Little Plink
Active member
I've been playing on a cheap little soprano for years now, and after much delay, I'm getting an upgrade. (I've been more focused on learning to play difficult techniques and building up my collection of other instruments in the mean time :/ I'm GASing hard...) The problem I have now is what to choose. My budget is roughly $200 - $600. I could go just a little higher, but it'd have to be really enticing.
I know I want a tenor. I know I want solid wood. Those two are the real essentials for me. I would prefer a cutaway, a pickup, and a slotted headstock, but I don't feel I NEED them. A soft wood (spruce, cedar, redwood, etc) sound board is also preferable, but nonessential, especially where koa is involved.
I've been looking at and listening to Mike Pereira's work, and he seems perfect for me, but just a hair out of budget, with tenors starting at $600.
I'm also looking at Mainland, which is much lower in my budget, with a solid mahogany tenor with a slotted headstock and cutaway at <$300. Another pro of Mainland is that I live only a few hours away from Nashville, Indiana, where Mainland is headquartered, so I could drive up there and try one out for myself. The main con is that they rarely have that model (and most others...) in stock. I emailed Mike a few months ago asking when they would be in stock and he said he had a B-stock model that could be had for an even lower price, but I wasn't ready quite then.
The final builder I'm currently considering is someone you may not have heard of named Toby Chennel.
(find him here: http://www.jazzboxukes.com/)
He makes wonderful archtop `ukuleles for a fairly decent price, with custom tenors at 495 GBP. If I'm not mistaken, that's just over $600, no? I'm not very good with currency conversion.
So what does everyone think? My preference at this point is the just-out-of-reach MP If anyone has any suggestions that I might not know about, (I've considered Lanikai, Oscar Schmidt, Luna, etc) then please let me know! Thanks for your time
I know I want a tenor. I know I want solid wood. Those two are the real essentials for me. I would prefer a cutaway, a pickup, and a slotted headstock, but I don't feel I NEED them. A soft wood (spruce, cedar, redwood, etc) sound board is also preferable, but nonessential, especially where koa is involved.
I've been looking at and listening to Mike Pereira's work, and he seems perfect for me, but just a hair out of budget, with tenors starting at $600.
I'm also looking at Mainland, which is much lower in my budget, with a solid mahogany tenor with a slotted headstock and cutaway at <$300. Another pro of Mainland is that I live only a few hours away from Nashville, Indiana, where Mainland is headquartered, so I could drive up there and try one out for myself. The main con is that they rarely have that model (and most others...) in stock. I emailed Mike a few months ago asking when they would be in stock and he said he had a B-stock model that could be had for an even lower price, but I wasn't ready quite then.
The final builder I'm currently considering is someone you may not have heard of named Toby Chennel.
(find him here: http://www.jazzboxukes.com/)
He makes wonderful archtop `ukuleles for a fairly decent price, with custom tenors at 495 GBP. If I'm not mistaken, that's just over $600, no? I'm not very good with currency conversion.
So what does everyone think? My preference at this point is the just-out-of-reach MP If anyone has any suggestions that I might not know about, (I've considered Lanikai, Oscar Schmidt, Luna, etc) then please let me know! Thanks for your time