This is my review of a recently acquired Mya-Moe Chocolate Heart Mango Concert Classic. All photos were taken with my Iphone.
Here are the fundamentals:
14 fret-to-the-body; Koa fretboard & body bindings; Hand-rubbed oil finish; Plain mango sides; Thicker neck; 10" fretboard radius, misi pick up.
After owing a few sub $400 ukes, I finally realized what distracted me with all of them is how the intonation degrades as one travels up the fret board. Then I met the good people of Mya-Moe ukulele at local ukulele festival. Gordon and Char Mayer get it when it comes to what musicians expect in an instrument. I’m far from being accomplished musically, but bad intonation I can hear. Although I’ve tried only 4 or 5 of their instruments, every one hit the mark in this area.
Before and after I placed my order, their interface with customers is above expectations. They were very patient with the little things that mattered to me. Not only are the Mayer’s great to work with, they have an amazing web site with a lot of information. You can also drool over the growing photo gallery of actual instruments they have built. Mine is #271. Many builder sites have just one or two sample pictures of each model. The coolest thing happens when your instrument is started. Pictures of your uke’s progress are posted via twitter from raw wood to finished product.
As far as my uke is concerned, I get a kick just looking at it. I love how Char and Gordon blended and merged the different wood types and patterns into what almost looks like a single piece of wood. Playing their ukes will make you smile. The sound projects in a clear blended chorus that I’ve never heard come from an ukulele before. The radius fretboard feels great, contributing to the uniformity throughout the entire playing range. This is a standard feature that luthiers often charge extra for. When barring the 7th fret chords, the tone is full and the notes just sing out. The sustain is remarkable too. An advanced player’s touch will quickly find that there is an impressive dynamic range to work with. Sound quality is clear and consistent from end to end.
I’ve tried several $600+ ukes from a couple of higher volume name brands you would recognize. However, the consistency from instrument to instrument often is just not there. I’ve actually played some $600+ instrument that when you travel up the neck, slowly but surely the overall sound quality falls apart. The strings become noticeably less resonate, more dissonant, or both. This will not happen with one of Gordon and Char’s.
Bottom line: Great intonation, amazing feel, sound clarity and definition to give the player unrestrained confidence to express any style of music they are capable of playing. No matter which you choose, their Classic or more affordable Tradition, both will be keepers for a life time.
d4H
Here are the fundamentals:
14 fret-to-the-body; Koa fretboard & body bindings; Hand-rubbed oil finish; Plain mango sides; Thicker neck; 10" fretboard radius, misi pick up.
After owing a few sub $400 ukes, I finally realized what distracted me with all of them is how the intonation degrades as one travels up the fret board. Then I met the good people of Mya-Moe ukulele at local ukulele festival. Gordon and Char Mayer get it when it comes to what musicians expect in an instrument. I’m far from being accomplished musically, but bad intonation I can hear. Although I’ve tried only 4 or 5 of their instruments, every one hit the mark in this area.
Before and after I placed my order, their interface with customers is above expectations. They were very patient with the little things that mattered to me. Not only are the Mayer’s great to work with, they have an amazing web site with a lot of information. You can also drool over the growing photo gallery of actual instruments they have built. Mine is #271. Many builder sites have just one or two sample pictures of each model. The coolest thing happens when your instrument is started. Pictures of your uke’s progress are posted via twitter from raw wood to finished product.
As far as my uke is concerned, I get a kick just looking at it. I love how Char and Gordon blended and merged the different wood types and patterns into what almost looks like a single piece of wood. Playing their ukes will make you smile. The sound projects in a clear blended chorus that I’ve never heard come from an ukulele before. The radius fretboard feels great, contributing to the uniformity throughout the entire playing range. This is a standard feature that luthiers often charge extra for. When barring the 7th fret chords, the tone is full and the notes just sing out. The sustain is remarkable too. An advanced player’s touch will quickly find that there is an impressive dynamic range to work with. Sound quality is clear and consistent from end to end.
I’ve tried several $600+ ukes from a couple of higher volume name brands you would recognize. However, the consistency from instrument to instrument often is just not there. I’ve actually played some $600+ instrument that when you travel up the neck, slowly but surely the overall sound quality falls apart. The strings become noticeably less resonate, more dissonant, or both. This will not happen with one of Gordon and Char’s.
Bottom line: Great intonation, amazing feel, sound clarity and definition to give the player unrestrained confidence to express any style of music they are capable of playing. No matter which you choose, their Classic or more affordable Tradition, both will be keepers for a life time.
d4H
