PTOEguy
Well-known member
I took stock of my ukulele situation recently and found that I was tending towards ukuleles made in the United States by Magic Fluke, Deering and Blackbird. The outliers are my Pono baritone and the Hadean Uke Bass.
There is nothing ideological about this, but it may be a taste thing. I've enjoyed getting ukes that have a tech edge to them. I like how my ukes all have some kind of technological trick to make the great.
For my flea it is how the plastic fingerboard could be cheap and cheesy, but it ensures intonation and great action.
For my Deering banjo and banjo-uke, it is how Deering makes manufacturing shortcuts work. Their necks are a single piece of wood - no separate fingerboard. This reduces the chance of a neck changing profile over time as the fretboard and neck react differently to changes in weather/moisture and reduces cost. Plus my banjo-uke uses the same maple rim as my banjo - reducing manufacturing cost while making a more complex toned banjo-uke.
For the Blackbird I love how ekoa makes a "plastic" uke that sounds as good as any solid wood uke I've ever encountered.
I'm wondering though - does this indicate a coherent musical taste, or just an engineer's love of tech gadgets?
There is nothing ideological about this, but it may be a taste thing. I've enjoyed getting ukes that have a tech edge to them. I like how my ukes all have some kind of technological trick to make the great.
For my flea it is how the plastic fingerboard could be cheap and cheesy, but it ensures intonation and great action.
For my Deering banjo and banjo-uke, it is how Deering makes manufacturing shortcuts work. Their necks are a single piece of wood - no separate fingerboard. This reduces the chance of a neck changing profile over time as the fretboard and neck react differently to changes in weather/moisture and reduces cost. Plus my banjo-uke uses the same maple rim as my banjo - reducing manufacturing cost while making a more complex toned banjo-uke.
For the Blackbird I love how ekoa makes a "plastic" uke that sounds as good as any solid wood uke I've ever encountered.
I'm wondering though - does this indicate a coherent musical taste, or just an engineer's love of tech gadgets?