More opinions Please..

Tenor, solid mahogany, rosewood detail on the body. Pretty intense inlay on the fretboard. cut-a-away style.

Ya'lls opinions really help me in what I need to concentrate on from the supplier before I invest allot of money on the wrong stuff.. Thanks for ya'lls inputs..

I like it!! But what IS that inlay??

philpot said:

I like it!! But what IS that inlay??

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A dragon. Definatly not my cup of tea, but I am not buying and setting these things up for me.

I for one like the fancier ukes

Aloha Tudorp,
I like it as it is. Looks like a winner to me............

Tudorp said:

A dragon. Definatly not my cup of tea, but I am not buying and setting these things up for me.

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okay, now I LOVE it! I have a soft spot for inlay, and thats just gorgeous ^.^

It looks good, as I like flamboyant inlays, and if it plays and sounds as good as say a Pono, then it should be a winner.

This is one of them on the way...

I would also like to add what I have found investigating these instruments. I am buying from two artists/builders. These two I am buying from have suffered from reputations not due them. There was/is a couple builders in Asia in the same geographic area that these come from that do very similar work. The builder under question has made beautiful work as the builders I am working with. However does not kiln dry his woods, and almost 100% of his guitars, uke, and mandolins had cracked within weeks after purchase. The guys I am working with does Kiln dry their wood and gets the wood from 8%-10% moisture before they build. They have has a few issues due to instruments not being aclimated correctly, but they have been very responsive in wanting to work with a buyer that had issues. From what I am finding, they have 2 or 3 out of 10 instruments that have developed issues from cracking. That is 20-30% which from a QA perspective, isn't very good. But, this is what I am working on them with as being a check point to weed out those 2-3 per 10, and sell the other 7 or 8 instruments to USA customers. That way, he will work with me to refund, or replace those bad ones. He is VERY willing to work with me with that, to see that the instruments I sell are worth selling, and be good instruments. I think what I plan to do is once I receive them from him, to keep them stable for a couple weeks and monitor them as they Aclimate to north America climate. Once they have, then clean up and set up and make them available for re-sale.

The one I have shown above along with 4 or 5 others I will make available for purchase, but will not ship until I am comfortable that they have no issues. Typically, the few he has issues with show their ugly heads within a week or two. This is the service I plan to provide other than set up, is to be a check point from a QA perspective.

My boys like it very much.. but alas they are both leftys....

I like the inlay, but... I know nothing about the expected behavior of inlay, nor the mechanics of how it reacts w/temp/humidity changes. I also like the appearance of this particular uke - the "pickguards" look similar to one of the custom uke's James Hill owns (I think hit Gstring?)

But, I personally wouldn't likely buy one of these yet, even if the price appeared right as I am well along in my UAS & more direct in my purchases & what I think I want to buy next.

I do wish you well in the venture & hope this turns into another good supplier of quality products. I will be following your progress w/these ukes.

Aloha Bruddah Tudorp,
Just love the dragon inlay..it is done veryn nicely I might add...wouldn't mind those inlays on my premimum ukes...wow wee

I come from the Banjo World, so the inlay is a big plus for me. (I think nice inlay work is lacking on most Ukulele's.)
+ on the cutaway.
- on the pickguard, not a fan of extra mass on the sound board even though it does look kind of cool.
+ on solid wood, but would rather see an acacia rather than mahogany.
+ on tenor.
- blank Headstock. You should consider branding them yourself and have them inlay something on the headstock. A blank headstock doesn't imply quality. Or I could do my own custom inlay, hmmm.
? on intonation. Intonation on imports can be problematic, and since I tend to play up the neck, a scale that goes sharp up the neck is a big negative for me. Proper action set up would also be a plus since most off the shelf instruments are not even close to right.
? Price point. I think the price will be the key to sales on these. If you can provide a decent quality solid wood instrument at about the $300 range, you will probably have something there.

Did I mention that I want it all and I want it cheap?

McBruce said:

blank Headstock. You should consider branding them yourself and have them inlay something on the headstock.
Price point. I think the price will be the key to sales on these. If you can provide a decent quality solid wood instrument at about the $300 range, you will probably have something there.

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Actually, I do have a inlaid headstock in mind and have sent it to him. Once we pin a deal down, the ones that come through me will have a unique inlay on the headstock which will be either mother of pearl, or abalone (depends on the inlay on the instrument and will match it.)

Price point is the big thing for me. I do not plan, nor can I with the K brands. I plan and so far it looks great as being in the $250 and under range which includes a hard case. I am aiming at two price points, $200 w/ hard case on certain models, and $250 w/ hard case on certain models. All with be either solid Mahogany, or solid Acacia at this point.

I've always loved the look of James Hill's signature G-String...this looks pretty similar. The cutaway is similarly shaped and the dual pickguards are similar. As long as the build quality is okay (always hear horror stories about some of the Asian eBay luthiers) then I'd definitely buy one, especially at the prices you're aiming at. As far as the inlay, I could take it or leave it. I generally like a more subtle inlay but, being part Asian, I kinda dig the dragon.

If you find the build quality is good, please let me know as I'd be interested in getting one!

I like the dual pick guards, but the fretboad inlay is a bit over the top for me.
I'd like something a little more subtle and natural (bamboo shoots, shells, water falls, birds, frogs, etc.)

You're very wise to be thorough about this process, Tudorp. Good on ya!

Nuprin said:

If you find the build quality is good, please let me know as I'd be interested in getting one!

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The few I have already so far look great. The one that is ready for purchase at present is the Tenor I posted in the marketplace. It is $250 with hard case. It is set up and ready to go presently. I kinda like it, because it has some really nice inlay, but more subtle. I like inlay, but not as intense as the one shown above. I can admire it, but it's not for me. I like the one I have available now. The one ready now I have been playing for about a week now. I wouldn't mind keeping it myself, but not really into the tenor. Take a look at the one I have in the marketplace and see if ya like that one..

The one in the marketplace is pretty nice but I'm far more interested in the one in this thread (mostly because it copies the James Hill signature).

A dragon. Definatly not my cup of tea, but I am not buying and setting these things up for me.

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Oh, I like it! ^.^

I don't mind a little bling, as a matter of fact I just got a concert with a tree of life inlay up the fret board. I've only been here for a few months, but it seems to me that you would do better with less inlays. I've seen a lot of posts where people don't lime the extras like inlays or fancy binding. The shapes you have shown look really cool, maybe you could get them to do some sort of vintage look, I think that would really sell. Just my thoughts .