but if anything goes wrong with the instrument God help you! You're out of luck and out whatever you paid for it. As I understand it, MELEs are constructed in the Philippines and then shipped to Hawaii. Clearly the Koa of my uke was not completely conditioned and split horribly after a month.

Sorry to be a downer but I hope to help everybody on the board.

Thanks,

LenieC
 
I own three Meles (so far) 1) Koa Pineapple Soprano 2) Mahongany Low G Tenor 3) Concert Spruce top mahogany. I love all three of them. Play and sound great! Very nice. May be one of the more underrated ukes for the price... I love 'em. Action and sound is excellent. And you won't find a nicer person to work with than Cheryl Rock.. the owner! Hope this helps.
 
Hey all, new to the forum. SNIP
Sorry to be a downer but I hope to help everybody on the board.

Really? You join this forum & the first & only post you make is to vent about an alleged bad deal you got w/a Mele you purchased in 2000?1? I have to believe that there's another side to this story as there are MANY satisfied UU'ers who have many, many separate ukes purchased. And another as many who IF they had problems w/their ukes, Mele stood behind them.
 
Bighead.. with all respects... there MUST be more to the story on YOUR end. That is not the Mele I know... quite the contrary! I had an issue with one of my ukes... something that I caused. BUT... they took care of it... no questions asked... couldn't have been more promt and responsive. Cheryl is a quality person and the shop and luthiery attached to her busines is as good as any! I'm sorry you have such a bad experience and I hope it worked out in the end. Just had to add my 2-cents worth because my impression has been so much different for the many years I've done biz with Mele.
 
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Well, I thought i was doing everyone a favor....sorry, but if any of you had the experience that I had dealing with Cheryl and her company, you might thank me rather than calling me a liar. Tell me what you would have done if your uke split in several places after a couple of months of perfect care. I'd like to hear it. I'll post photos of the offending uke soon.

Thanks,

LenieC
 
Really? You join this forum & the first & only post you make is to vent about an alleged bad deal you got w/a Mele you purchased in 2000?1?

Did you read my post? I said that the uke gave me trouble after a month. I just discovered this forum today so how could I have told my story any sooner?I did not join this forum just to denigrate MELE but to inform and be informed. Now that I have made more than one post does that make my tale of woe any more believable? Geeze! Nice welcome!
 
Did you read my post? I said that the uke gave me trouble after a month. I just discovered this forum today so how could I have told my story any sooner?I did not join this forum just to denigrate MELE but to inform and be informed. Now that I have made more than one post does that make my tale of woe any more believable? Geeze! Nice welcome!

Sorry if you took exception to my reply - re-reading your post, you actually said "Within a few months ..." which is different than "after a month" as you restated above. I can't guess all the details of your experience w/Mele those 11 years ago, but if anything can be stated with certainty, there are many more satisfied Mele customers that I've heard from here before I bought the Mele Pineapple that I owned a few months back.

And though you may find it hard to believe, I do welcome you to UU & hope that you find it a more open & encouraging forum than my "open rebuke" seemed to indicate.
 
Bighead, you are not alone...
...I briefly had a soprano Mele, and was very disappointed. So much so, I returned it. Mele not only made me pay for the return shipping, they also deducted from my refund the original shipping to me. :mad:
My observations of the soprano Mele sent me:
- poor, uneven, overall finish with multiple blemishes
- sharp crude frets with chipped trim on the neck
- cheap, ugly "Mele" sticker on the headstock
- sounded absolutely dead (even after I changed the cheap stock strings to Aquillas)
Basically, the uke looks like I made it myself...
...and that isn't a good thing! :D
 
Thanks, happy to be here! Here are a few photos of the offending instrument. I'd welcome comments or opinions on what caused these cracks. In re-reading the MELE guarantee it's kinda confusing. In one instance they say they will repair or replace the uke "as they see fit" and in another they say they will replace the instrument no questions asked. Brace yourselves, the following photos are pretty ugly!! btw, Cheryl had, after a few years, agreed to replace the instrument on a visit to NYC three years ago, at one of my live gigs. I guess she figured it would be good publicity....she and the promised new uke never showed up.


Sorry all, figured it out....see below.



LenieC
 
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Gad, I'm almost in tears looking at this thing again. back in the case it goes. Saving my pennies for a Kamaka. Any other recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks,

LenieC
 
Hey guys.
I have a Tenor Mele ukulele made of Mahogany and with two holes. I bought it last summer and I love it! if you want to see it, check out my youtube videos.

I followed the link to your YouTube page, which says "no videos available," maybe because your post is a few years old.... I found a few other videos, though, including this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QH-v0uCBny8
 
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All we see the majority of the time are favorable reviews/opinions on a certain brand of ukulele. I think it's also good to see they are susceptible to flaws/deficiencies. Whenever that happens, the tendency is to disagree with the individual making the post. Read it with an open mind and empathize before responding. One or 2 bad experiences shouldn't tarnish/diminish the companies rep. There will be lemons in the batch. Just my dos centavos.
 
All we see the majority of the time are favorable reviews/opinions on a certain brand of ukulele. I think it's also good to see they are susceptible to flaws/deficiencies. Whenever that happens, the tendency is to disagree with the individual making the post. Read it with an open mind and empathize before responding. One or 2 bad experiences shouldn't tarnish/diminish the companies rep. There will be lemons in the batch. Just my dos centavos.

Mistakes happen, but what really counts is how a company responds to them. In Bighead's case, and to a lesser degree mine, IMO Mele fails :(
 
Never Too Late To Be Saved

Mistakes happen, but what really counts is how a company responds to them. In Bighead's case, and to a lesser degree mine, IMO Mele fails :(

I have had no experience with Mele, but have had many experiences with life. :eek:ld: And what those experiences have taught me is, if one is in business, one must go out of their way to make things good. A reputation is an important part of the trade value of a company. We will never know whose fault bad experiences are--customer or business--but one thing I think is certain--the business will always take the hit.

My father taught me the customer is always right (even when they're wrong.)

Maybe that's why, for example, KoAloha has the rep it does--the instruments are good but the customer service is better. Isn't that the reason we keep mentioning MGM? I've bought many ukes from Mike, and he's made some mistakes (shipping errors, wrong uke sent to me) but here's the thing: I'll do business with him for years--he has my business--not because of the mistakes, but because he made them right. Everybody makes mistakes, but making them right is what sets apart a great business.

I also believe that there is no statute of limitations on making things right. Better late, than never. ;) Get me?

My 2 cents.
 
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