A new uke story from a new member.

webby

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I just had a strange experience, and thought I would share it.

2 days ago, I wandered into my local music shop.

Always dangerous, I cant help myself and usually spend more money than I can afford :)

Anyway, I played, and quite liked a new Lanikai Tenor, it was 149 australian dollars, came in a cardboard box (no case), but I dont have a tenor and I ended up haggling the price down to 130 bucks and I bought it on a whim and decided to give it to my wife as a present as she is a new convert to ukes (she's a painist and sax player).

Well I got it home, and she played it and liked it at first, but after a couple of hours I could tell she wasn't that happy with it. She said it just didnt feel right and she really preferred my concert sized ukes.

But also it had a really weird problem, the second string, at the 12th fret, was half a note out in the intonation, all the other strings were ok so the scale length was right and the frets ok, so why would one string by that badly out at just one fret ????

Didn't make any sense, anyway, the next day (yesterday) I took it back to the shop, they put a tuner on it and sure enough, it was out just like I said, they were just as bamboozled as I was, didn't make any sense.

well they did the right thing and offered my a refund or an exchange, and as the original intention was to get missus a present I decided to get her a new concert uke of some sort.

I played some more Lanikai's, and they didnt sound that good, Then I eventually settled on a Tanglewood TU3 Concert (Mahogany) sounded great, came with Aquilas and a fantastic hard case.

Best of all, even though it was retailing at 179 dollars they did me a straight swap for the Lanikai that I only paid 130 for.

And..... It is a really really nice instrument, surprisingly good for the cost. Sweet sound, really bright but mellow and rich too, can't really fault it, best of all the wife loves it.

So I was wondering if anyone else here has a Tanglewood or knows much about them, It's a UK company but the ukes are made in china so I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it actually is.

Anyway, thats now 5 ukes in the house, and I still dont have a Tenor or a barritone so it looks like I am destined to get at least 2 more before this madness stops. ( I am a guitar player and only got into ukes a few months ago, but i'm hooked, it's worse than heroin lol, no one told me that ukes were so addictive).

Anyway it's great to be here, it seems like a fantastic forum.
 
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new uke! sounds like a winner. I don't know much about Tanglewood, but congrats on a great deal! wow.. As I see it. The only one that really has to like your ukes is you. (and maybe the spouse who would like to play it to) so yeah! Love to hear about great customer service too..
 
I'm glad you got a fantastic deal. They obviously want you back as a regular customer.

I hope your wife enjoys the Concert model.

Sorry I have no info re: that brand.

Keep uke'in',
 
Welcome to the forum and nice deal on the new uke. I live in UK and have heard the brand tanglewood come up once in a while. Ive never played one so let me know how well it plays so i can maybe pick one up in the future.
 
That was a great story with a happy ending (or beginning?). I'm don't know about the Tanglewood uke's, but my friend owns a Tanglewood Acoustic Guitar and it is very well made. It sounds like you got the "Uke Bug" like the rest of us. Woot!
 
Nice story, webby, thanks for sharing.

Always nice to hear about a good shopping experience. And great to hear that your wife loves her ukulele. Best of luck with your continuing search for a tenor!
 
I had a similar issue with one of my ukes. One string was a half step off at the 12th fret while all the others were perfect. Turned out to be a bad string.
 
I just had a strange experience, and thought I would share it.

2 days ago, I wandered into my local music shop.

Always dangerous, I cant help myself and usually spend more money than I can afford :)

Anyway, I played, and quite liked a new Lanikai Tenor, it was 149 australian dollars, came in a cardboard box (no case), but I dont have a tenor and I ended up haggling the price down to 130 bucks and I bought it on a whim and decided to give it to my wife as a present as she is a new convert to ukes (she's a painist and sax player).

Well I got it home, and she played it and liked it at first, but after a couple of hours I could tell she wasn't that happy with it. She said it just didnt feel right and she really preferred my concert sized ukes.

But also it had a really weird problem, the second string, at the 12th fret, was half a note out in the intonation, all the other strings were ok so the scale length was right and the frets ok, so why would one string by that badly out at just one fret ????

Didn't make any sense, anyway, the next day (yesterday) I took it back to the shop, they put a tuner on it and sure enough, it was out just like I said, they were just as bamboozled as I was, didn't make any sense.

well they did the right thing and offered my a refund or an exchange, and as the original intention was to get missus a present I decided to get her a new concert uke of some sort.

I played some more Lanikai's, and they didnt sound that good, Then I eventually settled on a Tanglewood TU3 Concert (Mahogany) sounded great, came with Aquilas and a fantastic hard case.

Best of all, even though it was retailing at 179 dollars they did me a straight swap for the Lanikai that I only paid 130 for.

And..... It is a really really nice instrument, surprisingly good for the cost. Sweet sound, really bright but mellow and rich too, can't really fault it, best of all the wife loves it.

So I was wondering if anyone else here has a Tanglewood or knows much about them, It's a UK company but the ukes are made in china so I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it actually is.

Anyway, thats now 5 ukes in the house, and I still dont have a Tenor or a barritone so it looks like I am destined to get at least 2 more before this madness stops. ( I am a guitar player and only got into ukes a few months ago, but i'm hooked, it's worse than heroin lol, no one told me that ukes were so addictive).

Anyway it's great to be here, it seems like a fantastic forum.

Now that's a great dealer! Congratulations, hope your wifey enjoys it.
 
Tanglewood Ukes are "Union" ukes and with the exception of the spruce-top model, which has a solid spruce sound-board, they are laminated. The spalted maple is a very nice looking uke. Their banjo uke is "Cove Creek" and is a nice banjo uke. It is larger-bodied, like the Goldtone.
 
Congratulations on the new ukulele! The most improtant thing about any ukulele is that the person playing it loves it, so your story has a very happy ending. But your story needs PHOTOS, so that the rest of us can ogle the new ukulele! :)
 
Aloha Webby,
Welcome to the UU and our forums and the ukulele..congratulations for purchasing and finding your new ukulele...Have fun and enjoy...google Musicteacher2010 and Keonepax for some awesome
ukulele video tutorials and Dr Uke for songs, chords and instructions.....Happy Strummings..MM Stan
 
Ok here are some pics of the new uke.

:)
 

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Aloha, webby!
Welcome to UU and to the 'ukulele! I'm glad that you got a great gift for your wife and an even better deal with a free hard case. The pics of the Tanglewood look awesome!

Mason671
 
Welcome,nice uke ...enjoy!
 
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