Mahogany soprano shootout

Love the playing and am so envious of such skill - a great encouragement to practice more. Nice piece of music too: easy on the ears; a bit of an ear worm and a nice mix of strumming and picking.

It's an interesting video though I didn't find it clear in terms of which Ukes were on it - readers with more experience will, no doubt, be able to pick out the headstock logos with ease. I watched a couple of it times with a pen and pad to hand to note make (where possible as not all are clear to me) and change times. They are:

00.00 AUA? ; 0.47 Aria ; 1.32 ? ; 2.14 Martin ? ; 3.00 Kiwaya ? ; 4.30 Bruko No6

At the time of writing I feel certain only of the Aria and the Bruko, the later probably being the least expensive of the group and not the best sounding one to my ears. To be fair the Bruko is up against a tough field of much more expensive instruments, is great value and I'd still like one.
 
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4 different types of strings! Based on sound preference rather than uke (as they're strung with 4 different string sets) I liked the Kiwaya onwards.....and I think it offered more range. The playing differed too so, I guess it's just a bit of fun really. The end uke was quite balanced too, but again I think it was down to less a punchy string set. So, for me the Kiwaya - Worth Browns and the end uke (Bruko maybe).
 
Love the playing and am so envious of such skill - a great encouragement to practice more. Nice piece of music too: easy on the ears; a bit of an ear worm and a nice mix of strumming and picking.

It's an interesting video though I didn't find it clear in terms of which Ukes were on it - readers with more experience will, no doubt, be able to pick out the headstock logos with ease. I watched a couple of it times with a pen and pad to hand to note make (where possible as not all are clear to me) and change times. They are:

00.00 AUA? ; 0.47 Aria ; 1.32 ? ; 2.14 Martin ? ; 3.00 Kiwaya ? ; 4.30 Bruko No6

At the time of writing I feel certain only of the Aria and the Bruko, the later probably being the least expensive of the group and not the best sounding one to my ears. To be fair the Bruko is up against a tough field of much more expensive instruments, is great value and I'd still like one.


Hi Graham, the ukes are listed in order of appearance on the video description:

Kala Joe Brown signature
Aria 70's
Favilla 60's
Martin style 0 60's
Kiwaya KTS 4
Kenn Timms style 0
Brüko No. 6

The Kala had a bit of a boom to the C string to my ear - interestingly my laminate soprano has the same thing. The Martin sounded surprisingly thin and the Bruko really held its own with more expensive ukes to my ear.
 
......It's an interesting video though I didn't find it clear in terms of which Ukes were on it - readers with more experience will, no doubt, be able to pick out the headstock logos with ease.

The order of play was listed in the comments below the video, it is:

In order of appearance...
Kala Joe Brown signature
Aria 70's
Favilla 60's
Martin style 0 60's
Kiwaya KTS 4
Kenn Timms style 0
Brüko No. 6

My picks are Kiwaya #1, Timms#2, Favilla #3 (just edging out the Martin, which seemed muted by comparison). The Kala sounded surprisingly good to me, and the Aria not bad. No right or wrong answer here, it's all subjective.
 
4 different types of strings! Based on sound preference rather than uke (as they're strung with 4 different string sets) I liked the Kiwaya onwards.....and I think it offered more range. The playing differed too so, I guess it's just a bit of fun really. The end uke was quite balanced too, but again I think it was down to less a punchy string set. So, for me the Kiwaya - Worth Browns and the end uke (Bruko maybe).

Strings can have a significant impact on the tone of an instrument. As such, I think in any uke comparison, each uke should be strung with whatever strings the reviewer feels sounds best on each particular uke.

It's a fun comparison that the reviewer did; however, I wish they had placed titles for each uke on the video. I appreciate Pirate Jim listing them in order. To my ears, all but the Kala -- which I agree had a bit of a boomy C -- sounded remarkably similar and I'd fail to differentiate them in a blind test.
 
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Listening without looking I thought the Favilla was a Martin. The Brüko held its own, sounding like a Brüko. The Kiwaya and Timms sounded like my two, the Kiwaya slightly more sweet and refined, the Timms harsher, but in a good way. I thought the Kala sounded surprisingly good. That said, if you are just handed any of these, you'd probably be quite happy with how it sounds. How it played might be a different story.
 
Thanks to all of you who added to my start in identifying what Uke played when. The lady playing has a few other Uke videos on YouTube, it's s worth a listen to them too.

I wouldn't would want to attempt placing them in any order of merit - its subjective and I'm not qualified for that task - but maybe there is some merit in identifying their availability and replacement cost. Pardon my lack of knowledge but are only some of all the models demonstrated available new?

The Timms Soprano is, I believe, only available new via auction and the ball park price for them is very roughly $480 including shipping? The Bruko I found in the USA for $230 but perhaps a better price might be available with more research. Both fantastic value IMHO. I wonder what the other prices are, if anyone knows then perhaps they might add them to the thread please.
 
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Bruko are German, their sopranos can be had for £124 in the UK:

https://www.omegamusic.co.uk/products/bruko-no-5-all-solid-mahogany-soprano-ukulele-full-body

Or around EUR130 directly from their website. The Favilla and Martin I think were vintage (maybe the Aria too?) so auction only. The Kala appears to no longer be available and a Kiwaya KTS-4 is £580 in the UK:

http://www.southernukulelestore.co....kxSWc-RvisKis_PmN9hp20YhGAHRVB7OvoBoCzyfw_wcB

Hope this helps!

No and yes. As I hanker after a No5 I'm now having to resist picking up the phone and getting my debit card out - UAS kicks in so easily.

To me the prices and availability add context which I hope is useful to our American Cousins too. In terms of 'bang per buck' the Bruko must surely be the winner by a wide margin but after that the judgement is less clear, and of course there's more to instrument selection than just relative value. If someone in the US is interested then it's worth checking whether Omega would export direct to you and whether for an export sale they could refund the local tax (VAT) element of the price. Likewise I found the folk at Bruko helpful when I asked for some information and they were happy to ship from their factory to the UK so the USA shouldn't be an issue to them.
 
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To me it adds context which I hope is useful to our American Cousins too. In terms of 'bang per buck' the Bruko must surely be the winner by a wide margin but after that the judgement is less clear, and of course there's more to instrument selection than just relative value. If someone in the US is interested then it's worth checking whether Omega would export direct to you and whether the could refund the tax element of the price.

There is a Bruko dealer in the US: http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/products?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=BRUEKO
 
I think a #6 is about $200, shipped, to the US from the company, maybe even a bit less . That is a lot of bang for your buck. The #2 I had had a thick neck that hurt my thumb to play, but others would find this an advantage. The one I ordered came in a box packed with excelsior. Haven't seen that since I was a kid, and it just occurred to me that perhaps they make their own from scrap wood.
 
I liked the Aria, Favilla and Brüko best, as I felt they have more personality. All the rest were evidently great quality, and if I did almost any picking myself rather than just strumming I'd maybe listen to those more intently.
 
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