jglover
Well-known member
So about two weeks ago while cleaning out some junk from storage, I came across my father in law's old banjo uke. A Truetone banjo ukulele model 5DC9502. About all I've been able to find online is Truetone was the house brand of Western Auto harware/auto supply stores....so basically a hardware store ukulele. The friction tuners are in bad shape but tightening the screws helped them hold a bit. Tuning and intonation are awful, the bridge is in the wrong place, the strings could be 25+ years old....but it still sort of plays and it got me interested in the uke again.......
So, I ended up with a Cordoba 20TM-CE. Nice ukulele, lovely tone and the pick up was a nice feature, but the reach was just too long for me. I ended up returning it and looking for a concert size with a pick up. My local music store had a really nice Ohana CK35-CE, solid mahogany with a cutaway and a pre-amp, so it *almost* came home with me but then I played an Islander MSC-4. Wow, the sound of the Islander was just, at least to my ears, light years ahead of the Ohanas in the same price range. I also played a Mainland (don't remember the model but it was a mango concert) and tone wise it was up there with the Islander but what sold me on the Islander was the wider fretboard. It just felt much more comfortable than any others I tried.
Bottom line is now I have two new to me ukes, an Islander MSC-4 and an unknown banjo uke. Now if I could just find some info on how to actually set up that banjo uke, as I'm guessing a trip to the repair shop would be more than it is worth!
John
So, I ended up with a Cordoba 20TM-CE. Nice ukulele, lovely tone and the pick up was a nice feature, but the reach was just too long for me. I ended up returning it and looking for a concert size with a pick up. My local music store had a really nice Ohana CK35-CE, solid mahogany with a cutaway and a pre-amp, so it *almost* came home with me but then I played an Islander MSC-4. Wow, the sound of the Islander was just, at least to my ears, light years ahead of the Ohanas in the same price range. I also played a Mainland (don't remember the model but it was a mango concert) and tone wise it was up there with the Islander but what sold me on the Islander was the wider fretboard. It just felt much more comfortable than any others I tried.
Bottom line is now I have two new to me ukes, an Islander MSC-4 and an unknown banjo uke. Now if I could just find some info on how to actually set up that banjo uke, as I'm guessing a trip to the repair shop would be more than it is worth!
John