Uke Aesthetics

BioSim

BioSim

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I'm sure everyone here will agree the sound of an ukulele is it's most important aspect, but what of aesthetics? I'm about to pull the trigger on a Mainland concert and after an hour now of looking at Youtube videos trying to decide what tuner color combination I prefer (gold/silver and mother of pearl/ebony/amber buttons; Yeah I'm a little OCD like that) I was wondering what preferences others here might have, be it a certain wood or gold vs silver tuners?
 
Red Cedar really looks nice with gold and amber tuners, Mahongany looks beautiful with silver and ebony but as for mango... I can't really pass judgement because I've never seen one in person... I'm about to get me a Mainland Mahogany Tenor Slotted Cutaway too!
 
I got my mahogany Mainland with MOP tuners. The mango ukes looked very nice with amber. As you know it all comes down to personal preference.
 
Guess I was having a brain problem....
 
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I think aesthetics of a uke is pretty important. You want to buy a uke that not only sound good to you, but also appeals to you visually. I tend to like gold hardware on my ukes, and in the case of tuner buttons, I usually prefer ebony. But I think MOP should look good too. Basically, go with what appeals to you the most.
 
GX9901 said:
I think aesthetics of a uke is pretty important. You want to buy a uke that not only sound good to you, but also appeals to you visually.
Click to expand...

This is important, to play well you need to bond with your instrument.
It must sound, look and feel good to YOU. It is your ukulele and what others may like does not matter.
 
If it is a Red Cedar, I would go with gold and amber tuners like what Choweet suggested :)

(I do not own a Mainland though. But judging from what I have seen many sources on the Internet, I think that is the best combination. They probably look good on other woods too.)
 
I think the silver/MOP combination Kamaka uses is classically beautiful. To me, that combination is sort of the Audrey Hepburn or the black cocktail dress of ukulele tuning machines. On the other hand, my Big Island honu tenor has silver tuners with a koa veneer that matches the headstock, and I think those tuners look wonderful. I'm not really a fan of the black tuners KoAloha is apparently using now. I think you can't go wrong with silver and MOP, and I think I'd also prefer that combination on mango, which is a lighter wood. I might be okay with silver and black (at the risk of being mistaken for an Oakland Raiders fan), but I don't think gold or amber would offer enough contrast.
 
It is interesting how little details affect the look of a uke. As a designer, this is how I feel about the options FWIW:
silver – clean, bright, modern, cool, young
gold – traditional, elegant, expensive, retro, warm
black – subdued, understated, dark, sophisticated
white MOP - clean, bright, cool, happy
amber - warm, friendly, unique, colorful

I have the amber keys on my mahogany Mainland baritone, and it looks nice with the wood color. It would go well with the mango too. I don't have a cedar top, so I don't know how it looks with that.
–Lori
 
I fell in love with the look of Peter Lieberman's Maui Music ukuleles because they didn't look like any others. As it happens, they sound beautiful, too-- my Maui Music tenor is one of the best sounding ukes I've played. A great-sounding uke is delightful; a great-sounding uke that's also beautiful is a keeper!

Maui Music 003.jpg

Oh, btw, I went with amber and gold on my Mainland mango concert... the orangey color of the amber seemed to complement the orangey color of the mango. :)
 
ukecantdothat said:
My Mainland concert mahogany has the silver/black tuners, and then I ordered some gold/black tuners to put on my CBU, because the gold comes close to matching the brass hinges and clasp on the box.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw your cover of Eleanor Rigby on Youtube. Great music, great uke. I'm leaning toward the silver/ebony tuners because of you now lol
 
I have three Mainland ukes (and had a fourth I gave to a family member). The rosewood & red cedar ukes looked good with both gold/amber and silver/black. My mango wouldn't look right (to me) without the gold tuners and amber buttons, and my mahogany with slotted headstock looks perfect with it's open-geared silver with MOP buttons.

Of course, I don't get real hung up on aesthetics. If an instrument sounds really good I don't get too pushed out of shape about how it looks.

John
 
Hmmmmm...

Lori said:
It is interesting how little details affect the look of a uke. As a designer, this is how I feel about the options FWIW:
silver – clean, bright, modern, cool, young
gold – traditional, elegant, expensive, retro, warm
black – subdued, understated, dark, sophisticated
white MOP - clean, bright, cool, happy
amber - warm, friendly, unique, colorful –Lori
Click to expand...

Well spoken.:eek:ld:

Thanks!
 
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