wide/thick neck concert mahogany under $600--best bet?

annod

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Hi all,

I have been playing a Mele Concert (Mahogany). I like the play fingerpicking 20's Jazz tunes on it. I generally like the sound now that it's opened up a bit, but the neck is too narrow to my liking. I have another Kala travel tenor which I also found the neck too narrow. I have a Kelii tenor Koa, love the how the thick/wide the neck feels.

From my research, it seems Pono will come the closest-(mid-range, wide/thick neck)
Any other suggestions? How's the neck on the Kiwaya?

In summary, here is my criterias:
1) concert mahogany, vintage Martin sound
2) wider/thicker neck than Mele/Kala
3) sounds as good or better than the Mele.
4) under $600

optional:
-vintage look, not too glossy /plasticky finish

Thanks,
Donna
 
Aloha Donna,
I just purchased a MP concert just a few months old...with a wide neck...I am about receive it really soon..will let you know...now I get you user name...it's backwards...how cool..Good Luck in finding your
special uke...Happy Strummings...MM Stan
 
Check out a Pono, pretty thick neck profile.
 
My Hamano concert has a wide neck, as in wide spacings between strings
 
PM UU member Tom Guy at Bluegrass Ukes. His necks are nice and thick and chunky! Wide too. Heaps of room for your fingers to move. Nice sounding ukes he makes. Worth checking out, custom built and in your price range
 
+1 on Hamano for the Martin look. Not sure about sound.
 
I always advocate for the Ponos, because I really love mine. But I've heard great things about Mainlands too.
 
OKay, if you have $600 to spend on a mahogany concert, and you want a vintage Martin sound, with a wide thick neck I wouldn't even entertain a production ukulele.

If you can, try out a few ukuleles and measure the width and thickness of the neck and try to nail down some dimesnions. I understand your quest because my tenors have wide necks and wider string spacing and I love the extra room.

Then contact a few of the independent luthiers such as Mike at Mike Pereira at MP Ukuleles and ask him if he can make a mahogany with a sound similar to a vitage Martin with a wide thick neck. Maybe Tom Guy at bluegrass with the same questions. I think both of their ukuleles would fit your price range.

Ken Timms (UU member) makes a great soprano Martin style ukulele. You can ask him if he will make a concert with a wide thick neck, although shipping from UK will add to the cost. For a reference point, here is a youtube of one of Ken's sopranos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWWvmpzZgns

John
 
For around $600, I'd look at a Boat Paddle Uke. I'd say it has a great sound, but not a exactly a "martin-like" sound.
 
I might be willing to part with my Pono Mahogany slothead. PM if interested.

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It hasn't gotten played at all since I got the MB.
 
The "shall I go custom?" question is certainly in my head. The thing is, I am still a newbie and I do feel that my preference will change quite a bit in the first year of playing. I am not sure if I want a custom so early on.

Now that I play my Kelii tenor more, I am really liking the spaciousness width-wise and length-wise!
I am thinking maybe I should just get a superconcert!

p.s.
Love the sound of the uke in this video, (but it is Martin soprano, and I don't want a soprano at all):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAcIGmVMTMs&feature=related
 
Hey Donna,

Glad you are liking the Kelii! It really did have a huge neck with wider than normal spacing at the saddle. I don't think people here get that, unless they've actually played a Kelii tenor. Even the Kelii soprano I had was really wide at the saddle. Way bigger/wider than the KoAlohas I owned and my current Kamaka HF3 tenor.

While I don't have an answer for you I can address the Kiwaya question as I have owned two KTC1 models. The neck/saddle spacing is on the thin/narrow side. But they are nice ukes nonetheless. Call Music Works in El Cerrito, that's were I bought both of them.

Good luck in your search!
 
I'll admit that I am not very familiar with Kelii and have not played one. Since you have a Kelii tenor, and if that is the neck you are looking for, you are way ahead of the game. If you get a super concert I would imatgine that the volume may be a little more than you concert scale because of higher string tension, but the sound should be the same.

Hopefully UUers that have both concert, superconcert, and tenor ukuleles can offer opinoins on differences... the archive should also have something. One thing you may not want is to end up with super concert and tenor that sound just about the same. My concern is that there will not be enough difference to make it worth the dollars spent. If you enjoy playing th tenor, it might be wise to play that until you know it is not the best solution.

So except for having to find one, the only issue will be if the sound of your Kelii mahogany concert is covers the Martin sound close enough. If it does... great your done. If it doesn't then you may want to first try out different strings to get that Martin plunk. You are fortunate because you have a similar enough instrument to experiment with different strings. If you can't get the right sound out of the Kelii, then at least you have a fat wide neck that works and can be used as a benchmark.

John
 
Unless Pono's have changed since I had one (I had a tenor before they revised their design), they definitely do not have a thick beefy neck.
Neither do the Kiwaya solid wood concerts, at least not as thick as on a Keli'i. But they are thicker than most, even if they are not wider. Th Kiwaya's I had were also among the early ones introduced to the states, so it is possible they have changed their design. I ntoiced that the solid wood Kiwaya's definitely had beefier necks than the laminate ones.

By thick and wide, I assuming you are indicating two different things - width refers to the width of the nut and general wideness of the neck as it tapers out towards the string spread at the saddle. Thickness refers to the profile of the neck regardless of the width - the amount of space between your thumb ebhind the neck and your fingers on the fretboard. Or do you mean something different.

Mele's in my experience often have a wide neck, but a real thin or flat neck profile.

I love Keli'i's by the way. They're not necessarily fancy looking, but they got a fantastic tone! They are highly undervalued, in my opinion.

But they don;t sound anything like a vintage Martin.
Kiwaya's don;t either, even though they are often advertised as if they did.
 
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Eric et al,

I love the Kelii. I just like the mahogany better for certain songs. Case for more than one uke, right?

I did contact Tom Guy. He is very nice, but the cigar box uke doesn't have the sound I want, and in the regular uke shape, he only makes tenor. oh well.
I think at this point, I really need to play an uke in person before deciding what to buy, or just wait till I save enough to have Mike DaSilva make me one to spec.

Thanks all for your help.
 
The widest necked all solid mahogany uke I know is the Oscar Schmidt OU220SWK, which will sound similar to your Pono. What I like about their necks is that they are nice and wide. I have long fingers and find finger-picking on them much easier due to string spacing.
 
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