bman40
Well-known member
Following all the great reviews and comments on Mike's Mainland Cedar ukes, I received two Mainland Cedar ukuleles yesterday:
A Concert with MOP silver tuners for my wife and a Tenor with the Amber / orange siler tuners for my brother-in-law.
Packaging was solid, and both arrived in perfect shape. There is a tiny ding / flaw in the finish of the top of the tenor, but I am sure to add a few more in short order so its a 'whatever' kind of thing.
First thought on unboxing was: "Wow! Pretty instruments". The combination of cedar and rosewood, with the mahogany binding and the rope purfling is outstanding. I looked at a Kala Cedar / acacia uke last week, and the cedar was almost pink,and not nearly as nice as the Mainland top wood. I wish I had some photos to post, but there have been lots of reviews, so I think msot folks know what hey look like.
I got them home, tuned up and spent an hour playing. My brother in law will be getting a Home Depot gift card this year - I am keeping the tenor for myself! What a terrific playing and great sounding instrument.
My wife was not home so I switched her entry-level laminate Kala soprano out of her bag and dropped in the Mainland. After dinner, I said "Let's have a glass of wine and play some ukulele...." She opened her bag, picked up the uke, and looked away to pick up the tuner on the table, and then she noticed... she was blown away.
We played for over an hour with them, using the stock Aquila strings, and she is so so pleased. We will take these ukes on our road trip next month from Vancouver BC to the Wine Country Uke Festival in St. Helena CA. I wanted to give her a few weeks to get used to the new uke before we leave.
Before bed, I changed the strings on both: I put Worth Browns on the tenor, and Martin fluorcarbons on the Concert. BIG difference in tone - the Concert simply shines with these strings - clear, sweet, shimmery notes. The Worth really improve the tenor as well - its a warm, but still bright, chimey sounding uke.
I got up this morning and tuned them both up, and played afor a little bit with coffee before work. On Day 2 of owning these two lovely ukes, I am thinking the concert might sound the best of the two.
I have a Martin C1K Concert that I bought last year - its a great uke, with a lovely sound, very different as its Koa, but the Mainland Concert just shines.
I have a cheap kala tenor, and the Mainland blows it away. the Kala will be my knock-around backyard uke
We are two super happy new Mainlnad Uke owenrs and I can heartily recommend them to anyone looking for a new instrument to add to your collection. Mike at Mainland was responsive and very helpful.
A Concert with MOP silver tuners for my wife and a Tenor with the Amber / orange siler tuners for my brother-in-law.
Packaging was solid, and both arrived in perfect shape. There is a tiny ding / flaw in the finish of the top of the tenor, but I am sure to add a few more in short order so its a 'whatever' kind of thing.
First thought on unboxing was: "Wow! Pretty instruments". The combination of cedar and rosewood, with the mahogany binding and the rope purfling is outstanding. I looked at a Kala Cedar / acacia uke last week, and the cedar was almost pink,and not nearly as nice as the Mainland top wood. I wish I had some photos to post, but there have been lots of reviews, so I think msot folks know what hey look like.
I got them home, tuned up and spent an hour playing. My brother in law will be getting a Home Depot gift card this year - I am keeping the tenor for myself! What a terrific playing and great sounding instrument.
My wife was not home so I switched her entry-level laminate Kala soprano out of her bag and dropped in the Mainland. After dinner, I said "Let's have a glass of wine and play some ukulele...." She opened her bag, picked up the uke, and looked away to pick up the tuner on the table, and then she noticed... she was blown away.
We played for over an hour with them, using the stock Aquila strings, and she is so so pleased. We will take these ukes on our road trip next month from Vancouver BC to the Wine Country Uke Festival in St. Helena CA. I wanted to give her a few weeks to get used to the new uke before we leave.
Before bed, I changed the strings on both: I put Worth Browns on the tenor, and Martin fluorcarbons on the Concert. BIG difference in tone - the Concert simply shines with these strings - clear, sweet, shimmery notes. The Worth really improve the tenor as well - its a warm, but still bright, chimey sounding uke.
I got up this morning and tuned them both up, and played afor a little bit with coffee before work. On Day 2 of owning these two lovely ukes, I am thinking the concert might sound the best of the two.
I have a Martin C1K Concert that I bought last year - its a great uke, with a lovely sound, very different as its Koa, but the Mainland Concert just shines.
I have a cheap kala tenor, and the Mainland blows it away. the Kala will be my knock-around backyard uke
We are two super happy new Mainlnad Uke owenrs and I can heartily recommend them to anyone looking for a new instrument to add to your collection. Mike at Mainland was responsive and very helpful.