OHANA/MARTIN Strum Test

Which uke do you prefer?

  • Uke Number 1

    Votes: 18 48.6%

  • Uke Number 2

    Votes: 7 18.9%

  • Uke Number 3

    Votes: 10 27.0%

  • They sound the same

    Votes: 2 5.4%
  • Total voters
    37
pdxuke

pdxuke

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Hi Uke Friends:

I'm testing three soprano ukes, in no particular order:

Martin S1
Ohana SK38
Ohana SK35

Can you tell me what order I play them in, and which you like better?

All in D tuning, all Martin 600s.

Listen here:
https://soundcloud.com/pdxuke/2-ohana-1-martin-strum-test

Take Poll, and comment.

BTW, excuse my poor playing. I'm tired and not used to the higher tension of D tuning.

UPDATE: I've posted the order I played these in another thread. If you haven't listened and still want to vote, go ahead and then go read the results: http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?75834-Martin-Ohana-Strum-Test-Result
 
Last edited:
1. Ohana SK38
2. Ohana SK35
3. Martin S-1

Like 'em all. No preference.
 
Neck, meet chopping block, chopping block, meet neck...

I liked the first sample the best, but that may be only because it was the only sample that really featured any single notes held for any length of time at all. Other than that they could all be the same uke because once you get into fast strumming all of the finer nuances go bye-bye in the intermodulation distortion.

That said, I'll hazard a pure and simple guess and say,

1 = SK38
2 = S1
3 = SK35

John
 
To my ear, #1 sounded the most "full" while 2 & 3 sounded exactly the same and slightly brighter. I'll guess:
Martin
sk38
sk35
 
I love these blind tests. Thanks Thom.

I like number 3 the best. I have no idea which one it is.
Number 1 was least favorite of the group.
 
1. Martin

2. Ohana

3. Ohana (clueless as to which is which Ohana).

I dig these sound clouds because I can instantly click between the sound samples, back and forth, back and forth, further adding to my befuddlement.
 
Never played and have no idea but I liked 1 the best but I can't say definitively why. That said, that means I wouldn't buy a Martin as I can buy a Ohana for a cheaper price.
 
I think I liked 2 the best...but what do I know....they sound so similiar...
 
OldePhart said:
Neck, meet chopping block, chopping block, meet neck...

I liked the first sample the best, but that may be only because it was the only sample that really featured any single notes held for any length of time at all. Other than that they could all be the same uke because once you get into fast strumming all of the finer nuances go bye-bye in the intermodulation distortion.


John
Click to expand...

John, I respect your opinion and you made that comment the last test. What confuses me about that statement is many of us--especially me--play almost exclusively by strumming. So when I'm selecting a uke I need to hear it strummed, and i judge it by that sound. To me the strums sound different. Are you mostly a picker?
 
pdxuke said:
John, I respect your opinion and you made that comment the last test. What confuses me about that statement is many of us--especially me--play almost exclusively by strumming. So when I'm selecting a uke I need to hear it strummed, and i judge it by that sound. To me the strums sound different. Are you mostly a picker?
Click to expand...
Actually I am more of a strummer - probably 75% strumming and the rest picking or arpeggiating. But, a uke that sounds good picked will also sound good strummed while the reverse isn't necessarily true. You can't tell much about the sustain of an instrument, nor much about the clarity of the notes. Watch MGM's demo videos to see what I consider a useful demo technique. He does a little open picking, fretted picking, harmonics, and then some strumming. Strumming, especially very fast strumming, can hide a lot of "faults."
 
OldePhart said:
But, a uke that sounds good picked will also sound good strummed ...
Click to expand...

I have to disagree with that. Cedar usually has long(er) sustain, and I don't like it as much for strumming. Sounds kind of muddled to me.
OTOH I do love it for picking.
 
The test done with C tuning might be better as tuning to D tends to negate the deeper tones of C tuning and much of the ukuleles character. The fast strumming as Olde Phart stated does nothing to distinguish the sound. I own two of those ukuleles and they sound quite different in the C tuning but I can't tell at all in the D tuning which is which.
 
Bill Mc said:
The test done with C tuning might be better as tuning to D tends to negate the deeper tones of C tuning and much of the ukuleles character. The fast strumming as Olde Phart stated does nothing to distinguish the sound. I own two of those ukuleles and they sound quite different in the C tuning but I can't tell at all in the D tuning which is which.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure I entirely agree, Bill, but I certainly think a test in C is warranted just for fun. And I will be sure to play more individual notes before strumming, but I gotta disagree with that as well. When I listen for uke samples on youtube or on HMS, etc, I'm skipping the picking and listening for the strumming. I want to hear the harmonics of all the strings working together. I could care less about most of the picking. I can hear differences in strumming, and that's how i select a uke.

But we all choose ukes in different ways, and that's what makes horse racing! :) Thanks for your thoughts!
 
To my highly untrained ear.. I thought #1 was kinda 'jangely'
So I'll go for,
#1 - Martin
#2 - Ohana 35 (cause it sounds most like mine)
#3 - Ohana
Thanks, was nice to listen to, I'll go check the results;)
 
I liked the first one best. That's all I know. A ukulele is a ukulele -- in my (limited) experience, which particular factory it came from has little bearing on the sound of a particular instrument.

After looking at the Ohana website, would someone please enlighten me with respect to the differences between the SK38 and SK35? I can see the bindings have different colours, but the specs don't let on to any further difference.

Having listened to the samples above, the sound of the SK35 is noticeably different from that of the SK38. There must be something in the construction that causes the difference.
 
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