When I got my first uke 2 years ago, I decided to get taisamlu´s tenor uke - mainly because I had picked up a wonderful dobro done by him on ebay. (They have alulu written on them.) The workmanship carpenterwise is simply outstanding (as confirmed by a local luthier) and the uke plays very easily - that is, as long as you stay down low on the neck. When you move up, action gets very high and intonation is slightly out. Having said that, I have the same issues with my Oscar Schmidt ukes, so I guess they are in the same ballpark (but much more expensive).
Shortly after that, I picked up my first Bruce Wei tenor uke (I just offered the starting bid and I had it). Different workmanship style, but outstanding as well. Brilliant tone, nice action, very good intonation and *WAY* above everything I have so far seen in our local music store. I was a bit worried since Bruce says that they can warp according to the conditions, but I had no issues so far (and I play this uke almost every day, I do not loosen the strings, I don´t keep them in a bag). The rooms my ukes are in are *not* humid at all. They are just hanging on a wall (not touching it, of course) or lying on a table so I only have to reach out and grab one. The taisamlu tenor uke is slightly heavier and it is all in the corpus as you can see from the location of the center of gravity and the somehow dampened sound.
Then, I picked up a walnut concert uke (also Bruce Way) and while intonation is not quite as clean as on the tenor (which I had expected since the tolerances are smaller) it is still way better than my Oscar Schmidt ukes (both 5-string tenor and spalted maple baritone) and I like to play it for a change.
Two weeks ago I got a Bruce Wei guitarlele and this is a very nice instrument as well (good action, nice sweet sound, clean intonation). I am now waiting for a maple concert uke with a pineapple-shaped sound hole I fell in love with.
So while I would think twice or thrice before buying just anything offered on ebay (and I haven´t heard anything nice from inlaidartist´s instruments) and I am done with Oscar Schmidt, but Bruce Wei is ok according to my experience. He responds quickly to questions and I like his instruments.
Shortly after that, I picked up my first Bruce Wei tenor uke (I just offered the starting bid and I had it). Different workmanship style, but outstanding as well. Brilliant tone, nice action, very good intonation and *WAY* above everything I have so far seen in our local music store. I was a bit worried since Bruce says that they can warp according to the conditions, but I had no issues so far (and I play this uke almost every day, I do not loosen the strings, I don´t keep them in a bag). The rooms my ukes are in are *not* humid at all. They are just hanging on a wall (not touching it, of course) or lying on a table so I only have to reach out and grab one. The taisamlu tenor uke is slightly heavier and it is all in the corpus as you can see from the location of the center of gravity and the somehow dampened sound.
Then, I picked up a walnut concert uke (also Bruce Way) and while intonation is not quite as clean as on the tenor (which I had expected since the tolerances are smaller) it is still way better than my Oscar Schmidt ukes (both 5-string tenor and spalted maple baritone) and I like to play it for a change.
Two weeks ago I got a Bruce Wei guitarlele and this is a very nice instrument as well (good action, nice sweet sound, clean intonation). I am now waiting for a maple concert uke with a pineapple-shaped sound hole I fell in love with.
So while I would think twice or thrice before buying just anything offered on ebay (and I haven´t heard anything nice from inlaidartist´s instruments) and I am done with Oscar Schmidt, but Bruce Wei is ok according to my experience. He responds quickly to questions and I like his instruments.
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