Which would you choose: black bear v William King

Stevelele

Stevelele

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I'm choosing between the purchase of 2 used concert ukes. One is an all spruce concert blonde colored Black Bear, made a couple of years ago and the other is a William King concert maple bodied with a cedar top, made about 4 years ago. Approximately the same price. What are your thoughts, suggestions, rants, etc?
 
I'm a big fan of William King's work (I own two Kings), but I know Black Bear ukes enjoy great reputation as well (I don't have personal experience with them). In this case I'd probably go with the King just because the maple/cedar combo is more of a known quantity than an all spruce ukulele. (not that you see many maple/cedar combo either, but you don't see ANY all spruce intruments) I guess if you like something really unique, the Black Bear would fit the bill.
 
what kind of sound does the maple cedar combo have? The owner says that it has a 'guitar sound'. I'm not sure what that means, but I dont want it to sound like a guitar--we're uke players afterall. Not sure if he meant that it has more clarity and resonance--perhaps that's what he was trying to say.
 
btw, what would you say is the fair market rate for a used william king concert, like the one i described?
 
syfc said:
what kind of sound does the maple cedar combo have? The owner says that it has a 'guitar sound'. I'm not sure what that means, but I dont want it to sound like a guitar--we're uke players afterall. Not sure if he meant that it has more clarity and resonance--perhaps that's what he was trying to say.
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It's difficult to say, since there isn't a heck of a lot of maple/cedar combos out there. Both of my Kings (koa/spruce & ebony/spruce) have great clarity and resonance and very nice sustain. The koa/spruce one is probably more "guitar-like" to my ears, but both sound like ukuleles to me.

syfc said:
btw, what would you say is the fair market rate for a used william king concert, like the one i described?
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Just a guess, but probably somewhere around $1000 if it has fairly basic decorations. More if it's more decked out with abalone, pickup, etc.
 
thanks for your reply. I wrote to Duane of Black Bear to ask him about the all spruce uke. In the course of the discussion, he revealed to me that he's not making as many ukes these days, but still doing stuff every once in a while. I hope people can encourage him to continue with his craft. I've heard great things, and it'd be a shame if he stopped altogether.
 
One of my dream 'ukuleles is a Black Bear sopranino pineapple.
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Somehow a solid spruce including sides and back sounds fragile and does not appeal to me though.
 
How can you expect anyone to realistically compare two instruments without having both of them to see and play? It just becomes a popularity contest providing no useful information to you. Just look at the pervious post.
 
Bluke said:
How can you expect anyone to realistically compare two instruments without having both of them to see and play? It just becomes a popularity contest providing no useful information to you. Just look at the pervious post.
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There's always the chance that someone has played at least one of the two - or maybe even both. I don't think he was looking for a popularity contest but more to tap into the knowledge of other UU members.
 
+1 to ukeshale.

The OP didn't exactly ask if anyone had experience with both of the ukuleles. I believe he asked for thoughts, ideas, etcetera, to help him make a decision.
 
I actually thought this thread produced some useful information. Thanks to all. I am leaning towards the King, based on this thread and other research. Unfortunately, we all have to make decisions without perfect information, esp since these are custom ukes. Maybe someday I'll have both.
 
so I decided to get the william king. Only problem--there was a big crack on the front of the uke!!! Hopefully the seller is honest, and I'll be able to work out a return. Really disappointed, bc the uke is otherwise beautiful
 
syfc said:
so I decided to get the william king. Only problem--there was a big crack on the front of the uke!!! Hopefully the seller is honest, and I'll be able to work out a return. Really disappointed, bc the uke is otherwise beautiful
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That's a shame! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
 
so the seller says he's going to return 100% of the $$, and he insured it. So I'm sending it back. Before I heard from the seller, I contacted William King and asked him how much it'd be to repair. Even though the damage surely had nothing to do with King's craftsmanship and work, he made an incredible offer to repair it for free. I was blown away by his generosity and how much he cares about his work product. I think I might have to buy a new one from him.
 
syfc said:
so the seller says he's going to return 100% of the $$, and he insured it. So I'm sending it back. Before I heard from the seller, I contacted William King and asked him how much it'd be to repair. Even though the damage surely had nothing to do with King's craftsmanship and work, he made an incredible offer to repair it for free. I was blown away by his generosity and how much he cares about his work product. I think I might have to buy a new one from him.
Click to expand...

Congrats! Looks like there was a silver-lining after all :)
 
syfc said:
so the seller says he's going to return 100% of the $$, and he insured it. So I'm sending it back. Before I heard from the seller, I contacted William King and asked him how much it'd be to repair. Even though the damage surely had nothing to do with King's craftsmanship and work, he made an incredible offer to repair it for free. I was blown away by his generosity and how much he cares about his work product. I think I might have to buy a new one from him.
Click to expand...

William truely does take pride and care over his product. Based on the amout of time he spent on my custon tenor, he was working for about a dollar an hour!!!
 
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