Royal ukuleles?

UkuLeLesReggAe

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anybody played one? or even heard of one

theres a few royal ukuleles up sydney way and was wondering if they were any good? im assuming down the lanikai side of the chart :D

thanks :)
 
Here's their website and a division of Westwood Guitar. Looks like they're made in your neck of the woods . . .
 
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They are made in China and only sold in Australia as they are branded "Royal" by Westwood guitars. That's why you don't find much information about them.

I leave the public reviews up to others.

In any case you should go out and play them so you have some idea what they sound like and see for yourself.

There are as many opions as there are people. And the question is always - what do you compare it to? It is good or bad compared to what? The more ukes you are able to play the more you get an idea of what you should expect at a certain price.

Perhaps you should make an effort one time to visit some uke clubs in Sydney (there are five!), just to be able to try out or hear different ukes! I am sure it'll open your eyes and even change the ideas you may have of some of the brands you think you will like (from reading posts here).

It's all a matter of taste (and experience).
 
.....

In any case you should go out and play them so you have some idea what they sound like and see for yourself.

There are as many opions as there are people. And the question is always - what do you compare it to? It is good or bad compared to what? The more ukes you are able to play the more you get an idea of what you should expect at a certain price.

Perhaps you should make an effort one time to visit some uke clubs in Sydney (there are five!), just to be able to try out or hear different ukes! I am sure it'll open your eyes and even change the ideas you may have of some of the brands you think you will like (from reading posts here).

It's all a matter of taste (and experience).

Great response!!!!!!!
 
Hi guys, as my very first post here, just like to thank you guys for a great forum, I've been thinking about getting a uke for months now and after reading lots of questions and answers from the forum I decided to take the dive. I am a jack of all trades and play bass, guitar and drums. I'm not an expert at any of them, just enjoy music.

Anyway to the point, I just ordered one of the royal ukuleles. I'm in Brisbane, Australia and I ordered one from the acoustic centre in victoria, I wanted to get the kala koa tenor but due to the christmas rush they are out of stock and just as well as it would have set me back over 500AUD including postage. I emailed them for advice and I must say they were a very helpful and responded my emails within mins/hours and latest next day.

This is the link to their homepage

The uke I ordered is a royal tenor in full solid mahogany and the retailer feels its a good uke for the price. I was thinking of going for a concert uke for my first but decided on the tenor. Only time will tell if I made the right choice. I'll try to post a review on the uke once I get it in the next couple of days. I'm really excited and looking forward to it. the guys down at the shop were great and gave me what I thought was a good deal of AUD319 for the uke plus a hardcase and postage. With the current economic fall of the australian dollar this would be just over 200USD so I suppose it was a good deal for me as apposed to buying one from the US. sorry for the long post, just letting you know theres one more muso bitten by the ukulele bug. Hopefully my review will help others. watch this space. cheers
 
Great first post . . . and Welcome to UU. Might I suggest posting your review here and add a link to the original response. FWIW, guitar players seem to prefer a tenor as they tend to be more comfortable with its size, feel and tone.
 
Hi guys, as my very first post here, just like to thank you guys for a great forum, I've been thinking about getting a uke for months now and after reading lots of questions and answers from the forum I decided to take the dive. I am a jack of all trades and play bass, guitar and drums. I'm not an expert at any of them, just enjoy music.

Anyway to the point, I just ordered one of the royal ukuleles. I'm in Brisbane, Australia and I ordered one from the acoustic centre in victoria, I wanted to get the kala koa tenor but due to the christmas rush they are out of stock and just as well as it would have set me back over 500AUD including postage. I emailed them for advice and I must say they were a very helpful and responded my emails within mins/hours and latest next day.

This is the link to their homepage

The uke I ordered is a royal tenor in full solid mahogany and the retailer feels its a good uke for the price. I was thinking of going for a concert uke for my first but decided on the tenor. Only time will tell if I made the right choice. I'll try to post a review on the uke once I get it in the next couple of days. I'm really excited and looking forward to it. the guys down at the shop were great and gave me what I thought was a good deal of AUD319 for the uke plus a hardcase and postage. With the current economic fall of the australian dollar this would be just over 200USD so I suppose it was a good deal for me as apposed to buying one from the US. sorry for the long post, just letting you know theres one more muso bitten by the ukulele bug. Hopefully my review will help others. watch this space. cheers

hey, thanks for the review and our words towards it all.
im normally picky with stuff like this, stuff like ukuleles, so i can't wait to see the review you post up. if it was something like a phone, i couldn't care less... but ukes i need to hear before buying it.

but yeh welcome to the board, and on there site now. thanks a bunch
 
i bought a royal tenor uke [same model that you describe] for my son for his birthday recently. also from the acoustic centre and shipped to brisbane... they'll be wondering what's going on up here. anyway we're really pleased with it. it's the 4th uke in the house and while it doesn't stack up in terms of tone with the more expensive instruments, it's very playable and it sounds pretty good. it came with aquila strings on it plus a spare set and it was affordable. i wouldn't necessarily record with it, but it honks out nicely at a party jam.
 
I don't know how many people are still following this thread. I promised to write up a review and I did. I sent one to the review page in mid dec. I noticed there wasn't a section for the royal ukes so I sent my review together with a request for a new section to ukuleleunderground[at]gmail.com.. i must have sent it twice already but I still have not gotten a reply. anyone have any ideas?
 
I don't know how many people are still following this thread. I promised to write up a review and I did. I sent one to the review page in mid dec. I noticed there wasn't a section for the royal ukes so I sent my review together with a request for a new section to ukuleleunderground[at]gmail.com.. i must have sent it twice already but I still have not gotten a reply. anyone have any ideas?

Try PM'ing Rayan. He can help you out there I am sure.
 
yeah i tried to upload it properly to the ukulele review section i never got a reply about getting a new section set up... anyway i'll add it up here

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this is a first review so pardon me, plus its my first ukulele...

* What year was it made? Where was is made? (Hawaii, Japan, China etc...)
* How many frets?
* Solid-Top? Laminated top?
* Any pickups or electronics?
* Body and neck woods? ( Koa, Plywood, etc...)
* Finish (Satin, transparent, quilted top, flamed top, etc...)
* Body style (Soprano, Tenor, Concert, Cutaway, etc...)
* Bridge style ( String-thru body, stop tailpiece, etc...)
* Tuners (Locking? Non-locking? brand of tuners - Sperzel, Gotoh, Grover, Schaller, etc...)

* Neck/Scale (Fat, Thin, Jumbo Frets, Rosewood, Maple, etc...)
* Any included accessories? (Case, gig bag, strap, cable, tools, humidifier, etc...)

I recently took the plunge to get into ukulele playing after years of playing other instruments . Being in Australia, the choices for ukuleles are limited. I finally came across Royal Ukuleles. They appear to be a division of Westwood guitars. The Ukulele I ordered is a UKT-3, which is an all solid Tenor mahogany ukulele. The uke comes in a matt finished which shows the grain quite well. I ordered the hardcase with the Ukulele from Acoustic centre in South Victoria which delivered it to my door for AUD 319.

* How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?
* What amps and effects are you using it with?
* Is it noisy? On what settings?
* Rich/Full sound? Bright sound?
* What kind of sounds can the guitar make? How much variety?
* Likes and dislikes?

Being a first time ukulele owner I do not have much experience with other ukuleles and thus I can’t really compare ukuleles. With the Solid mahogany top, I feel the ukulele has a nice rounded tone. Currently tuned to gCEA with Aquila strings. The mahogany gives it a nice warm tone which I feel works well with the high G. There are no pickups for this model, but projection is pretty good and well suited for small gatherings or even a small performance if needed. The

* How well was the ukulele set-up at the factory? (How was the action?)
* Properly bookmatched top? Properly routed bridge?
* Did the ukulele contain any flaws? (misaligned bracing, poorly filed fretwire, finish flaws, poor quality wood, rusted or oxidized hardware, loose tuning pegs, poorly cut nut, poorly fit saddle, noisy pickup selector, loose controls, etc...)

I am quite happy with the action set from the guys at Acoustic Central, quite low with no fret buzz. It has a tortoise-shell binding all round the body and has looks quite good. Since the ukulele alone is under 250AUD, it goes without saying that if you look hard enough small flaws are bound to emerge, but overall the finish of ukulele is very clean and no obvious signs of poor workmanship.

* Will this ukulele withstand live playing?
* Does the hardware seem like it will last?
* Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing?
* Can you depend on it?
* Would you use it on a gig without a backup?


Personally though I’m a first time ukulele owner, I have owned many different guitars and I know shoddy workmanship and a poor china made cheapie when I see one. The Royal all solid Mahogany Tenor Ukulele is an affordable ukulele for a solidtop. The matt finish is nice and adds to the overall beauty of the uke, but being a matt finish, care has to be taken as it scratches easier compared to gloss finishes.

* If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?

The people at the company were very helpful and friendly

* Ever try and get it repaired? Was it under warranty


no warranty as far as I know

* How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
This is my first ukulele

* If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?


I would probably save up for something a little better but I have no regrets buying this uke.
* Did you compare it to other ukuleles? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?


Unfortunately I don’t have any ukuleles to compare it to and do not have enough experience to give a good comparison

* Anything you wish it had?

A pickup.
 
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