Ok, the other day, I got in the 1st ukulele that I plan to offer for re-sale here in the lower 48. This one will be going up on Ebay tomorrow to feel the market as to what I could expect to sell these for. I am hoping to be between $200-$250 on this particular one. I am aiming to be around $200, but planning on adding a hard case to them for re-sale, which will put me about $250.
This one. I have been working on it for a couple days, cleaning up the nut and saddle, put on Aquilas, removed the tuners and re-aligned them (they were a little tweaked), dressed up the frets a little.
My review. Actually, these are pretty damn nice ukes. They are not "perfect" cosmetically. I see some imperfections, but that is to be expected. I would love to have a high end hand made next to it to compare, because in any hand made instrument, I would imaging that there will be imperfections with anything hand made. These are shop built, I don't think by a master Luthier, but most of it is hand built and crafted. In the price range, imperfections have to be tolerated I think. As far as that goes, I would compare that part of it to other factory built and falls somewhere in-between a Lanikai & Ohana. I would put it in a category of a comparible uke in the $300 price range.
It is a solid wood instrument, this one made of Acacia which is in the same family as Koa. It has a rosewood fretboard with abalone inlaid markers, including side markers. Has a nice, but not over the top abalone inlay on the headstock which is nice, as well as a pretty abalone rosette. Personally, I am not into all the lipstick inlays, but on this one, it is fairly subtle, and adds a nice touch of class to it. The tuners are a decent quality, I think better than many in the sub $300 range. They are sealed machines with Acacia wood buttons. Nice touch. Bone nut and saddle. It has a satin finish, which I like personally. The top and back are bookmatched, and the wood is very attractive IMHO. Top. Back & Sides are solid. Inside, nicely braced, and "some" glue seen in there, but not as much slop as I had expected. Actually, there is only one glue blob inside I can see. If I reached into the $300 range, I would expect a bit more time and attention paid to sanding and finishing in a finer grit, because you can see some sanding marks on the binding, and fretboard, but again, in the price range, it is not worse than others.
The sound is actually allot better than I had expected to. With the Aquilas, this Tenor has a very nice tone. Better than my other ukes. It's plenty loud enough, but has a soft rich tone to it. I was impressed, and wasn't expecting it to sound so nice. The saddle if I hadn't mentioned is also bone and "compensated".
Overall, these are pretty nice really after you spend a little bit of time tweaking, cleaning up and setting it up.
This one is for sale for $250 with a lockable hard case, and if someone here doesn't get it, it will go on Ebay tomorrow and see what I can expect for these tenors.
This one. I have been working on it for a couple days, cleaning up the nut and saddle, put on Aquilas, removed the tuners and re-aligned them (they were a little tweaked), dressed up the frets a little.
My review. Actually, these are pretty damn nice ukes. They are not "perfect" cosmetically. I see some imperfections, but that is to be expected. I would love to have a high end hand made next to it to compare, because in any hand made instrument, I would imaging that there will be imperfections with anything hand made. These are shop built, I don't think by a master Luthier, but most of it is hand built and crafted. In the price range, imperfections have to be tolerated I think. As far as that goes, I would compare that part of it to other factory built and falls somewhere in-between a Lanikai & Ohana. I would put it in a category of a comparible uke in the $300 price range.
It is a solid wood instrument, this one made of Acacia which is in the same family as Koa. It has a rosewood fretboard with abalone inlaid markers, including side markers. Has a nice, but not over the top abalone inlay on the headstock which is nice, as well as a pretty abalone rosette. Personally, I am not into all the lipstick inlays, but on this one, it is fairly subtle, and adds a nice touch of class to it. The tuners are a decent quality, I think better than many in the sub $300 range. They are sealed machines with Acacia wood buttons. Nice touch. Bone nut and saddle. It has a satin finish, which I like personally. The top and back are bookmatched, and the wood is very attractive IMHO. Top. Back & Sides are solid. Inside, nicely braced, and "some" glue seen in there, but not as much slop as I had expected. Actually, there is only one glue blob inside I can see. If I reached into the $300 range, I would expect a bit more time and attention paid to sanding and finishing in a finer grit, because you can see some sanding marks on the binding, and fretboard, but again, in the price range, it is not worse than others.
The sound is actually allot better than I had expected to. With the Aquilas, this Tenor has a very nice tone. Better than my other ukes. It's plenty loud enough, but has a soft rich tone to it. I was impressed, and wasn't expecting it to sound so nice. The saddle if I hadn't mentioned is also bone and "compensated".
Overall, these are pretty nice really after you spend a little bit of time tweaking, cleaning up and setting it up.
This one is for sale for $250 with a lockable hard case, and if someone here doesn't get it, it will go on Ebay tomorrow and see what I can expect for these tenors.