My Oscar Schmidt OUB1 Banjo Uke review

Oscar Schmidt Banjo Uke Review

I had sold my Gold Tone banjo uke around the first of December so I was very excited to get my Oscar Schmidt OUB1 just after Christmas.

I decided on Oscar Schmidt because I have had good luck with them in the past. Although they are not an upscale instrument, they are very playable and pretty good quality.

Upon opening the box, the first thing I noticed is that it is not near as heavy as the Gold Tone BUB that I had. Not really a bad thing but being old school, I somewhat relate weight with quality.

Next I noticed the color. It is more of an orange color than any other instrument I have owned. Not bad, just different.

Upon close examination, some things I found…..
The finish is very inconsistent. Light spots, dark spots and on the end of the head stock looks like the stain was never wiped down before finishing.
The pot is oblong and not round. So much so that 1 of the screws in the resonator plate is bulging about 20% out of the side of the pot. Enough out of round that with you look at the head, there is about a 2mm gap in the ring in one area.
Now being picky, there are a couple of the lugs (that hold the ring tie downs) that are pretty cockeyed. It is an easy fix to remove the resonator, loosen the screw and straighten out but this is new and shouldn’t have to be done.

Not sure what strings it came with but they have a “wet” feel kind of like D'Addario strings but they are clear. If I keep it, I will change them out to Aquila. Just a personal preference.

It was shipped with the bridge in the upright position and much to my surprise, the intonation was very close.
The tone was about what I expected but not as good as the Gold Tone, but the Gold Tone had several tweeks during the time that I had it. Perhaps after a few adjustments, it will get better.

I did send an Email to Oscar Schmidt in regards to a case or bag. At this time, none are available but plenty of aftermarket bags are available.

Over all, the Oscar Schmidt OUB1 was somewhat of a disappointment. If the instrument was a 2nd or “B” stock, the quality would be understandable but this is “A” stock and I don’t think it is quite up to their standards from what I have owned in the past.

From my personal and unprofessional opinion, I would give it a 2.5 out of 5

Have you considered the banjo ukulele line badged as Eddy Finn? I had sold one to a fellow who had a comparable Gold Tone. His comment was that they were so similar that he would not have been surprised to find they came from the same factory. The main difference was the price being less than the G/T.

Thanks for the review. I very nearly pulled the trigger on buying one of those for a friend since we both have Oscar Schmidt ukuleles and love them, but I saw a negative review on Amazon that basically said the production wasn't up to the usual OS standards. Based on that review I waved off and looked for additional opinions of it. Yours is the first I've found since and seems a similar experience. Durn, that's too bad. I like the Oscar Schmidt brand and would have expected a better product from them.

I second what TheCraftedCow says about Eddy Finn. That's the route I went because Gold Tone was way out of my budget (and the Oscar Schmidt hadn't come down the pike yet). The EF is a solid and beautifully finished banjolele.

Bumping this since I'm still shopping for my friend and am still looking at the Oscar Schmidt. It's been out there for a little while now and I'm wondering if any others have purchased one and what impressions they have. The price, at well under $200.00, is sure attractive for a guy on a budget.