pdxuke
Well-known member
SPOILER ALERT:
If you haven't taken the NAME THAT MARTIN TEST, you may want to do so before reading further. In this thread I reveal the answers. If you want to take the quiz first, go here
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?75039-Name-that-martin!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In another post I did the great Martin Uke Test. I'm posting the results in another thread here, so we can discuss without spoiling it for those who want to keep guessing.
This was a fascinating experiment. I must confess that even yours truly, the custodian of these ukes, had to look at the playing order I wrote down to see which uke was which. This tells me, to my ears, that all of these instruments sound great. And they do. So--Martin builds great sounding ukes--any era.
At the end I'll recap everything. But let me reveal in order of the popularity of the voting as of this writing.
UKE # 5 got the most votes. And uke # 5 is the 1948 Vintage Style 0. It sounds best to me as well, but only by a whisker. But a wonderful balanced tone.
UKE # 3 got the next number of votes, tied with UKE #1. And that one is the NEW Style 2. I think it is wonderful. I like it more and more. It is probably the most comfortable to play. The set-up must be perfect for me.
UKE # 1 was tied with UKE # 3 in number of votes. And here's where I'm going to blow your minds--because I cheated. Uke #1 is the Martin OXK. That's right--I bought it from a local shop yesterday, and I had planned to do that, but kept it a secret to see what y'all thought. And boy was I right about it. It sounds wonderful. And it's made of sawdust and glue and plastic bottles--whatever. So ponder that, my friends. A $279 MARTIN uke made out of finger nail clippings that sounds that good.
UKE #2 is the Vintage Martin M-1.
UKE # 4 is the Mexican made S-1. Also very comfortable in the hand. I'm impressed with these new builds.
Now, for the tricky part, and I didn't fool you at all.
UKE #6 is actually two ukes: The first half is the 48-0; the second half of the song is the new 2. Unfortunately, I think I botched the recording, because one channel drops out. It probably would have been even trickier if I had used an Ohana SK38. I almost did, but in the end thought that was cheating TOO much.
Sum up:
Uke Sound Test # 1 was....
A Martin OXK!
Uke Sound Test #2 was..
Vintage Martin Style 1
Uke Sound Test #3 was...
The New Style 2
Uke Test #4 was...
The Mexican made s-1
Uke Test #5 was..
The 1948 style 0
Uke Test #6 was...
The first part of the song was the 1948 Style 0, the last part the new Style 2.
MY CONCLUSION:
Martin makes great sounding ukes. They made them back then, they make them now. I guess the real test would be against Ohana, or Collings, or Kiwaya, etc. But for me, that comparison doesn't matter. I want to own and play Martin ukes because they sound great, the build is great, and they play great. I'm also into the Martin heritage, which may be snake oil to some, but it matters to me. It PLEASES me to own Martins. It's the same reason I own a Kamaka-- the history, the build, the quality, the sound.
What does this mean for me? It means I don't need a $1500 vintage tenor, or $1000 vintage concert (which doesn't mean I won't eventually buy one, haha.) I want to have a Martin of each size, just for fun, but I'm mainly a soprano player. So my guess is, the new CK1 and TK1 from Mexico will sound great (I already know the CK 1 sounds great--everytime I go into my local shop I can't get my hands off of it.)
It also means my desire for a soprano koa can be satisfied with the new Martin builds. Or a style 3 Cherry. The new builds are very close in sound to the vintage.
And I think, for those of you considering a Martin, it's also good news: if you don't want vintage, and don't want to spend $1000, you can get an extremely well made, lovely sounding instruments: the OXK is $279 street, and the all mahogany S1 is $379 street.
It's a great time to be a Martin lover. Choices from all eras!
Thanks for participating! This was fun!
If you haven't taken the NAME THAT MARTIN TEST, you may want to do so before reading further. In this thread I reveal the answers. If you want to take the quiz first, go here
http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?75039-Name-that-martin!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In another post I did the great Martin Uke Test. I'm posting the results in another thread here, so we can discuss without spoiling it for those who want to keep guessing.
This was a fascinating experiment. I must confess that even yours truly, the custodian of these ukes, had to look at the playing order I wrote down to see which uke was which. This tells me, to my ears, that all of these instruments sound great. And they do. So--Martin builds great sounding ukes--any era.
At the end I'll recap everything. But let me reveal in order of the popularity of the voting as of this writing.
UKE # 5 got the most votes. And uke # 5 is the 1948 Vintage Style 0. It sounds best to me as well, but only by a whisker. But a wonderful balanced tone.
UKE # 3 got the next number of votes, tied with UKE #1. And that one is the NEW Style 2. I think it is wonderful. I like it more and more. It is probably the most comfortable to play. The set-up must be perfect for me.
UKE # 1 was tied with UKE # 3 in number of votes. And here's where I'm going to blow your minds--because I cheated. Uke #1 is the Martin OXK. That's right--I bought it from a local shop yesterday, and I had planned to do that, but kept it a secret to see what y'all thought. And boy was I right about it. It sounds wonderful. And it's made of sawdust and glue and plastic bottles--whatever. So ponder that, my friends. A $279 MARTIN uke made out of finger nail clippings that sounds that good.
UKE #2 is the Vintage Martin M-1.
UKE # 4 is the Mexican made S-1. Also very comfortable in the hand. I'm impressed with these new builds.
Now, for the tricky part, and I didn't fool you at all.
UKE #6 is actually two ukes: The first half is the 48-0; the second half of the song is the new 2. Unfortunately, I think I botched the recording, because one channel drops out. It probably would have been even trickier if I had used an Ohana SK38. I almost did, but in the end thought that was cheating TOO much.
Sum up:
Uke Sound Test # 1 was....
A Martin OXK!
Uke Sound Test #2 was..
Vintage Martin Style 1
Uke Sound Test #3 was...
The New Style 2
Uke Test #4 was...
The Mexican made s-1
Uke Test #5 was..
The 1948 style 0
Uke Test #6 was...
The first part of the song was the 1948 Style 0, the last part the new Style 2.
MY CONCLUSION:
Martin makes great sounding ukes. They made them back then, they make them now. I guess the real test would be against Ohana, or Collings, or Kiwaya, etc. But for me, that comparison doesn't matter. I want to own and play Martin ukes because they sound great, the build is great, and they play great. I'm also into the Martin heritage, which may be snake oil to some, but it matters to me. It PLEASES me to own Martins. It's the same reason I own a Kamaka-- the history, the build, the quality, the sound.
What does this mean for me? It means I don't need a $1500 vintage tenor, or $1000 vintage concert (which doesn't mean I won't eventually buy one, haha.) I want to have a Martin of each size, just for fun, but I'm mainly a soprano player. So my guess is, the new CK1 and TK1 from Mexico will sound great (I already know the CK 1 sounds great--everytime I go into my local shop I can't get my hands off of it.)
It also means my desire for a soprano koa can be satisfied with the new Martin builds. Or a style 3 Cherry. The new builds are very close in sound to the vintage.
And I think, for those of you considering a Martin, it's also good news: if you don't want vintage, and don't want to spend $1000, you can get an extremely well made, lovely sounding instruments: the OXK is $279 street, and the all mahogany S1 is $379 street.
It's a great time to be a Martin lover. Choices from all eras!
Thanks for participating! This was fun!
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