Jim Hanks
Well-known member
I wasn't looking for this, but when I saw the posting from fellow member Ben Mulleman, I was intrigued. After some discussions, it turned out he was interested in my GoldTone BUT tenor banjo uke. So we worked out a trade. I'll copy the specs from his post:
Body : Chambered / Hollow Body Mahogany w/ Solid Hawaiian Koa Top
Top : Hawaiian Koa
Neck : Genuine (Honduras) Mahogany CNC
Fingerboard & Bridge : Indian Rosewood w/ Abalone Dots
Nut & Saddle : Real Bone Custom Prepared (and it is compensated!)
Tuner : Grover Side Open Gear 14:1 Chrome Black Buttons
Finish : Satin (Waterbased)
Scale Length : 431.8 mm, 20 Frets with 7 Genuine Abalone Position Markers and side Dots at 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, and 15th position
Pickup : Fishman Passive w/ Hand Made Koa Volume Knob Includes 2 Fender Style Strap Pins
Since Ben is left-handed and has an affinity for Aquila strings, neither of which apply to myself, I changed out the strings with the only thing I could get my hands on quickly - Martin M600s from Guitar Center (thanks to Booli for the suggestion). I am happy to report they work just fine and feel pretty good tuned to my tenor favorite of Bb reentrant. Tension is on the lower side so they could easily go up to C tuning. Either way, I think the brighter tone of the M600s suits this uke well.
As you would expect, the acoustic tone is extremely muted, though not silent. Plugged in, I've only tried it through a Danelctro HoneyTone so far. I think I'm gonna like one this a lot. My very first uke was a concert Risa stick, but I think this is really what I was after at the time.
Playing samples soon but here are some pics:
And there are a few more here: http://s12.photobucket.com/user/jimhanksnc/library/Imua iEt
Body : Chambered / Hollow Body Mahogany w/ Solid Hawaiian Koa Top
Top : Hawaiian Koa
Neck : Genuine (Honduras) Mahogany CNC
Fingerboard & Bridge : Indian Rosewood w/ Abalone Dots
Nut & Saddle : Real Bone Custom Prepared (and it is compensated!)
Tuner : Grover Side Open Gear 14:1 Chrome Black Buttons
Finish : Satin (Waterbased)
Scale Length : 431.8 mm, 20 Frets with 7 Genuine Abalone Position Markers and side Dots at 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, and 15th position
Pickup : Fishman Passive w/ Hand Made Koa Volume Knob Includes 2 Fender Style Strap Pins
Since Ben is left-handed and has an affinity for Aquila strings, neither of which apply to myself, I changed out the strings with the only thing I could get my hands on quickly - Martin M600s from Guitar Center (thanks to Booli for the suggestion). I am happy to report they work just fine and feel pretty good tuned to my tenor favorite of Bb reentrant. Tension is on the lower side so they could easily go up to C tuning. Either way, I think the brighter tone of the M600s suits this uke well.
As you would expect, the acoustic tone is extremely muted, though not silent. Plugged in, I've only tried it through a Danelctro HoneyTone so far. I think I'm gonna like one this a lot. My very first uke was a concert Risa stick, but I think this is really what I was after at the time.
Playing samples soon but here are some pics:
And there are a few more here: http://s12.photobucket.com/user/jimhanksnc/library/Imua iEt