Today was a very stressful day at work, even though I work from home. All the servers overseas that I use to work remotely went down and I had a tough time organizing for some of my co-workers to get to the home office and fix things. I babysit my beautiful 7 month old daughter as well, and that wasn't easy to do with all the problems occurring with work. I was expecting a box, and it came earlier than expected, just after lunch. Unfortunately I was too busy to really appreciate the beauty of the contents of the box, and it sat there... for hours. Finally, the servers got back on and the baby was fed, 5 year old son sleeping, and my wife watching something on the DVR, I was able to get some well deserved alone time to hang out with my new friend...
I haven't had the time to take pics of my own, so I am just using the ones Chuck sent me on Sunday. The wait was a killer, but so worth it! Here are the specs:
4 string Tenor
5A light curly koa
Side sound port
Ebony fret board, headstock, bridge
Bindings -- Curly Koa with B/W/B purfling
Bound fret board - Curly Koa
Rosette and fret markers (top & side) - Koa (side dots ebony)
Fender style headstock
Peghed tuners
"Hawaiian Island Chain" head stock inlay--Koa
"Shark" inlay on 12th fret -- Koa
MiSi pickup
Strings -- Worth Clear Hards
Extras -- Moore Bettah shirt size XL, Oahu tenor case, humidifier, 2 sets of extra strings (D'Addario T2s and Aquilas) plus a single wound string, Moore Bettah stickers and a Moore Bettah Ukulele instruction manual.
The pictures do NOT do this uke justice, it is such a visually stunning instrument. For the most part its an all wood ukulele, it was the first time Chuck has ever done a uke with koa fret markers as well. The koa he chose for the body... wow... its just killer. The color of the koa bindings matched perfect with the rest of the uke. I chose peghead tuners over the geared, and I am very happy with my choice as they definitely match the uke.
Sound is already sweet, nice volume for a uke that has yet to open up, very mellow and warm feel. I practice often since I work from home, so I think it will open up real quick with the amount of playing time it will get.
Playability and action are perfect. I told Chuck in an e-mail that it almost feels like cheating how easy it is to play. A friend of mine stopped over for a short while because he wanted to see my Moore Bettah, but I had to be selfish... he was not allowed to even tough the uke. LOL But even he said that my playing seemed a lot more effortless than normal, we have mini jam sessions quite often, so he knows how I play.
All in all, there is nothing more to say about Moore Bettah ukes, they are as good as advertised, likely better. There is a reason why you hardly ever see a used one come up for sale, and why you don't hear many complaints, if any. Chuck puts everything into his instruments, he's a true artist and I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to get on his build list and finally have a custom uke in my hands. Mahalo Chuck!
On another note, don't ask for a sound sample or video, I am unable to post one as the camera on my laptop sucks, so does the mic. I will be playing some songs at my friend's wedding in November and they will be filming, so maybe I can post that when the time comes... or if someone near Wahiawa wants to jam and has a video camera I'm down for a jam sesh.
EDIT: According to my wife this was my Father's Day, Birthday and Christmas present for the next two years... well worth it.
I haven't had the time to take pics of my own, so I am just using the ones Chuck sent me on Sunday. The wait was a killer, but so worth it! Here are the specs:
4 string Tenor
5A light curly koa
Side sound port
Ebony fret board, headstock, bridge
Bindings -- Curly Koa with B/W/B purfling
Bound fret board - Curly Koa
Rosette and fret markers (top & side) - Koa (side dots ebony)
Fender style headstock
Peghed tuners
"Hawaiian Island Chain" head stock inlay--Koa
"Shark" inlay on 12th fret -- Koa
MiSi pickup
Strings -- Worth Clear Hards
Extras -- Moore Bettah shirt size XL, Oahu tenor case, humidifier, 2 sets of extra strings (D'Addario T2s and Aquilas) plus a single wound string, Moore Bettah stickers and a Moore Bettah Ukulele instruction manual.
The pictures do NOT do this uke justice, it is such a visually stunning instrument. For the most part its an all wood ukulele, it was the first time Chuck has ever done a uke with koa fret markers as well. The koa he chose for the body... wow... its just killer. The color of the koa bindings matched perfect with the rest of the uke. I chose peghead tuners over the geared, and I am very happy with my choice as they definitely match the uke.
Sound is already sweet, nice volume for a uke that has yet to open up, very mellow and warm feel. I practice often since I work from home, so I think it will open up real quick with the amount of playing time it will get.
Playability and action are perfect. I told Chuck in an e-mail that it almost feels like cheating how easy it is to play. A friend of mine stopped over for a short while because he wanted to see my Moore Bettah, but I had to be selfish... he was not allowed to even tough the uke. LOL But even he said that my playing seemed a lot more effortless than normal, we have mini jam sessions quite often, so he knows how I play.
All in all, there is nothing more to say about Moore Bettah ukes, they are as good as advertised, likely better. There is a reason why you hardly ever see a used one come up for sale, and why you don't hear many complaints, if any. Chuck puts everything into his instruments, he's a true artist and I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to get on his build list and finally have a custom uke in my hands. Mahalo Chuck!
On another note, don't ask for a sound sample or video, I am unable to post one as the camera on my laptop sucks, so does the mic. I will be playing some songs at my friend's wedding in November and they will be filming, so maybe I can post that when the time comes... or if someone near Wahiawa wants to jam and has a video camera I'm down for a jam sesh.
EDIT: According to my wife this was my Father's Day, Birthday and Christmas present for the next two years... well worth it.
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