New Martin Ukulele

Pukulele Pete

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Martin is coming out with a new Ukulele. The body is Laminated, the neck is stratabond?? From what I could find it wont be available until August.It is called the OXKUKE ? The price I've seen is $279.
 
Stratabond is a multi layer lamination kind of like an axe handle. Very strong, and they finish them well. I wonder if it will be laminated wood or the "hpl" or high pressure laminate they use on some of the low end guitars - kind of like formica. I'll bet it's the latter because of the X designation. Probably worthy of travel and rugged conditions.
 
Yes , it is HPL . It is HPL with a koa pattern. I hope it turns out to be a great ukulele. I think I was wrong on the name. I think it is the OXK uke.
 
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Yes, the X means that it's HPL. I haven't played one but some of Martins X series guitars sound better than one would expect. HPL is VERY durable against scratches, dings & weather changes.
 
I want one , but that price is a little steep. It would be nice to have a good uke that I wouldnt have to worry about humidity and could leave out of the case all the time.
 
I'm very intrigued by these.
August you say. I have a birthday in August.
 
Yes , it is HPL . It is HPL with a koa pattern. I hope it turns out to be a great ukulele. I think I was wrong on the name. I think it is the OXK uke.

I wish you hadn't said that! I am having some very bad images in my head of fake wood-looking plastic now. I'd prefer that it look like what it is. My Flea has the plastic fretboard, and yes they did try to do a fake wood grain, but at least its black and you can't really see it.
 
Seems as though Martin's target audience is people who want their instrument to say "Martin" on it at any cost, rather than folks who might be cross-shopping a bunch of different ukulele brands. Their prices are definitely not competitive with the rest of the uke industry. If the HPL koa uke was $179, they might have something going. But $279 is way too close to the price of a Mele or Kiwaya or Keli'i. I hope the OXK is better than expected, and I especially hope that the construction issues with their other budget uke (the S-O) are resolved by the time this one hits the stores.
 
Their original projected due date was Feb 28, I wonder why they pushed it back. An yeah, I've played a few Martin acoustic guitars that were made out of HPL, they they actually look pretty nice, not plastic looking, and sound very nice too!
 
There's a video of it here

He talks about it at about 1:45, and Aldrine plays it at around 4:20

Looks pretty nice.
 
Seems as though Martin's target audience is people who want their instrument to say "Martin" on it at any cost, rather than folks who might be cross-shopping a bunch of different ukulele brands. Their prices are definitely not competitive with the rest of the uke industry. If the HPL koa uke was $179, they might have something going. But $279 is way too close to the price of a Mele or Kiwaya or Keli'i. I hope the OXK is better than expected, and I especially hope that the construction issues with their other budget uke (the S-O) are resolved by the time this one hits the stores.

But doesn't Kiwaya have a laminate series that is either HPL or else something like it, and it's very well made, has a great reputation for not sucking, and costs more than the Martin? I'm just saying that if it sounds good, there is a place for instruments that you don't have to worry about sooooo much in terms of climate changes.

The annoying thing is that locally, it'll be exactly MSRP, or technically above, since stores sell them as 1 dollar=1 euro, which ain't the case. I know of one shop that sells All Things Martin, and they get away with their prices because they can.
 
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