New Tenor Banjo Uke (BanjoUke Sidekick)

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oregonuke

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I just pulled the trigger and ordered a BanjoUke Sidekick, a new Tenor Banjo Uke offered by a company in New Zealand. A preview of the instrument can be seen here...
http://www.banjouke.kiwi/

Specific info about the Sidekick is lacking on the website (a new site is under construction) so before ordering I sent an email to the company and quickly received the following reply from Ed Ackman...

"The woods are, birch drum, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard. The strings are Aquila ukulele nylgut. We tried dozens, but these had far and away the best sound. The tuners are high spec peg design - they grip really tight with minimum slippage.
The tattoo on the drum is a stylised Polynesian design that we just thought looked terrific on the drum head. Although we are making a few plain, everyone wants the tattoo.
The instruments are delivered from Shanghai via EMS (UPS for USA)
They are made by one of China’s most respected fine instrument manufacturers with myself physically sitting at the end of the production line!"

This seems like a competitively priced alternative to the Fluke Firefly AND...it is a tenor sized instrument. Keeping my fingers crossed as ordering something new like this without having put hands on it is a bit outside my comfort zone.
 
Definitely competition for the Firefly, which I have and love. But Firefly's only comes in Soprano and Concert. Firefly's are made in the USA while these are Chinese-built, it seems.
I'll support the good people over at Magic Fluke though.
But if you're a UU'er who is dead-set on a tenor, this looks like a good option especially for the price.
I do love the lightweightedness of the Firefly; I imagine these will be similar.
 
Made the plunge and ordered one (plain drum head). Let's see how long it takes to get here.
 
Last edited:
Just got a notice from the builder that the first batch are ready for shipment. He sent me this photo of a rack if instruments which just went through final inspection. Hopefully, this new one will be here within in a couple weeks.

image.jpg
 
I'm terrified I'm going to order one soon if the reviews are good. Dammit...
 
Captain Simian said:
I'm terrified I'm going to order one soon if the reviews are good. Dammit...
Click to expand...

We'll see how this turns out. I'll give it a good tryout and make a sound sample as well. Thought I'd give it a good workout with "Hallelujah" or "City if New Orleans" or something like that with a couple fun chord changes.
 
I wonder if anyone can offer advice on the following problem I've had with my new (I've had it 3 weeks) Sidekick. Strings have broken 3 times in total - twice it was G strings and the first time it was the E string. The most recent breakage appears to have been between the 2nd and 3rd fret (although I am not aware how much the strings actually stretch when they are under tension). Both times the breakages occurred while I was fine-tuning the string.
For background (and because I have a concern that what is happening might be down to me and something I am doing wrong) I offer the following: I do not have huge experience with ukuleles - I have been playing for a couple of years and have 5 other ukuleles all of which I have restrung without any problems and none of which have had string breakages; I have asked someone who I do consider to be an expert and he assured me that strings should not break regularly like this; I have checked for sharp edges on the frets and cannot detect any; in the short periods between string breakages, I have really enjoyed playing my Sidekick. Customer care from the manufacturer has been excellent. I email and they get back to me very quickly. With this last string breakage they suggest that it must be something I am doing wrong and that I should take my Sidekick to a music shop where I can watch it being restrung professionally.
What I would like is advice:
1. What do you think is going wrong? Is it something I am doing or might there actually be something wrong with my Sidekick?
2. How can I ensure this doesn't happen again?
Thanks,
Phil Warrington
 
Welcome to UU! You might get better luck posting to the Tech Support Forum

It could be a burr or something in the tuners?
 
I was going to say "are you trying to tune it up too high / an octave up?" but you have other ukes that you've re-strung. So scrap that thought. I had that happen to me early on. Snapping a string always scares the crap out of me.
 
May I help?
Don't mean to be impertinent --- it was fun to think about.

I'd guess you've been through this, but how about a quick test.
What COULD it be?

1) String pitched too high ( an octave too high? A 5th too high? )
2) Scale is much longer than usual or believed.
3) Strings are marked wrong or otherwise a gauge different from what you think.
4) Several identical Strings are systematically nicked ( a sharp object fell on a batch of strings )
5) Something on the instrument is nicking the strings.
Nut
Bridge
burr on fret
burr on the tuner hole

Is there something else we haven't thought of?

Solutions would be:
Double check all the gauges, lengths
Carefully inspect the strings ( run it through your fingers. You will feel any nick or flaw )
Compare pitch tuned with another uke, a piano, or just read C-X on your tuner to make sure X is the correct octave.
Try tuning up the same ( similar ) string at a different spot on the nut/bridge using a different tuning peg.

I can't imagine how the answer can escape all this.
 
PhillRoy said:
I wonder if anyone can offer advice on the following problem I've had with my new (I've had it 3 weeks) Sidekick. Strings have broken 3 times in total - twice it was G strings and the first time it was the E string. The most recent breakage appears to have been between the 2nd and 3rd fret (although I am not aware how much the strings actually stretch when they are under tension). Both times the breakages occurred while I was fine-tuning the string.
For background (and because I have a concern that what is happening might be down to me and something I am doing wrong) I offer the following: I do not have huge experience with ukuleles - I have been playing for a couple of years and have 5 other ukuleles all of which I have restrung without any problems and none of which have had string breakages; I have asked someone who I do consider to be an expert and he assured me that strings should not break regularly like this; I have checked for sharp edges on the frets and cannot detect any; in the short periods between string breakages, I have really enjoyed playing my Sidekick. Customer care from the manufacturer has been excellent. I email and they get back to me very quickly. With this last string breakage they suggest that it must be something I am doing wrong and that I should take my Sidekick to a music shop where I can watch it being restrung professionally.
What I would like is advice:
1. What do you think is going wrong? Is it something I am doing or might there actually be something wrong with my Sidekick?
2. How can I ensure this doesn't happen again?
Thanks,
Phil Warrington
Click to expand...

Phil, where are the strings breaking? At the nut edge, somewhere in the middle, at the bridge or at the knot end? Knowing that can help isolate the problem.

Also, what kind/brand strings are you using? Did you get them from a local store, a major string seller or an EB@¥ unknown? There's a fair amount of counterfeit strings on the bargain market and they sour quickly.

Regards,
 
Thanks to all who replied. This is a great resource. I've re-posted my query onto the Tech Support Forum now I know it's there (cheers, Jim) but can't imagine I'll improve on the advice received above. My strings are Aquilas from Omega so I'm sure they are genuine. I'm about to (carefully!) smooth the groove in the nut and, possibly, the edge of the nut with some 400 wet/dry. Hope I'm doing right. I can't imagine it's anything else but I will go through the checklists suggested.
Kind regards,
Phil
 
Phil,

What was your verdict for the instrument? Worthwhile? I picked up a local banjo ukulele that's not too bad. If I get a moment (and can figure out who made it) will do a write up.

Micah
 
Congrats on your new baby! Iv'e tossed around the idea of getting one, so I can play Formby stuff on it. But I'm very concerned about the weight. How much does yours weigh?
The things are so loud I've banned them from our jam sessions. We lost one guy. So what, everyone else stayed....
 
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