Not a good start !

H

harrylime

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Ah well, as I posted in my 'hello' message I am new, an old guy (73 next b'day) and I had a friend who bought me a second hand Uke Banjo for £90. What a bag of worms it turned out to be! Head was too small leaving a 1/2" gap to the base of the neck, crude finish, plastic 'vellum' with DADI in large letters, only 3 tension screws per side crudely fixed with large headed Phillips screws and the back plate attached with 3 screws and wonky washers!! Add to that the neck was twisted and had the appearance of a toy. It's been returned!! hopefully for a full refund of £90. So my dilema is do I go for another Uke banjo or,.. I have my eye on a rather nice Ukulele which is an Aria ACU250 Concert. It seems to me a nice Uke Banjo will work out more expensive than a decent uke and as I am just learning maybe a uke would be best. I do already have a cheap Falcon ( sell for around £15) which I had given but want something just a bit better. Any thoughts appreciated Cheers Harry.
 
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If banjo uke is what you actually want to play, then go for that. You will need to splash out a bit of cash to get a decent one though, and a poor instrument is more hindrance than help. I think the cheapest decent one you'll get new is the Firefly. Basic price for one of these is $179 ex. delivery, so not cheap, but reviews on it are positive.

If that's too much at this stage, then I think better get a decent uke than a poor banjo!
 
I'm not too sure of how Dollars relate to GBP's these days but I don't mind spending around £200. I just fancy playing some Formby style music and want to try triplets and fan strokes etc.,(eventually:drool:) Are these strokes also played on Uke or are they Uke banjo strokes? sorry to be naive!
 
Welcome Harry,
You have already learned your lesson. I hope you get your money refunded. Next on the agenda is Play before you Pay. There must be some music stores (shops) within an hour of where you live for you to get a better feel for what you have in your mind. There are many family members on here from the UK so they will no doubt be along with their thoughts. Good luck in your new journey.
1931jim
 
Ah, you're in the UK! I'm in Ireland.

Here are the fireflies at the Southern Ukulele Store. - £230

The firefly won't sound exactly like a Formby style uke because the back is open. But it's still pretty good - there are lots of reviews on YouTube.

All the strokes will work on any uke, but the sound is naturally a little different. But you can certainly build technique on a uke and transfer easily to the Banjo uke later. Most banjo ukers I know also play the regular uke, not least because it's a lot quieter to practise!
 
nohoval_turrets said:
Ah, you're in the UK! I'm in Ireland.

Here are the fireflies at the Southern Ukulele Store. - £230

The firefly won't sound exactly like a Formby style uke because the back is open. But it's still pretty good - there are lots of reviews on YouTube.

All the strokes will work on any uke, but the sound is naturally a little different. But you can certainly build technique on a uke and transfer easily to the Banjo uke later. Most banjo ukers I know also play the regular uke, not least because it's a lot quieter to practise!
Click to expand...

Great, I am liking the idea of buying a decent Uke and progressing onto a Uke Banjo that way I can practice without troubling the neighbours:eek: also if I do manage to become reasonably proficient I can spend a bit more and get the uke banjo I want when the time comes.
 
I would gladly recommend Southern ukulele store in southbourne
its just up the road from me and well known in europe.
They are friendly and patient and best of all they literally have thousands of ukuleles of all kinds and sizes. its like trying on shoes , they bring out a number of ukuleles you try them and then decide :)

Dont know any tunes? dont worry they will even demonstate for you aha
 
www.eaglemusicshop.com/
these guys are good too, it's where I got my Mainland uke, which, if you're willing to spend up to two hundred quid, is well within that range!
An uke banjo is next on my list... :cool:
 
Fulhamjim said:
www.eaglemusicshop.com/
these guys are good too, it's where I got my Mainland uke, which, if you're willing to spend up to two hundred quid, is well within that range!
An uke banjo is next on my list... :cool:
Click to expand...
Cheers I just bought a set of Aquila strings from them which I intended to put on My uke Banjo but as it turned out I'm left with the strings:mad: They are indeed a great company to deal with. I will certainly consider your Mainland suggestion and will feed back when I'm fixed up. Harry.
 
Might be able to find a vintage banjo uke through the Formby Society- I can only assume they trade back and forth, and I have seen videos (and dreamed of playing with them)...figure all those kids can't be playing $2000 Ludwigs. Lots of used vintage makes floating around in England (not like here) and I am a nut for the old ones for sure. I have watched the market for banjo ukuleles all over the world for two years (and somehow have only amassed six thankfully) but it seems to me this fellow, Jasperhappy is the fellow to look at in terms of finding a vintage in the UK- he always has beautiful (unusual for US looky-loos)instruments and they are all taken care of and set up. Of course, I have not bought one from him but his feedback is good- might be worth talking to as well.
That said, meet John. He plays Formby styles really well on a banjo uke, but has no problem kicking it out on a standard uke either :)
 
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TCK said:
Might be able to find a vintage banjo uke through the Formby Society- I can only assume they trade back and forth, and I have seen videos (and dreamed of playing with them)...figure all those kids can't be playing $2000 Ludwigs. Lots of used vintage makes floating around in England (not like here) and I am a nut for the old ones for sure. I have watched the market for banjo ukuleles all over the world for two years (and somehow have only amassed six thankfully) but it seems to me this fellow, Jasperhappy is the fellow to look at in terms of finding a vintage in the UK- he always has beautiful (unusual for US looky-loos)instruments and they are all taken care of and set up. Of course, I have not bought one from him but his feedback is good- might be worth talking to as well.
That said, meet John. He plays Formby styles really well on a banjo uke, but has no problem kicking it out on a standard uke either :)
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, Now that IS a sound from a Uke excellent and I was also interested to see he strums thumb and forefinger as someone suggested in my previous post.
 
Good show....I am 70, a few of us old farts here in UU. That Aria is all solid mahogany. Depends on price. They sell some nice Ohana's in the UK and if you must have a banjo uke (I recently got a Rally..used...and I love it)
there are some of the spiffiest vintage banjo ukes on the planet on Ebay UK. Use Paypal and you have an advantage. Good luck, and by the way, probably doesn't matter which one you get first, you know you'll want the other on shortly. LOL
 
PhilUSAFRet said:
Good show....I am 70, a few of us old farts here in UU. That Aria is all solid mahogany. Depends on price. They sell some nice Ohana's in the UK and if you must have a banjo uke (I recently got a Rally..used...and I love it)
there are some of the spiffiest vintage banjo ukes on the planet on Ebay UK. Use Paypal and you have an advantage. Good luck, and by the way, probably doesn't matter which one you get first, you know you'll want the other on shortly. LOL
Click to expand...
Hi Phil, thanks for reply. I have bought the Aria ACU250 it was on Ebay and is in transit to me right now, should arrive today Friday with luck. It looks like new and I got it for £42 (£48.50 Incl delivery fee) I plan to use this to practice on until I am reasonably proficient and if that time comes I'll probably invest in a decent Banjo Uke. I have a set of Aquila strings which I could put on it but I'll see how it sounds with the originals first. I have heard Aquila are not as good on some solid mahogany ukes? Anyway I'll post again once I have had chance to play with it. Thanks again, Harry.
 
As a bit of an EBay junkie, I see nice old banjo ukes come up quite frequently in the UK. I'm sure you will see one that strikes your fancy eventually. Until then, congrats on your new Aria!
 
TCK said:
Might be able to find a vintage banjo uke through the Formby Society- I can only assume they trade back and forth, and I have seen videos (and dreamed of playing with them)...figure all those kids can't be playing $2000 Ludwigs. Lots of used vintage makes floating around in England (not like here) and I am a nut for the old ones for sure. I have watched the market for banjo ukuleles all over the world for two years (and somehow have only amassed six thankfully) but it seems to me this fellow, Jasperhappy is the fellow to look at in terms of finding a vintage in the UK- he always has beautiful (unusual for US looky-loos)instruments and they are all taken care of and set up. Of course, I have not bought one from him but his feedback is good- might be worth talking to as well.
That said, meet John. He plays Formby styles really well on a banjo uke, but has no problem kicking it out on a standard uke either :)
Click to expand...
I echo everything TCK said.... with ebay use the co.uk site, but there's a lot of junk out there, you can get caught out - you need to buy from someone with a good reputation - I had jasperhappy earmarked when I was searching for a banjo-uke. Also look up John Croft, "The Ukulele Man", he's the bee's knees. They are definitely a lot more expensive than wooden ukes, but the sound is completely different - the chap in the video is one of my favourite players, watch his video on Youtube (mrjnobianchi) and then watch loads more of his! Brilliant on uke and banjo-uke, and a Formby fan. Strings for banjo-uke - everyone uses fluorocarbons on banjo-ukes - just been to the George Formby Society meeting in Blackpool, and they ALL do - I'd recommend you join up and go to their next convention in September, the folk there are really, really helpful and you'll have a great time, I promise! I'm a banjo-uke learner too, but play my wooden uke most of the time. Banjo-ukes are notorious tinker-toys and mine is all loosened off and waiting for attention at the moment. I hope that's helpful!
 
Thanks barefootgypsy and everyone for all your helpful suggestions, I am really enjoying playing my newly acquired Aria uke and will use this for all my practicing. If my present level of interest (excitement) continues I will soon be playing to a standard that will warrant looking for a better instrument. At my age I do not envisage any progress other than playing for personal pleasure so I will take it one step at a time. One thing for sure, I will not buy a more upmarket instrument before getting plenty of 'professional' help from some of you guys. Thanks again to all for such friendly advice and for making this forum such an interesting place to be..Harry.
 
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