New Cigar Box Uke Day

Tigeralum2001

Tigeralum2001

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My Black Friday was awesome... I avoided all stores and got all my deals online... but who cares about that?

My new Pepe Cigar Box Uke arrived today! It has a great tone, better than I had expected (and I expect a lot out of Pepe's ukes). It plays very smooth and fast. It is made from Honduran Mahogany top, back, sides, and neck; the fingerboard is African Rosewood. This one has PegHed tuners. Like the rest of Pepe's ukes, this has a string through bridge, a hand done french polish finish, and LaBella Strings.

I've spent about an hour or so putting it through it's paces and trying out the Schertler RESOCOIL pick-up. I may need to review the pick-up separately. If you don't hear from me for awhile, you'll know what I am doing...

Here is Corey from HMS playing one of these ukes:


There are only 2 prototypes and a limited run of 5 production models. I am the proud owner of Prototype #1. The prototypes have the pick-ups, but the limited run does not. Other than that, there are few differences. Pepe said this one sounds the best of all; I am thankful he let me choose it. If you are interested, look for the limited run at HMS soon.


Attached are some photos of mine (from Pepe's website).

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!
 

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Sweet instrument, it really compliments an extraordinary lineup of ukes (minus the Lanikai...).
 
Congrats...it sounds sweet.....wow how did you manage to get it....from Pepe? happy strummings....
 
kvehe said:
Nifty! Congratulations!
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Hey CJ hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too..

cool looking uke..i hope you bring it to our class soon..Gyosh's CR done soon too..trying to get him to bring it out so we can see his new one too>>
 
You, sir, have excellent taste. I am tempted to get one of these but my uke funds are low as I have a Koa Tenor from Pepe coming in December. Regardless, I hope to hear a sound sample or see a video from you soon. Congrats and have fun.
 
Cool uke. Enjoy it! Do update on what strings you like best on the CBU. Worth brown works great on my spruce/rosewood.
 
wmboy said:
Cool uke. Enjoy it! Do update on what strings you like best on the CBU. Worth brown works great on my spruce/rosewood.
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How did you manage to get a Pepe Spruce/Rosewood in Singapore? I thought they couldn't leave their country of origin.

I haven't changed the strings yet; in fact I haven't tried other strings on my Pepes. I like LaBella and am thinking about trying them on my other ukes. I have about 3 strings to try (Aquila, Southcoast, and PhD) on the Pepe. Some people go crazy with strings, but I stick with my favorite nylon and flurocarbon while only occasionally throwing something new in the mix.
 
Tigeralum2001 said:
How did you manage to get a Pepe Spruce/Rosewood in Singapore? I thought they couldn't leave their country of origin.

I haven't changed the strings yet; in fact I haven't tried other strings on my Pepes. I like LaBella and am thinking about trying them on my other ukes. I have about 3 strings to try (Aquila, Southcoast, and PhD) on the Pepe. Some people go crazy with strings, but I stick with my favorite nylon and flurocarbon while only occasionally throwing something new in the mix.
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Hey CJ..maybe only certain types of wood have a hard time going in and out of the US..for sure Brazilian Rosewood..and sometimes abalone?..but i dont know for sure..i dont plan on taking my ukes out of the US..
 
hawaii 50 said:
Hey CJ..maybe only certain types of wood have a hard time going in and out of the US..for sure Brazilian Rosewood..and sometimes abalone?..but i dont know for sure..i dont plan on taking my ukes out of the US..
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Yep... and Pepe uses Brazilian Rosewood... It is old stuff, from before CITIES, but still is restricted.
 
Tigeralum2001 said:
Yep... and Pepe uses Brazilian Rosewood... It is old stuff, from before CITIES, but still is restricted.
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CJ i thought the guy from Singapore had a E Indian Rosewood uke..but sometimes you can get away i guess if customs has no clue what type of wood..if you carry on the plane..does that make sense?

i am a string junkie too..Lol i got them all and i really like trying to find the set that sounds the best on a certain uke but i kind of like nylon or flouracarbon the most...but sometimes it gets expensive..you got to buy 2 or 3 of each set Ha ha
 
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What a unique instrument! This was the first time I've seen one!
 
ahhh..you got me excited. He's supposed to be here any day and there is a place in my bedroom ready to hang a pepe cbu. you got #1! how cool, good job. Jack Johnson picked up #2. Pepe's bringing us another cedar/maple and a spruce top too I believe but those are for the store of course. we might be able to do some high end comparisons if some of these tenors hang out for a few days.

btw, he doesn't say brazilian for legal reasons. calls it rosewood
 
AndrewKuker said:
Pepe's bringing us another cedar/maple and a spruce top too I believe but those are for the store of course. we might be able to do some high end comparisons if some of these tenors hang out for a few days.
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I saw the pictures of your order on Facebook; looking good! You'll have to let us know if the cedar/maple sounds as good as the last one. Your sample from the last one really piqued my interest in that wood combination.
 
Tigeralum2001 said:
I saw the pictures of your order on Facebook; looking good! You'll have to let us know if the cedar/maple sounds as good as the last one. Your sample from the last one really piqued my interest in that wood combination.
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Hey CJ make sure you get ahold of me when you get to Oahu in May i should be living there by then..for sure we check out Mike and Andrew at The Ukulele Site(aka HMS)

just bring alot of money Ha ha
 
estreya said:
Tigeralum2001, your playing is a delight to the ear. So many different styles, certainly more than i can name, and yet you marry them all together brilliantly.
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I wish I could play 1/10th that well! That is Corey Fujimoto from Hawaiian Music Supply. :) He is definitely one of my "ukulele heroes."
 
Ha! In that case, thank you for the introduction to Corey Fujimoto! :)
 
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