New Uke Day: Holy Smokes! Mainland Classic Mahogany Tenor

mstuartev

mstuartev

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Sep 4, 2012
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Location
Madison Wisco
(purchased via Mike at Mainland Ukes)
Wow! This was an upgrade from a laminate Ohana TK-10 (which, for the $ is a very nice entry level uke and will migrate to my work 'office' uke)... but the Mainland is sonically in another class. Funny how (like with various guitars) the playing of a new better instrument begs for new ideas and songs. This uke just rings and plays so easy. Busy until the holiday and then I'll take some pics and eventually a sound file.

Mike was a pleasure to work with. He had a blemished special, offered at a discount. I can't find any blem anywhere. He set it up as a Low G tenor (new to me and, as a guitar player, I LOVE this tuning... opens up more low string single note work)

More to come!
 
Thanks for extending my enthusiasm.
I must add that this is my, technically, third uke. I bought a Flea Market Baritone uke built by Harmony - probably from the 60's or 50's. It eventually migrated to the kids room and was destroyed in the process. I can easily see many more ukes in my future... but I'll have to find some stuff to sell off first (har har)
 
Congratulations! I keep hearing wonderful things about Mainland and about Mike and Tookta. It's nice to know that it's all true. :) Have fun with your new ukulele!
 
Great uke and great folks. Enjoy!

I have two or three Mainland blems and on only one of them could I find the "problem" even after Tookta pointed it out to me! That was the mahogany soprano I picked up this year at UWC after asking Mike to have one ready for me. Tookta was like, "we noticed this little spot after we set it up for you so we're going to knock the price down or you can pick another one." I was like, "really, a tiny dark spot in the wood that you had to show me and even then it's just a tiny little dark spot in the wood? I could care less about that little spot!"

John
 
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I like mahogany better than koa. The two sound almost the same, and we have to worry about the koa population being overlogged.
 
Rubio MHS said:
I like mahogany better than koa. The two sound almost the same, and we have to worry about the koa population being overlogged.
Click to expand...

Actually, I find a very distinct difference between mahogany and koa, though koa is more like mahogany than it is like, say, spruce. :) It seems to fit somewhere between mango and mahogany - at least that's my experience after owning ukes in all three woods, in some cases from the same manufacturer and design. There was a time that I felt that mango fit between mahogany and Koa, but after spending some time with all three I've reversed my opinion of that.

As for overlogging - I don't think it's really much of an issue. Some of the folks who live in Hawaii pointed out in this forum a while back that there really isn't a Koa shortage. I believe that most of the current Koa is coming from commercial replanting in Hawaii rather than logging of old growth.

And, of course, if one opens the definition to include other Acacia species growing throughout Asia and the pacific it's practically a weed! :) Okay, slight exageration...

John
 
I'm quite a bit of a conservationalist, and while there's no shortage of koa, there is a shortage of natural koa forests that aren't used for logging. In fact, it's very hard to find old-growth koa at all because so much of the forests have been cut down. Hawaii is the most endangered ecosystem in America, by far, and the more the natural, old-growth forests are being cut down so that the land can be used for commercial purposes, the more we lose that ecosystem.
 
Rubio MHS said:
I'm quite a bit of a conservationalist, and while there's no shortage of koa, there is a shortage of natural koa forests that aren't used for logging. In fact, it's very hard to find old-growth koa at all because so much of the forests have been cut down. Hawaii is the most endangered ecosystem in America, by far, and the more the natural, old-growth forests are being cut down so that the land can be used for commercial purposes, the more we lose that ecosystem.
Click to expand...

You might be right but my understanding was that there isn't any new logging in old growth going on. My understanding was that they are basically reclaiming land that had been logged over decades ago for agriculture (pinapple, etc) to commercial timbering because it had become more profitable. If that's the case, it's a more "green" use of the land than traditional agriculture and we should do everything we can to encourage converting pineapple fields to koa plantations. There's always more than one side to an issue... :)

John


John
 
Congrats on the new tenor! I hope you enjoy your Mainland uke for many years to come.
 
Trinimon said:
Congrats! Where's them pictures?! :)
Click to expand...

Hold yer horses, cowboys! It's the holiday week and I"m buried under last minute stuff. When I recover from the turkey coma I'll take some pics and maybe do a quick Zoom H2 recording... but pics first. I'm still searching for the blemish... can't find it no how.
 
Rubio MHS said:
I'm quite a bit of a conservationalist, and while there's no shortage of koa, there is a shortage of natural koa forests that aren't used for logging. In fact, it's very hard to find old-growth koa at all because so much of the forests have been cut down. Hawaii is the most endangered ecosystem in America, by far, and the more the natural, old-growth forests are being cut down so that the land can be used for commercial purposes, the more we lose that ecosystem.
Click to expand...

Kanile'a and probably others too don't cut any trees down. They only harvest trees that fall naturally.
 
I received mine last friday!

IMG_20121123_170634.jpg

IMG_20121123_171216.jpg

IMG_20121123_170755.jpg
 
apparently koa grows really fast and can be logged/milled in about 20 years. thats A good turnaround time for trees.

Cheers

Cliff
 
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