For a while now, I've been bouncing back and forth between tenor and soprano, and somehow neither feels ideal to me.
The soprano is cute and the original, and for strumming in the first few frets it's great, but a little plinky and cramp-y. The tenor's sound is much fuller and bass-ier, but it's bigger than I'd ideally like, and even though I have average-sized hands, there are stretches I can't imagine I'll manage even with a lot of practice (it also causes me to keep wondering about classical guitars, which is not good!).
So, I guess it was just a matter of time until I'd consider a concert again. I had an off-the-shelf Stagg (my first ukulele, actually) that was poorly set up, so I never did much with it because it was just painful to play on.
I don't want to, and can't right now, spend a lot of money on one, but I'm looking at the Mabuhay concert, the massive mango model with the radius rosewood fretboard (I've been curious about radius fretboards). I'd probably put Martin fluorocarbon strings on it, since I like those on the tenor. Nylguts feel harsh to me.
Mabuhay is a Philippine (guitar?) manufacturer and their ukes are carried by a number of European outlets, though I know little else about their instruments or the company. I'd get one that's set up, though, so no risk in that regard. The cost would be around $300.
How would you describe the sound of massive mango? I'm really only familiar (own ears) with acacia and mahogany.
I haven't made up my mind yet, but you know how it is, once the thought is there, you'll eventually do it.
The soprano is cute and the original, and for strumming in the first few frets it's great, but a little plinky and cramp-y. The tenor's sound is much fuller and bass-ier, but it's bigger than I'd ideally like, and even though I have average-sized hands, there are stretches I can't imagine I'll manage even with a lot of practice (it also causes me to keep wondering about classical guitars, which is not good!).
So, I guess it was just a matter of time until I'd consider a concert again. I had an off-the-shelf Stagg (my first ukulele, actually) that was poorly set up, so I never did much with it because it was just painful to play on.
I don't want to, and can't right now, spend a lot of money on one, but I'm looking at the Mabuhay concert, the massive mango model with the radius rosewood fretboard (I've been curious about radius fretboards). I'd probably put Martin fluorocarbon strings on it, since I like those on the tenor. Nylguts feel harsh to me.
Mabuhay is a Philippine (guitar?) manufacturer and their ukes are carried by a number of European outlets, though I know little else about their instruments or the company. I'd get one that's set up, though, so no risk in that regard. The cost would be around $300.
How would you describe the sound of massive mango? I'm really only familiar (own ears) with acacia and mahogany.
I haven't made up my mind yet, but you know how it is, once the thought is there, you'll eventually do it.