scottie
Well-known member
Okay, so I got 'it'. . . 'it' being my first uke.
I went to Acoustic Music Works in Pittsburgh. Steve had a bunch of Lanikai, some of those cheap $35.00 specials, an old Gibson without strings that needed to have some cracks repaired, and some Collings ukes, most notably the UT-1. He din' have no flukes.
I ended up spending the majority of my time comparing the Lanikai CK-T of which he had several, A similarly priced Lanikai tenor in flamed maple, a solid mahogany Concert, and the Collings.
I ended up with the CK-T, I paid $260, This uke can certainly be had for less elsewhere, but I got to pick the best of several, and I stayed under $300.00, which was important. I did pop $50.00 for a case and 20.00 for a Planet Waves tuner.
The CK-T a nice looking laminate curly koa Tenor uke with a single abalone ring rosette, rosewood fingerboard, wood binding, and closed backed gear tuners. The fingerboard is also bound. It came strung with Aquila Nylgut of I bought an extra set. Fit and finish are about what you'd expect for a $250.00 instrument. . . noticable flaws in the execution but not too bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not a POS or anything, it's just a nice starter instrument
My experience reinforces the idea, especially when you're buying cheaper instruments, that it's best to be able to be there to actually try the instruments you're considering buying. I played three, CK-T's one of which was unacceptably dead in the upper range. Additionally, I made sure they were all tuned equally and compared based on sound, problem areas, and intonation. Simply put, this uke sounds pretty darned good for what it is. It's nice and loud and punchy, and it'll make a good starter uke and a pretty darned good busker 'cause it's not some fragile lil' thing that'll wilt at the first Harley Davidson that drives by and drowns it out. This uke will fight the Harleys, this uke will stand up to street noise, and most importantly, this uke is servicable and will be a good one to experiment on until I decide to spring for the Collings,:drool: which is a beautiful uke with which I'm now familiar and will be a logical next step.
I chose Tenor because I like the size best. . . plenty of room to play around annd. . . can you say 9 fret span . . . . I'm going to be lovin' this.
:smileybounce:
I went to Acoustic Music Works in Pittsburgh. Steve had a bunch of Lanikai, some of those cheap $35.00 specials, an old Gibson without strings that needed to have some cracks repaired, and some Collings ukes, most notably the UT-1. He din' have no flukes.
I ended up spending the majority of my time comparing the Lanikai CK-T of which he had several, A similarly priced Lanikai tenor in flamed maple, a solid mahogany Concert, and the Collings.
I ended up with the CK-T, I paid $260, This uke can certainly be had for less elsewhere, but I got to pick the best of several, and I stayed under $300.00, which was important. I did pop $50.00 for a case and 20.00 for a Planet Waves tuner.
The CK-T a nice looking laminate curly koa Tenor uke with a single abalone ring rosette, rosewood fingerboard, wood binding, and closed backed gear tuners. The fingerboard is also bound. It came strung with Aquila Nylgut of I bought an extra set. Fit and finish are about what you'd expect for a $250.00 instrument. . . noticable flaws in the execution but not too bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not a POS or anything, it's just a nice starter instrument
My experience reinforces the idea, especially when you're buying cheaper instruments, that it's best to be able to be there to actually try the instruments you're considering buying. I played three, CK-T's one of which was unacceptably dead in the upper range. Additionally, I made sure they were all tuned equally and compared based on sound, problem areas, and intonation. Simply put, this uke sounds pretty darned good for what it is. It's nice and loud and punchy, and it'll make a good starter uke and a pretty darned good busker 'cause it's not some fragile lil' thing that'll wilt at the first Harley Davidson that drives by and drowns it out.
This uke will fight the Harleys, this uke will stand up to street noise, and most importantly, this uke is servicable and will be a good one to experiment on until I decide to spring for the Collings,:drool: which is a beautiful uke with which I'm now familiar and will be a logical next step.I chose Tenor because I like the size best. . . plenty of room to play around annd. . . can you say 9 fret span . . . . I'm going to be lovin' this.
:smileybounce:
