In your opinion what differentiates a "high end" ukulele from the rest ?

Higher end ukes can sound great, with a richness and color not typically found in lower end models. They can also be beautiful, with more ornament, higher grade figured wood, inlay, etc. However, to me, a major characteristic I look for is playability. Simply put, "how easy is it play?" I'm not an accomplished musician, by any stretch, although I try my best to pull off a few more complicated songs. I find that I can make it through difficult parts of songs more cleanly on certain ukuleles than others. Of course, a lot of this is tied to the set-up, but the build quality plays a big part too. I've owned a lot of different ukes from many different builders over the years, covering the range from a Makala Dolphin, to K-brand ukes, to a Moore Bettah tenor. Many of them have great qualities and very much to love. I've always thought very highly of the 'off the shelf' K-brand ukes and the Pono Pro Classics. Any of them could be considered 'high end.' However, it wasn't until I got my first Collings (a UC2 custom) that I realized I was actually playing and sounding better on it than anything else I had played. It just seems like I was getting through those technical parts effortlessly, and it was really noticeable. I can't speak for the Collings style 1's, but the 2's and 3's I've played were off the charts for playability. The only other ukes I've played that I thought were as easy to play as Collings, are Compass Rose and Moore Bettah (there are many others I'm sure, and these examples are just from my own sampling).

All that said, I really agree with SteveZ. A great player can make just about anything sound great. Corey proves that pretty much on a daily basis doing demos at HMS. Figuring out how to make a lower end instrument sound great is actually an effective way of making yourself a better player. Lower end instruments tend to be less forgiving, essentially forcing the player to figure out how it wants/needs to be played. I can make my Dolphin sound pretty nice, but the sound quality isn't very even across the fret board, and I can't play it too hard or it sounds pretty awful - thus, it can sound good, but is very limited. My Collings, on the other hand, sounds awesome all the way up the neck, it's colorful and articulate when played softly, and I can play loud and hard without sounding brash or muddy. The only limitations with playing the Collings come from my abilities, not the instrument.

-Steve

P.S. A little stretch off topic, but talking about getting the best sound out of an ukulele, and essentially bringing out the sweetest tone is a huge part of the artistry of a musician. It's not just about learning the chords and picking patterns, but about finding the instrument's voice. I love this demo Kimo Hussey did on a Ko'olau CS (a wonderful high-end ukulele, by the way!), where he demonstrates this concept with the smoothness and charm that can only be Kimo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOiNvJFDmRA

Fred Ukestone said:

With some good quality moderate priced ukuleles coming onto the market over the last few years I am interested to know what owners of "high end" ukuleles see as being the difference in sound quality between their ukuleles and the lesser priced ones.

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It's kind of a tricky question, and as others have noted, what is midrange to some is high end to others. I play Kamakas, but not because I consider them high end - I play them because of a combination of playability and sound quality and aesthetics that I like. I don't play them because of the name brand or the price or any of that. And it's never really occurred to me to go "higher end", as I am not a collector and don't buy ukes as investments.

PhilUSAFRet said:

I "got it" the day I played my Pono concert, then laid it down and immediately played a Kanilea concert. An enlightening moment.

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That pretty much sums it up. A lot of people who say they have no use for a "high end" instrument simply haven't had the opportunity to play one. I had several mid-range acoustic guitars and they were decent instruments (I wish I didn't give my Seagull S6 away after I got my first Taylor). But, when I got my first Taylor I realized the difference between "decent" and "oh, wow." LOL I later gave that Taylor (Jumbo) to a son-in-law and got a smaller-bodied Taylor. That was in 2001 and I haven't even thought about buying another acoustic guitar since. Before that I experimented with a new acoustic guitar probably every year or so.

John

As a working musician (meaning, I garner a fair size of my income from performing), my idea of high-end may be different than many.

My main gigs are often either studio work (as of late) or musical theatre performances, where in the span of four weeks, you can have 24 performances not to mention any rehearsals or other things tossed in there. So when I look for instruments to bring to gigs and perform with, my first instinct is to look for build quality. As many have pointed out, there is a lot more attention to detail with boutique builders/high end models over the affordably priced, mass produced ones. It can also mean higher quality hardware like tuners, bridges, electronics (if there are any), but most importantly a professional setup by the person building the instrument. All of that translates into consistency and durability in varying conditions that a lesser instrument may not have.

Case in point; a couple of years back, I did a theatre production of A CHORUS LINE, where I played an SX jazz bass (for those not in the know, SX is known for very affordably priced, Chinese made instruments that with a little elbow grease, can be quite playable). It was during the fall time of year here, and the constant bringing it in and out of the theatre to the car to the house and back wrecked havoc on the neck, and thus the action of the instrument. On a whim, I brought in my Warwick Streamer LX bass (which is a significantly more expensive instrument) one night. No issues at all. The neck is solid as a rock, the tuners hold amazingly well, it balances nicely on my frame and the sound and playability is the best I could ask for. I finished the run with the Warwick, and never had any issues with it whatsover. In fact, that bass can sit for a couple of months (when I'm playing an upright bass gig) in the gigbag, get pulled out and still be in tune.

Ultimately, you play what you're happy with, what you can afford, and whether that's high-end or not really makes no difference. But for someone like myself that tends to look at instruments more as tools, I want the best, most dependable ones available. And you cannot as easily find them in the lower price ranges.

Telperion said:

P.S. A little stretch off topic, but talking about getting the best sound out of an ukulele, and essentially bringing out the sweetest tone is a huge part of the artistry of a musician. It's not just about learning the chords and picking patterns, but about finding the instrument's voice. I love this demo Kimo Hussey did on a Ko'olau CS (a wonderful high-end ukulele, by the way!), where he demonstrates this concept with the smoothness and charm that can only be Kimo.

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Very true. I had a book on stage makeup at one time that said (roughly) "Half of a makeup job's effectiveness is the actor under it." Similarly, more than half of an instrument's sound and tone is the sensitivity of the player. Nobody does it like Kimo. And he always seems to be having the best time. But I'm sure Kimo is not going to waste his time struggling with and instrument that is hard to play. Superb playability is one of the hallmarks of "high end" instrument. And once an instrument is in his hands..... MAGIC!

Of late, I've gotten into the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which essentially says, Nothing is perfect. Nothing is finished. Nothing lasts forever. The handmade items, from those who are artists and craftsmen of skill, are each unique. And if you have one built, you can speak to specifics. Would it be possible to make the fretboard a tad wider? Could you maybe upgrade those tuners? I have motifs in my life that I love, maybe one of them could find its way into the design? A great luthier wants to build the best instrument he or she can, and there is a connection made with the customer to achieve that.

What you get from a luthier who knows what he or she is about are the eyes and ears and the soul of their expertise in trying to achieve a sound and look. Their best shot in that moment. Not to say a mass-produced instrument won't sound good, but it won't have the same heart. The assembly line is not trying to make each one different, it's trying to make them all the same.

Nothing is perfect, nothing is finished, nothing lasts forever, but the best handmade axes have something that rarely comes off an assembly line from folks who are looking at the clock and wishing the end of the shift would come sooner. How could it?

With a great instrument, I know I won't live long enough to get better than it is. I would rather the limitations be mine than the other way around. Gives me something for which to reach.

My opinion, which, with a dime, will get you ten pennies, if somebody wants to bother to make change ...

Fred Ukestone said:

With some good quality moderate priced ukuleles coming onto the market over the last few years I am interested to know what owners of "high end" ukuleles see as being the difference in sound quality between their ukuleles and the lesser priced ones.

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to me its the same difference the defines high end watches:
you have timex reliable but affordable and usually stylish watches (like a kala uke)
than you have something like sieko which is a little better quality and stylish (maybe something like
pono? or ohana) than you have rolex (which would be like kamaka or other k bands).

You can get great ukes at good prices, but of course you will get the best quality build /looks and sound from the higher end ukes and their higher in price because the quality is so much better but that doesn't mean those 100-300 dollar ukes will be bad most of them are actually really good.

Mim said:

WARNING: This is a HIGHLY sentimental and philosophical answer!

High End depends on the ukulele and the buyer and what someone can afford.
I have had someone write me and ask if my Master Class Breedloves were good beginner ukes!
HECK YEAH! If you have the money...

So, sort of like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. A high end uke can differ from person to person.
But I think if in your heart if it sounds, plays, and feels like you want...
then to you it is a high end uke.

And if you are a struggling collage student where an $85 budget is all you can scrape up, then that $85 uke is your high end.

Ok... that is also the romantic minded overly sentimental Mim talking there!

My first uke was around $220. I started with a $100 budget and kept eeking up until I found my first love. And he was high-end to me and I still love him to this day! The ice cream shop was struggling, and I needed something to make me happy on the cold winter slow days. He was a sacrifice, but well worth it!

Hahaha... so carry on! Don't flame me for this. I just wanted to say...
A $100 uke that is played every day and loved by the player is more high end to me
than a $3000 uke among a collection that is only played every now and then.

Carry on... haha!

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Mim is right on point!

I think we all know what low end is:
- Bad / Sloppy construction
- Bad intonation
- No Setup / poor setup
The list goes on.

Once you get to the level of quality materials being built by people who care about quality then it really comes down to personal preference.

The uke you love to play is a high end uke regardless of price.

I think I got in a bit of trouble talking about this in another thread, but maybe it was out of context for that thread whereas this thread is directly to that point. I just started playing ukulele a few weeks ago, but have played jazz and fingerstyle guitar for many years. Last winter, I finally found a decent 1974 Gibson Johnny Smith archtop. Then, last summer, I got a McPherson acoustic. These would both be considered relatively "high end" instruments. I doubt I would have really appreciated what these instruments are if I had gotten either, say, 20 years ago (the McPherson would not have existed, but the Johnny Smith would). There is the workmanship, the tone, the playability, the intonation over the entire fretboard, and all these things really do matter to an experienced player.

Though I just started playing ukulele, I can readily tell the difference between a quality instrument and a lesser instrument. I am not using the words "high end" here because I am simply not aware of enough of the market to know where midrange stops and high end starts. But I do know what is comfortable to play, sounds in tune all over the fretboard, and what sounds good to my ears. I had an accomplished player player a number of ukuleles and the ones I bought were the ones that sounded really, really good to me. A number of them that I did not choose sounded reasonably good to me, played in tune, and handled well. But the SOUND I heard from the two I now own was set apart from the rest to my ears (another set of ears may have reacted and chosen differently).

One of the ukuleles I bought is a Kamaka, called the "Ohta San". According to their site, it is the most expensive at the base price and it has a custom long neck and a few other custom goodies on it. The other ukulele was a direct trade for a Collings 12 fret acoustic guitar I purchased in the mid-90s but no longer play. The ukulele in that trade is a heavily customized Ko'olau tenor. Both are quite expensive, quite a bit more than the Collings and Martin ukuleles they sell, and I know that these are very fine instruments too. But to me they were worth it. Even though I am new to ukulele, I have been playing guitar long enough to recognize and appreciate quality.

All that said, there is nothing wrong with lower cost ukuleles (well, maybe a $50 or $100 ukulele might be stretching it, though I could be wrong there too). It is all too easy to fall into a snobbishness, or at least be interpreted as being snobbish when talking about this subject. My incentive for getting the two models I purchased was opportunity and the fact that I am retiring at the end of next week and really do not want to be spending that kind of money once I no longer have a professional salary coming in.

I really think this thread has enough posts pointing in the same direction to provide a very clear set of answers to the OP's question. My perspective is from a new ukulele player with years of other playing experience to show that even with experience on other instruments, the differences in ukulele quality are very noticeable.

Tony

High end =
Top notch tone, wood and finish.
Nice miters,
Good wood working practices like tucking in to linings all back braces and upper/lower transverse bars on the top.

Original designs are nice or something different and unique to every customers build. No factory can do this. Only a sole luthier can.

Such things as Glue type (Titebond/LMI/HHG) and use of dovetails are not a factor. Nor is the location or age of the builder. Of course, the older you are, the better you should be, but there are some very talented young builders around.

Price is not necessarily a factor in quality (although it should be). After all, one can charge anything they want for any quality.

if you order a custom uke....you can only get two out three of the below...(in general)
tone,apperance and value

I kind of think this makes sense....read it in a Dana Bourgeois article....

hawaii 50 said:

if you order a custom uke....you can only get two out three of the below...(in general)
tone,apperance and value

I kind of think this makes sense....read it in a Dana Bourgeois article....

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Huh? I didn't read the Bourgeous article but it makes no sense that you can't have all three. What do you mean by value? Do you mean cheap? Or something that's going to maintain or increase in value over time? Case in point; my ukes on the resell market usually sell for far above what they sell for new. That seems like good value to me. And I probably score on the other two points as well. I'm sure there are others as well.
Sorry, general misconceptions are a pet peeve of mine.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

Huh? I didn't read the Bourgeous article but it makes no sense that you can't have all three. What do you mean by value? Do you mean cheap? Or something that's going to maintain or increase in value over time? Case in point; my ukes on the resell market usually sell for far above what they sell for new. That seems like good value to me. And I probably score on the other two points as well. I'm sure there are others as well.
Sorry, general misconceptions are a pet peeve of mine.

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I agree, Chuck. I would think custom ukes would have the highest value, since you are getting exactly what you want and you have the ability to collaborate with the builder. And as Steve frequently points out, the cost of ownership is often better on high-end ukes, since if you have to sell you usually get a high percentage of your purchase price back (or in the case of yours, double your purchase price back!).

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

Huh? I didn't read the Bourgeous article but it makes no sense that you can't have all three. What do you mean by value? Do you mean cheap? Or something that's going to maintain or increase in value over time? Case in point; my ukes on the resell market usually sell for far above what they sell for new. That seems like good value to me. And I probably score on the other two points as well. I'm sure there are others as well.
Sorry, general misconceptions are a pet peeve of mine.

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Sorry Chuck...yes he means cheap or cheaper(price wise) I think.....I read the article in Acoustic Guitar

your ukes have all three as I think your MBs are a great value(IMO).....and everyone knows about the tone and looks....

RichM said:

I agree, Chuck. I would think custom ukes would have the highest value, since you are getting exactly what you want and you have the ability to collaborate with the builder. And as Steve frequently points out, the cost of ownership is often better on high-end ukes, since if you have to sell you usually get a high percentage of your purchase price back (or in the case of yours, double your purchase price back!).

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The only thing I see is that a custom uke - or really, a custom instrument of ANY kind - could possibly have a lower resale value because, while the original owner may have gotten an instrument that is exactly what they wanted (which to them is an incredible value), if they have to sell it for any reason, it can become a niche market. That's a consideration with ordering any custom instrument; still hasn't stopped me from having a number of them myself.

One Bad Monkey said:

The only thing I see is that a custom uke - or really, a custom instrument of ANY kind - could possibly have a lower resale value because, while the original owner may have gotten an instrument that is exactly what they wanted (which to them is an incredible value), if they have to sell it for any reason, it can become a niche market. That's a consideration with ordering any custom instrument; still hasn't stopped me from having a number of them myself.

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True enough-- I was looking at Warren Buffet's Dairy Queen uke in another thread. As much as I admire Dave Talsma's fine craftsmanship, I can't imagine wanting that uke!

From a maker's perspective, one of the main differences is that I pay Santa Cruz residents to work in my shop and build instruments with me one at a time...yes, in batches, but hardly do we ever build five the same in a batch. High end ukes tend to be built by decently paid workers here in the United States. I'm not being jingoistic, just realistic.

One Bad Monkey said:

The only thing I see is that a custom uke - or really, a custom instrument of ANY kind - could possibly have a lower resale value because, while the original owner may have gotten an instrument that is exactly what they wanted (which to them is an incredible value), if they have to sell it for any reason, it can become a niche market. That's a consideration with ordering any custom instrument; still hasn't stopped me from having a number of them myself.

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That's a very good point. When you are getting into the upper bracket of custom instruments you are talking about a substantial investment. I always warn customers against building an uke so unique that it that it loses resell value, even if the customer has no intention of ever selling it. Things happen. A high quality instrument should last a few generations (at least that's my intention) and I see the current owners as being only temporary caretakers. Long after "George" has passed on, the instrument will live on and subsequent owners are going to curse him for having his named inlaid on the fret board. If you're a big time star or money will never be an issue to you then that's a different story.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

Huh? I didn't read the Bourgeous article but it makes no sense that you can't have all three. What do you mean by value? Do you mean cheap? Or something that's going to maintain or increase in value over time?

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I agree, although I have to add that all of the above - tone, appearance, and value - are somewhat subjective. Case in point: I bought a custom two years ago, made to my very specific requests (tone first and foremost; appearance was to be as plain and understated as possible; value to me meaning a price that I could afford as long as those first two were met). I felt like my builder delivered on all three, but I got a lot of "why didn't you get pretty inlays" type comments from others when I received the uke - appearance more than anything being subjective.

Interesting side note here: my needs have changed and I'm trying to sell the uke now. Oddly enough, it's the first uke I've listed on UU that didn't sell within an hour of posting it - and the first uke I'm actually prepared to *lose* money on. I've sold several Kamakas and have always gotten my asking price, which in each case was more than I originally paid second-hand. Thus far, the only offers I've had on the custom were pretty lowball. On paper, I'm guessing the custom would be considered a "higher end" uke than a plain old factory Kamaka, but so far, it's the plain old factory Kamakas that are proving to have lasting monetary value.