Ohana zebra wood uke

ichadwick

ichadwick

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Any members own the new Ohana zebra wood ukes? Comments on it? Sound? Playability? Quality control?

It's such a beautiful ukulele that I may get one just for the stunning look, even through it's soprano and I play tenors!
 
I have a zebrawood soprano that I will be reviewing in a future issue of Ukulele Player. My first impressions of it are very good. The uke is beautiful. I love the woodgrain. The uke vibrates nicely and the tone is sweet and mellow. I love the inlay and the fit and finish is perfect on the one that Ohana sent me for review. I'd imagine that they are all the same sort of quality. I also have the new pineapple here, too. It is solid mahogany and has a nice, sweet voice to it as well.

Of the two, the pineapple stays in tune better... not that the zebrawood is bad, because it stays in tune pretty well when playing. The one thing is that it seems to react to changes in the weather more than the mahogany does.

They are completely different tones and that is something you don't get with laminated instruments. The zebrawood retails about $130 USD... a steal for a solid wood uke.
 
Pippin said:
I have a zebrawood soprano that I will be reviewing in a future issue of Ukulele Player. My first impressions of it are very good. The uke is beautiful. I love the woodgrain. The uke vibrates nicely and the tone is sweet and mellow. I love the inlay and the fit and finish is perfect on the one that Ohana sent me for review. I'd imagine that they are all the same sort of quality. I also have the new pineapple here, too. It is solid mahogany and has a nice, sweet voice to it as well.

Of the two, the pineapple stays in tune better... not that the zebrawood is bad, because it stays in tune pretty well when playing. The one thing is that it seems to react to changes in the weather more than the mahogany does.

They are completely different tones and that is something you don't get with laminated instruments. The zebrawood retails about $130 USD... a steal for a solid wood uke.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review Pippin. I was thinking of getting one of the Ohana zebra wood ukes also. :cool:
 
larger sizes?

Any chance they might do larger sizes in zebra? I would definitely go for it if I could get a long neck soprano, concert or tenor size.

–Lori
 
Lori said:
Any chance they might do larger sizes in zebra? I would definitely go for it if I could get a long neck soprano, concert or tenor size.

–Lori
Click to expand...

No, at least not at the moment. there are one or two new ukes in the pipeline (apart from those that have already been introduced this year). I think that a tenor version, for instance, might have a "harder" sound than most most players would expect. I think it would be a stunning instrument though.

ichadwick said:
Any members own the new Ohana zebra wood ukes? Comments on it? Sound? Playability? Quality control?

It's such a beautiful ukulele that I may get one just for the stunning look, even through it's soprano and I play tenors!
Click to expand...

I have one at home. It is perfect and looks stunning. The sound is very immediate and precise. It has a clear, crisp sound that I find really interesting. It was very popular at the Belgian Festival and I think it will also prove popular at the Italian Festival in June.

Pippin said:
They are completely different tones and that is something you don't get with laminated instruments. The zebrawood retails about $130 USD... a steal for a solid wood uke.
Click to expand...

I agree absolutely. At that price it is tremendous value. You are getting an instrument with a true character of its own.

KEN
 
I'd buy a zebrawood pineapple yesterday. :)
 
Thanks for the input. Despite my perference for tenor, I am so taken by the zebrawood look that I might buy a soprano. I have to weight the cost, though - a $130 US uke ends up costing me around $200 Canadian.
 
ichadwick said:
Thanks for the input. Despite my perference for tenor, I am so taken by the zebrawood look that I might buy a soprano. I have to weight the cost, though - a $130 US uke ends up costing me around $200 Canadian.
Click to expand...

I've been - and still am - into tenors too, but lately I've been playing a lot on my Bruko soprano, and I have to say I just love the small size. I carry it with me wherever I go. I was very close to buying an Ohana from ukuleleshop.co.uk, even had my credit card out, but they sold the last one and closed the shop down right in my face!

I'm still want an Ohana though. Seems excellent value for money.
 
I played the zebrawood ohana at the Belgian ukulele festival at Mr Middleton's Ohana stand.

(try to find it :))

picture.php


It sounded very nice and the playability was very good for a soprano.
I also think it was one of the instruments most people were looking at and trying out, simply because of it's great appearance.
 
I found a Canadian distributor for Ohana, with a better price than I might get if I bought it from the US. So now it's telephone tag time, trying to find out if they have it in stock, and how to get it to me.

Such a sorry, sorry disease, this UAS. Why can't I have something manageable, like a drug addiction, or kleptomania?

PS. 700 posts on this forum alone! Does this mean I don't have a life? Or that my life has become increasingly ukified?
 
ichadwick said:
I found a Canadian distributor for Ohana, with a better price than I might get if I bought it from the US. So now it's telephone tag time, trying to find out if they have it in stock, and how to get it to me.

Such a sorry, sorry disease, this UAS. Why can't I have something manageable, like a drug addiction, or kleptomania?

PS. 700 posts on this forum alone! Does this mean I don't have a life? Or that my life has become increasingly ukified?
Click to expand...

Ian, it means that you are a valuable contributor and not just the resident harp expert. ... Oh, and I hope you enjoy your new Ohana Zebrawood uke when you get it.
 
Last edited:
Okay, it's a leap of faith for me, but I've asked the Canadian distributor to call me as soon as one comes in... a couple of weeks, I expect.
 
I had a chance to play one of the Ohana zebra sopranos from UkeRepublic tonight at the SEUkers meeting in West Atlanta. It had a fantastic tone - very bright and sweet. Its also a well made instrument.
 
Uke Republic said:
The zebra wood is so beautiful. In my opinion the wood's tone is close to rosewood. Great sound coming from this soprano uke. A wonderful player and unique as it is solid zebra wood.
Click to expand...

i agree. rosewood seems to be the best comparison.
 
According to Ken M. (from another recent thread), Ohana is now building zebra concerts, soon to be available...
 
I own a Ohana Zebra Soprano and I really love it although I usually play tenor or concert. I replaced the straight tuners with geared ones so that the uke stays in tune more easily. Since the woodgrain is so attractive, my gf is currently learning on it...
I only had one other Soprano to compare it to, a Brüko No. 5. And I can definitely say that the Zebrawood Sop. sounds way better. The tone is rich and complex. And even with a Low G string it sounds nice!
 
I have a Zebra Soprano and I love it! I've also played the concerts that they've got, but I'm a soprano fan myself.

Mine had geared tuners standard. Sounds and looks great. Best uke purchase yet!
 
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