Mainland Concert vs ???

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ukuDaily

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My sweet wifey and kids have decided to buy me a ukulele for Father's Day and now comes the tough part...deciding which one. For a long time, I have been wanting a Mainland Concert with a slotted headstock, but now that they are in stock and I have clearance from the tower to get one, I am having second thoughts.

Is anything that can compete with a Mainland for quality and sound in the $250-$350 price point?

Mike
ukuDaily.com
 
Get one. You'll be very happy. Get mahogany if you weren't sure which wood. A very sweet sounding uke that comes with great personal service from Mike (hoosierhiver). I just put new worth cm strings on my concert today, btw.
 
Aloha Mike,
Congrats MIke, give us the 411 and send us some pic's or a vid.
We'd appriciate you sharing with us....Have fun and enjoy the sweet music of the ukulele....
"Keep on strumming them strings.... MM Stan
 
ukuDaily said:
My sweet wifey and kids have decided to buy me a ukulele for Father's Day and now comes the tough part...deciding which one. For a long time, I have been wanting a Mainland Concert with a slotted headstock, but now that they are in stock and I have clearance from the tower to get one, I am having second thoughts.

Is anything that can compete with a Mainland for quality and sound in the $250-$350 price point?

Mike
ukuDaily.com
Click to expand...

Here is where I am torn. If you want mahogany then I'd go with Mele. If you want red cedar/rosewood then mainland. I have owned a mainland slotted head mahogany concert and I wasn't blown away by it. at first i was but then I got the red cedar concert. My mele mahogany concert and tenor has sounded better than any other mahogany that I have played (pono, honu, mainland, ohana, kala, makai, lani kai) but that red cedar by mainland might be better than any of my imports.

Check out Mele. If you don't like get a mainland. You won't be disappointeds with either one. Both companies are great to work with and I have met both set of owners. great folks.
 
i was the same way...i hesitated and hesitated. i finally pulled the trigger and my mahogany mainland concert arrived in the mail yesterday. it is BEAUTIFUL! i am kicking myself for waiting. just a gorgeous instrument through and through. if you do decide to get one, i highly doubt you will regret it.
 
Alternatives:

The cedar top Kala (now discontinued but available) but no slotted headstock...or the cedar top Lanikai (almost $300).

or a Kiwaya mahogany or koa concert...lam ukes but incredible sound and quality.

The Lanikai solid mahogany concert is featured on You Tube with some very high praise.

Mele? Honu mahogany concerts? Lo Prinzi (in the $400 plus) range...
 
haolejohn said:
Here is where I am torn. If you want mahogany then I'd go with Mele. If you want red cedar/rosewood then mainland. I have owned a mainland slotted head mahogany concert and I wasn't blown away by it. at first i was but then I got the red cedar concert. My mele mahogany concert and tenor has sounded better than any other mahogany that I have played (pono, honu, mainland, ohana, kala, makai, lani kai) but that red cedar by mainland might be better than any of my imports.

Check out Mele. If you don't like get a mainland. You won't be disappointeds with either one. Both companies are great to work with and I have met both set of owners. great folks.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the options. I may need to look at the red cedar too. I am a fan of the slotted headstock. If they had a red cedar with the slotted headstock, I think I would be sold. Hmmm.
 
I just got a Mainland Red Cedar pineapple and I love it. In March, I bought my niece a Mainland mahogany soprano for her birthday, and got to spend a couple of weeks with it before we drove it across the state to give to her. I haven't played one of their Concerts or Tenors, but I can't think of a single reason why they shouldn't be great for the money. The sopranos sure are. I have actually had TWO Red Cedar pineapples, as the first one had an unfortunate and uncommon problem about a week after I got it. I emailed Mike at Mainland and he sent another straight out to me, along a pre-paid shipping label to cover the cost of UPS-ing the first one back to him. The bridge popped off the first one. I've certainly heard of much more expensive instruments having that happen. In fact, about 10 years ago it happened to my neighbor's brand new Martin D-28 about a month after she bought it, so it can happen to just about ANY instrument. I was really impressed with Mike's response and quick replacement (I emailed him the Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend, and he responded immediately and had the replacement on its way the day after the holiday). I hope this sways you TOWARD a Mainland rather than AWAY from one. Even with the bridge problem, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Mainland, and in fact PLAN to sometime soon!
 
I got a Mainland Concert Mahogany non-slotted headstock as my first ukulele. I love it. I also love the rope binding in the headstock, so I'm not missing the slotted headstock much.

I recently bought a KoAloha Super Concert and love it. Even though it is "more" ukulele then my Mainland Concert (more volume, more control in sound, and more tone), I know that I will never get rid of my Mainland. The rope binding, the playability, fun! Plus, I don't see the mele ukulele as having a slotted headstock and it appears that you have a "need" for the slotted headstock.
 
MAINLAND!!!! None finer. I have a concert (first) and then a tenor. Fantastic instruments, soundwise, fit & finish, playability, etc. Get what you want with or without a slotted headstock, may be just a passing fad
 
The slotted headstock isn't a deal breaker. I just like things that are different. In a world full of boring, flat headstocks, the slotted is a refreshing change. But as flat headstocks go, Mainland's with the rope binding is pretty nice.

After doing a bit of research on the red cedar, it does sound fantastic and I think I really like the look of the rosewood sides and back.

Mike
 
jordan bello said:
I got a Mainland Concert Mahogany non-slotted headstock as my first ukulele. I love it. I also love the rope binding in the headstock, so I'm not missing the slotted headstock much.

I recently bought a KoAloha Super Concert and love it. Even though it is "more" ukulele then my Mainland Concert (more volume, more control in sound, and more tone), I know that I will never get rid of my Mainland. The rope binding, the playability, fun! Plus, I don't see the mele ukulele as having a slotted headstock and it appears that you have a "need" for the slotted headstock.
Click to expand...

Nope. Mele has slotted headstocks now.
 
ukuDaily said:
The slotted headstock isn't a deal breaker. I just like things that are different. In a world full of boring, flat headstocks, the slotted is a refreshing change. But as flat headstocks go, Mainland's with the rope binding is pretty nice.

After doing a bit of research on the red cedar, it does sound fantastic and I think I really like the look of the rosewood sides and back.

Mike
Click to expand...

red cedar /rosewood is a nice combo. Mele does that too but it is more expensive than the mainland.
 
I'm liking everything about that Mainland red cedar tenor, including price. It's on my UAS list.
 
I would definately recommend Mainland mahog, its my favorite sounding uke at the mo.

Its very important to note! In this price range, once you start paying more for a ukulele you shouldn't expect to get improved sound and playability, once you start paying more you'll be paying for more expensive woods, more expensive detailing and finely hand crafted finishing, reputation etc, not necessarily improved sound and playability!

Back to the hog, mine is awesome, one piece top and back, and something I've not seen before, no join on the bottom (on the sides), which is really nice. Mine has a really nice golden stain to it also, on the back piece the wood is at an angle so all the lines run slightly across the back instead of straight up (I should take a photo it looks really nice).

Only downer, I've had two and the A has been fairly flat on both at the 12 fret, but I've shapped a small bone nugget, put it infront of the saddle (to make the string 2mm shorter at the bridge) and now it has perfect intonation on the A, and the other strings are as close as I've seen for a ukulele.

I've got one video on youtube using it so far (Jake's 'Dragon') which will hopefully persuede you =D.
 
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If you pay more and get a KoAloha, you will get better sound and playability. HOWEVER, for the price I would recommend the Mainland.
 
iDavid said:
If you pay more and get a KoAloha, you will get better sound and playability. HOWEVER, for the price I would recommend the Mainland.
Click to expand...

On that one I'm afraid I'll have to respectfully disagree, its a personal taste thing, not a 'it will sound better to you ;)'. I prefere my Mainland because I prefere mahogany as a tone wood, playability wise, the frets are finished smoother on the mainland so string bends are better which is only a very minor niggle and has no real effect on playing, apart from that playability wise they are both fine on my ukes.

edit:... thats not to undersale Koaloha, the amount of effort and hard work they put into finishing them is worthy of praise and easily worthy of the cost, compared to quotes I was getting from local luthiers they are less than half the price, they are beautifully finished to a very high standard with some amazing detailing. They are certainly something special.
 
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The Mainland's in my experience have a brighter tone and more volume than the Mele's. That said, I think the Mele's have a broader tonal palette you can access through technique even though they tend be mellower and quieter instruments.

So it kind of depends too on whay kind of tone you are looking for.

I am sure there are lots of exceptions, this is just my experience from owning 3 different Mele's and playing about a half dozen all total.
I've only played two soprano Mainlands which sound just like my Ohana, which I like quite a lot for the money. I string my Ohana soprano with a low G and that works real fine. Great dynamics.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks to all for your thoughts about Mainland. I was pretty sure from the start that people would be speaking very favorably about them and it turns out I was right. I have decided to go with a Mainland concert. Now I just need to figure out which wood.

At first, I would have been totally content with the mahogany, but now my eyes and ears are suddenly open to the red cedar and mango too. Without the benefit from hearing each of them side by side, it is challenging. I know that in the end, I will be happy with any of them.

I think I will try to find some completely random way to have fate pick for me. Something that will give me a good story to tell (better than just a coin flip). Maybe go to the pet store and sanction a race between three turtles, each representing a type of wood.
 
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