Gordon and Char Mayer, who build Mya-Moe ukuleles, had a vendor table at this past weekend's Wine Country Ukulele Festival. After playing some of the models, including the beautiful #500 (a tenor cutaway master grade myrtle), I decided to buy a Mya-Moe ukulele and made a deposit. (I'm now officially build no. 635. with a completion date of March 20, just in time for the Spring Equinox.) Char was great. We talked about tonewoods and she illustrated her points by playing #500 and a beautiful chocolate heart mango that was also there. Char also suggested that she could sand a koa soundboard a bit thinner so that it would sound a little brighter.
So what kind of help -- other than to pay for it, which I'm hoping will be covered by my forced savings plan (i.e., my 2012 income tax refund) -- would I like? I have to decide what I want my Mya-Moe ukulele to look and sound like. My dilemma is that I already have a Kamaka HF-3 tenor and I love the sound of it, so I wanted something that was different enough to justify buying a custom ukulele, but not so dissimilar that I wouldn't like the sound of it. Char suggested either mango or myrtle, which she said were a bit less warm than koa and mahogany but not as bright as soft woods like spruce and maple. So ....
1. For those of you who have a solid koa ukulele and love the sound and have either bought, or have thought or fantasized about buying, a Mya-Moe or other custom ukulele, what tonewood(s) did/would you select, and why? Were you looking for something different than a traditional koa sound? If you bought a custom uke, how do you feel about your tonewood decision? How does your custom compare to a traditional koa ukulele?
2. Mya-Moe offers the option of a slotted headstock. According to Gordon, a slotted headstock slightly increases the angle at which the strings cross the nut and, he said, some people believe this has a small positive effect on the instrument's tone. On the other hand, it's a bit more difficult to see the famous Mya-Moe headplate with a slotted headstock.
Which would you get?
Mahalos in advance for any suggestions or advice!
So what kind of help -- other than to pay for it, which I'm hoping will be covered by my forced savings plan (i.e., my 2012 income tax refund) -- would I like? I have to decide what I want my Mya-Moe ukulele to look and sound like. My dilemma is that I already have a Kamaka HF-3 tenor and I love the sound of it, so I wanted something that was different enough to justify buying a custom ukulele, but not so dissimilar that I wouldn't like the sound of it. Char suggested either mango or myrtle, which she said were a bit less warm than koa and mahogany but not as bright as soft woods like spruce and maple. So ....
1. For those of you who have a solid koa ukulele and love the sound and have either bought, or have thought or fantasized about buying, a Mya-Moe or other custom ukulele, what tonewood(s) did/would you select, and why? Were you looking for something different than a traditional koa sound? If you bought a custom uke, how do you feel about your tonewood decision? How does your custom compare to a traditional koa ukulele?
2. Mya-Moe offers the option of a slotted headstock. According to Gordon, a slotted headstock slightly increases the angle at which the strings cross the nut and, he said, some people believe this has a small positive effect on the instrument's tone. On the other hand, it's a bit more difficult to see the famous Mya-Moe headplate with a slotted headstock.
Which would you get?
Mahalos in advance for any suggestions or advice!
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