A Word Came To Me From Mahalo....?

drbekken

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I have this little video on youtube, in which I play a cheap Mahalo soprano ukulele.

Today, I got this comment on the video from Mahaloukes:

"Hello Dr Bekken, How are you! We are Mahalo ukulele. MAHALO(thank you) for your
support to Mahalo ukulele.
We like your song and playing. And we would like to share this video on
our trade show TV during our exhibition, such as Shanghai Music(China),
NAMM show(USA) etc. Could we display your video on MAHALO booth during our
trade show?
We would remark the source and your name during we play the video.
Pls let us know."

Do you think it is real, or too good to be true??? Here's the video by the way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwiHmUn0xNk&lc=z222clcjopmhytkhi04t1aokgqunhb1kxv4xfsd4r3v1rk0h00410
 
It looks real to me. Congratulations!
 
I think it's real and deserved. I'm glad others will get to hear you. I've enjoyed your playing, and that you generally play affordable instruments has been a nice bonus.
 
Of course it would be decent of them to send you a uke as a token of their gratitude. Just sayin....
 
I have this little video on youtube, in which I play a cheap Mahalo soprano ukulele.

Today, I got this comment on the video from Mahaloukes:

"Hello Dr Bekken, How are you! We are Mahalo ukulele. MAHALO(thank you) for your
support to Mahalo ukulele.
We like your song and playing. And we would like to share this video on
our trade show TV during our exhibition, such as Shanghai Music(China),
NAMM show(USA) etc. Could we display your video on MAHALO booth during our
trade show?
We would remark the source and your name during we play the video.
Pls let us know."

Do you think it is real, or too good to be true??? Here's the video by the way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwiHmUn0xNk&lc=z222clcjopmhytkhi04t1aokgqunhb1kxv4xfsd4r3v1rk0h00410
Nice playing. You and I could be twins!!!! Right down to the wedding ring on your right hand. I used to wear mine on the right hand after an injury to my left hand. I noticed you are from Norway. I would get questions from strangers asking me if I was European because of the ring on my right hand. I don't wear mine any more. Still happily married but I play djembe quite a bit and the ring tears up the head. I wear the ring on a chain instead.
 
Its come from the official Mahalo youtube account so seems real to me.
Well deserved recognition buddy.
 
I think it's real and deserved. I'm glad others will get to hear you. I've enjoyed your playing, and that you generally play affordable instruments has been a nice bonus.

First of all, thank you everyone for kind comments!

I do play inexpensive, affordable instruments, that's true. I have always thought that instruments should be available to everybody, and that no matter your financial status, you should have the possibility to purchase playable instruments. Obviously, high end instruments ARE better, but the cheap ones can also bring hours of joy to people. It is a good thing. The problem is that some manufacturers sell trash, and speculate in the fact that not all buyers are expert enough to figure out the scam before it is too late. I also find that some cheapos come from the factory in a not-too-perfect state, but that many can become quite good with a little tweaking. The Mahalo in the video needed some work, but the intonation turned out good, and the instrument isn't bad at all now really.

My most expensive ukulele is a Martin S1 soprano. That is indeed a beautiful instrument, but I still get a special kick from such cheapos as the Mahalo, or the Rogue (have one soprano and one baritone Rogue). I also have a Romanian made Hora baritone, a solid mahogany instrument which is really good, and available in Europe for around 100 euros (as far as I remember). This is my kind of thing...instruments to the people!!!

If I get rich, I might consider some custom made special order instrument. Right now, that does not seem likely, but I'm ok with that. I got the Mahalo, after all.
 
A very nice piece. I am sure Mahalo will be pleased to have that playing in their booth.
 
I agree that money isn’t everything, at least now that I am in the privileged position of Associate Professor of music in the Norwegian University of Science &Technology (NTNU). For me as a musician it is great. I am free from the freelancer’s hustle to get gigs; I have steady employment until I retire with a pension, and I play only gigs that I want to play.
First and foremost, I’m a pianist, and I have honestly been a little surprised that my uke videos have gained such positive feedback. It makes me happy, but this comment from Mahalo, on an iPhone video, still blew my mind a bit. So yeah, of course they can use the video. If anyone sees it at NAMM or wherever, let me know!
 
My belief is that Mahalo have had a change of ownership in the last year or so, that might mean many changes for the company. They used to have some demonstration videos on YouTube played by a very skilled American but maybe they’re all gone now or perhaps commercial arrangements have altered.

I’d be interested to hear what was done to the Mahalo to make it play better. Dr B’s comments on Music being available to everyone are very much in-line with my own thoughts, I couldn’t agree more with him. A now tweaked second hand Dolphin that cost about $20 off of eBay gives me a real kick every time I play it. I do believe that, in general, what instruments produce is much more about how they are played than about build, it’s mostly about the skill of the user. Last night I was listening to a pal of mine playing and he sounded fantastic, he sounded fantastic on exactly the instrument that was once in my care but I never sounded so good on it - I sounded fine he sounded excellent.

What does concern me is that whilst Dr B could make great music on an instrument made out of cardboard and elastic bands no one should be misled into believing that they too could work the same magic.
 
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I’d be interested to hear what was done to the Mahalo to make it play better. (...) What does concern me is that whilst Dr B could make great music on an instrument made out of cardboard and elastic bands no one should be misled into believing that they too could work the same magic.

Thank you...what I did to the Mahalo was to lower action at the nut, I took the nut off and filed it down from underneath and glued it back on, then I lowered action just slightly at the bridge. I took off the geared tuners, which I found to be a little bit oversized for a soprano, purely for 'cosmetic' reasons...put on some decent friction tuners. And i changed the stock strings, because they were so terrible I just could not believe it. The new strings are nothing fancy, just GHS black nylons, which seem to be sneered at by some folks. I actually like them.

When you all say I could make great music with a cardboard box and some rubber bands, I beg to differ...I like great instruments as much as the next guy...and I have had the privilege of learning (especially the piano) on good ones. However, I have always been interested in how different instruments sound differently. As a pianist, I enjoy a concert Steinway or a Bosendorfer, but I am also able to enjoy an old battered upright or a small spinet. There are videos on youtube of famous pianists playing street pianos, and pieces by Liszt or Beethoven take on a whole new character once they are removed from the perfectionism of the posh concert hall. Likewise, I look for beauty in the sound of low end ukuleles. The sound of a Rogue baritone has its own beauty, or as Segovia might have said; its own 'poetry'. The sound of the Mahalo is very different from the sound of the Martin, but it has some special own character that the Martin doesn't have - and vice versa. An instrument may be as cheap as they come, there is music to be played on it no matter what. That does NOT mean that badly made rubbish instruments are commendable. Some are just all too crappy to tweak or fix up. Such products are unforgivable. They turn people away from playing, and create frustration and resentment instead of a love of playing or exploring an instrument. If the cheapos could come off the assembly line in good playing condition, not needing 'lutherie' before playing, it would be great. Some Chinese brands already do, I am told.

Once again, thanks for compliments. I do appreciate them.
 
The new strings are nothing fancy, just GHS black nylons, which seem to be sneered at by some folks. I actually like them.

That does NOT mean that badly made rubbish instruments are commendable. Some are just all too crappy to tweak or fix up. Such products are unforgivable..

Great news about Mahalo! I've always liked your uke videos. They get right to the point and the playing is solid.

I also have always liked GHS black strings. I have them on my Kamaka pineapple. I also agree about your statement that if a uke can't be tweaked or fixed up, it is unforgivable. I think Barry Maz burned a ukulele in a video once like that! hehe

Pete
 
Wow~, that's a great honor! Congratulations!
 
Thank you...what I did to the Mahalo was to lower action at the nut, I took the nut off and filed it down from underneath and glued it back on, then I lowered action just slightly at the bridge. I took off the geared tuners, which I found to be a little bit oversized for a soprano, purely for 'cosmetic' reasons...put on some decent friction tuners. And i changed the stock strings, because they were so terrible I just could not believe it. The new strings are nothing fancy, just GHS black nylons, which seem to be sneered at by some folks. I actually like them.

Thank you for the information. If I were watching your video as a review or indicator then that data together with the model number (which you have given) would be helpful. IIRC Baz Maz has done a review on that model.

Through some current U.K. ebay listings I came across two video’s by Stan Gee, in one he plays a Mahalo U50 and in the other a Mahalo U320 (both are Sopranos that he has for sale). I think that Stan plays very well but to my mind one model explains why the name Mahalo translates to something best not bought and something that gets a brand a bad name. The other Uke sounded OK to me, I prefer Dolphins for a beater but it did make me think that that Mahalo model would be fine for that purpose too.

Edit. Videos are:
Stan https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JU9cwjympjs
Stan https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CZTjscX4zjU
Baz https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nehgIbM89Rw
 
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For myself, Doc's videos, including this one, have shown a person doesn't have to have a high quality instrument to make great music. Course a bit of training and lot's of soul helps.

Congrats Doc! You are going to be the hit of the show. You're charisma and style will inspire them as it has us on UU.
 
If you go back to early in the century, Mahalos were very popular in the UK and were the uke of choice for some of the people who helped set up many uke groups in the UK. If you find some of the people who started the groups, they probably did a lot of work on the Mahalos and may have even run some workshop style activities to help schools and groups adjust the Mahalos for use in the classroom and as the group staple. A lot of the history can be found on sites like UkuleleCosmos and FMM if you take the time to look. Early in the century there was very little competition for Mahalo, now of course there is a lot more competition. I still have one or two old Mahalo U30s, which was the model of choice, from then. They do seem to open up with time. There must be thousands lying around collecting dust, maybe its a good time to resurrect a few? I can't recall the names of the early UK uke groups, but if you are in one of them, maybe there would be some fun in setting up a Mahalo orchestra using some U30 relics and the old songbooks?
I think Mahalo is a Japanese company that arranges for the ukes to be made in China and other parts of Asia, as such it has a Japanese approach to the ukulele market. Here is a link to some history, note that the company started around 1999 so if some of the older U30 models are going to be getting to be collectible. https://www.mahalo-ukulele.com/About/work .
Getting back to DR Bekken's videos, they are amazing and they lead the way in showing how a professional music person can be allowed to enjoy some musical recreation with a ukulele without interfering with a successful professional musical life. This is one of the major joys of owning ukuleles and is available to all players at all levels.

Thanks, Bill, for your information and perspective. I’ve copied it above as sometimes you delete your older posts and we are the poorer for that - I hope that you don’t mind me doing that too much.

All power to Dr B in promoting music making on less expensive instruments. The point that I was trying to make is illustrated by Stan’s two video’s, to me one Mahalo Uke (Edit. the more expensive and better built one) seemed like worth having and the other didn’t, so (my point is) the buyer really needs to understand that for that brand there are significant differences in basic utility between some models. One model passed a low threshold of acceptability and the other seemed, to me, to be more of a toy than an instrument. Selling a Ukulele shaped toy like object as a musical instrument is likely to be very unhelpful to someone who would like to learn to play and might well stop them altogether. Of course those are just my opinions and other people will doubtless have other opinions, but part of UU is about sharing facts, opinions and experiences so that’s all good.
 
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