Help me to buy an uke

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gabiruman

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So guys, I'm finally buying my first Uke, and I came across this deal, which seems to be nice, but i want to ear your opinion about it, as you can see in the image below, the specs are:

Ukulele Tenor / Custom Made / Massive wood / Handmade.

Koa body / Mogno arm / Bridge and scale in rosewood / Inlays in motherpearl / Saddle and nut in buffalo bone / high precision chimes / Aquila strings. 215 €.
Image:
424590_564692636887503_2054474502_n.jpg
 
Looks like either a Bruce Wei or Taisamlu - either is to be avoided in my opinion.

For a first ukulele, especially, it is very important that you buy from a reliable ukulele dealer who will ensure the uke is set up and so on. Don't buy with your eyes - all those inlays and what have you come at a price - get a simple uke well set up and you will be much more likely to succeed.

Vendors like HMS (theukulelesite.com), mims ukes, uke republic, etc. actually care about beginners and will see you get something you can actually have a chance of succeeding on.

John
 
OldePhart said:
Don't buy with your eyes - all those inlays and what have you come at a price - get a simple uke well set up and you will be much more likely to succeed.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Often people are tempted by bling. Bling has absolutely zilch to do with playability or sound quality.

Spend your money on a decent uke from a known brand. Kala, Ohana and Mainland come to mind. :)
 
I, too, am dazzled by pretty instruments. Yeah, I admit, I'm a sucker for pretty things. Remember, you can bling a plain ukulele yourself. Check out this thread.
 
OldePhart said:
Looks like either a Bruce Wei or Taisamlu - either is to be avoided in my opinion.

For a first ukulele, especially, it is very important that you buy from a reliable ukulele dealer who will ensure the uke is set up and so on. Don't buy with your eyes - all those inlays and what have you come at a price - get a simple uke well set up and you will be much more likely to succeed.

Vendors like HMS (theukulelesite.com), mims ukes, uke republic, etc. actually care about beginners and will see you get something you can actually have a chance of succeeding on.

John
Click to expand...

It's neither of those according to the seller it's a custom made from Luthier, and he garranteed me that it is a high quality instrument either way I ain't going to buy it just by looking at it, I already arranged a meeting to try it in 2 weeks, I just wanted to know what you guys think of it. Knowing it's Luthier now what do you have to say about it?

By the way theukulelesite.com is out of question for the moment, I'll only recur to it if it's my only shot, I'm from Portugal and the shipping costs are ridiculous, besides I can't find any online store that does setups and has great variety of quality brands in Europe...
 
That's $286US. If that's a luthier-built custom, and it's done properly it's a steal. BUT, imho... if it's too good to be true - you know the rest.

I'd just say since it's your first you should at least look at and strum some others first so you have an appropriate frame of reference.

I'd be a bit wary.
 
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ukemunga said:
That's $286US. If that's a luthier-built custom, and it's done properly it's a steal. BUT, imho... if it's too god to be true - you know the rest.

I'd just say since it's your first you should at least look at and strum some others first so you have an appropriate frame of reference.

I'd be a bit wary.
Click to expand...

Well I have no great knowlegde on Uke brands... but if you say so... The problem is... there had been some more requests to the same guy who is selling this uke, and I've already asked him to wait 2 weeks so I can travel to his location and try it... Since I'm in a exams period I don't have much time to go around and try others... Besides... In my area there aren't really many stores who have varieties of Uke brands. So I deduce by your comment that Luthier is a prestiged brand if you say it's too good to be true... So there is a slight chance I may be looking at a "China deal" (good stuff and low price)... Right?
Besides I honestly don´t believe it's a steal... the guy sells a lot of instruments on a facebook page, and he said the only reason he is selling this luthier is because after several custom orders he discovered that Koa is not his favourite sound....
 
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gabiruman said:
Well I have no great knowlegde on Uke brands... but if you say so... The problem is... there had been some more requests to the same guy who is selling this uke, and I've already asked him to wait 2 weeks so I can travel to his location and try it... Since I'm in a exams period I don't have much time to go around and try others... Besides... In my area there aren't really many stores who have varieties of Uke brands. So I deduce by your comment that Luthier is a prestiged brand if you say it's too good to be true... So there is a slight chance I may be looking at a "China deal" (good stuff and low price)... Right?
Besides I honestly don´t believe it's a steal... the guy sells a lot of instruments on a facebook page, and he said the only reason he is selling this luthier is because after several custom orders he discovered that Koa is not his favourite sound....
Click to expand...

Perhaps I misunderstood your post. A "luthier" is a very skilled builder of (usually) custom instruments. Luthier is not a "brand." Usually, even on the cheap end, a well built uke from a competent luthier will cost about $500US... most are over $1000. Some, much more.

Link to Facebook page?
 
ukemunga said:
Perhaps I misunderstood your post. A "luthier" is a very skilled builder of (usually) custom instruments. Luthier is not a "brand." Usually, even on the cheap end, a well built uke from a competent luthier will cost about $500US... most are over $1000. Some, much more.

Link to Facebook page?
Click to expand...

Oh sorry, i'm a noob on these things. The facebook page is actually a group and it's in Portuguese, good on luck on understanding it xD The name of the seller is Nuno Franco Chrispim
https://www.facebook.com/groups/vendoguitarras/
if you scroll down a bit you should see 4 posts of him in a row selling a gretsch, the uke, a pickup transducer and a godin.
 
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I tried the link, and it said I didn't have permission to view it. In any event, I agree with everyone above - as a new ukulele player, you don't want to possibly waste your money and time and enthusiasm on an instrument that may prove to be substandard and may border on the unplayable. (And it certainly looks like a Bruce Wei to me.)

HMS, Mim, Uke Republic, and Mainland (in no particular order) are at the top of our list. Bruko, in Germany, is another good choice.

Can any of our European friends chime in here?

Not what you wanted to hear, I know, but you asked. :D
 
kvehe said:
I tried the link, and it said I didn't have permission to view it. In any event, I agree with everyone above - as a new ukulele player, you don't want to possibly waste your money and time and enthusiasm on an instrument that may prove to be substandard and may border on the unplayable. (And it certainly looks like a Bruce Wei to me.)

HMS, Mim, Uke Republic, and Mainland (in no particular order) are at the top of our list. Bruko, in Germany, is another good choice.

Can any of our European friends chime in here?

Not what you wanted to hear, I know, but you asked. :D
Click to expand...

Strange the only thing you shouldn't be able to do is to comment on the page because before i belonged to the group i could see the page... Anyways, I will confront the guy with everything that is being said here, and see what he has to say, as for the setup I'm not that concerned because I plan on taking my electric guitar and my electro acoustic guitar to a workshop in my zone that does nice setups, if I'm unsatisfied with the setup on the uke I will take it there as well
 
gabiruman said:
Strange the only thing you shouldn't be able to do is to comment on the page because before i belonged to the group i could see the page... Anyways, I will confront the guy with everything that is being said here, and see what he has to say, as for the setup I'm not that concerned because I plan on taking my electric guitar and my electro acoustic guitar to a workshop in my zone that does nice setups, if I'm unsatisfied with the setup on the uke I will take it there as well
Click to expand...

He will probably buy them off Bruce Wei and sell them on.
 
philrab66 said:
He will probably buy them off Bruce Wei and sell them on.
Click to expand...

I think that if that was the case then he would sell them as Luthier, but he doesn't, he only told me it was Luthier because I insisted in knowing more about the instrument.
 
gabiruman said:
I think that if that was the case then he would sell them as Luthier, but he doesn't, he only told me it was Luthier because I insisted in knowing more about the instrument.
Click to expand...

Again, Luthier is not a brand name... Luthier is a description - it is the trade of an individual who builds hand-made stringed instruments. Many of the very substandard ukuleles being sold on ebay...that we are trying desperately to steer you clear of...describe themselves as being "luthier built" but it is a sad joke. Most are made in small sweatshops in Viet Nam or Taiwan and are pretty as wall hangers (at least until the inlay starts falling off) but are not very good musical instruments - especially for a beginner.

But, I'm not sure quite why you bothered to ask here in the forum. You seem quite set on this uke and have rebuffed everyone's advice. It's your money and you can certainly spend it as you please. But...ask yourself this before you do...even if you see this uke in person before purchasing it, do you have the experience to evaluate whether it has a smooth action, is intonated well up and down the neck, and has the volume, sustain, and tone that an instrument in that price range should have? All of those things are far more important, especially in a first instrument, than what the instrument looks like.

Good luck,

John
 
OldePhart said:
Again, Luthier is not a brand name... Luthier is a description - it is the trade of an individual who builds hand-made stringed instruments. Many of the very substandard ukuleles being sold on ebay...that we are trying desperately to steer you clear of...describe themselves as being "luthier built" but it is a sad joke. Most are made in small sweatshops in Viet Nam or Taiwan and are pretty as wall hangers (at least until the inlay starts falling off) but are not very good musical instruments - especially for a beginner.

But, I'm not sure quite why you bothered to ask here in the forum. You seem quite set on this uke and have rebuffed everyone's advice. It's your money and you can certainly spend it as you please. But...ask yourself this before you do...even if you see this uke in person before purchasing it, do you have the experience to evaluate whether it has a smooth action, is intonated well up and down the neck, and has the volume, sustain, and tone that an instrument in that price range should have? All of those things are far more important, especially in a first instrument, than what the instrument looks like.

Good luck,

John
Click to expand...

I understand it's not a brand and I didn't mean that on the last post, it's just that it seems an important information to tell when describing the instrument.
I didn't rebuf anyone's advice besides, I'll have those things in mind when I meet the seller and I will confront him with them. If I have that experience you said? Hell no, as well as I don't have the experience to tell if any other uke is good, but I will try that one, and if it feels good and sounds good to me strumming the chords I know then it will be a good uke for the noob begginer that I am... I just have to consider that it might be a good deal and try it, thanks for all the advices.
 
Just one final comment. Have him tell you WHO the luthier is. That is all important. Then you can research that luthier and find out if s/he builds quality instruments.
 
If you get in touch with the Southern Ukulele Store in the UK, they offer good advice, do set-ups and will ship to Europe for a reasonable price.
gabiruman said:
It's neither of those according to the seller it's a custom made from Luthier, and he garranteed me that it is a high quality instrument either way I ain't going to buy it just by looking at it, I already arranged a meeting to try it in 2 weeks, I just wanted to know what you guys think of it. Knowing it's Luthier now what do you have to say about it?

By the way theukulelesite.com is out of question for the moment, I'll only recur to it if it's my only shot, I'm from Portugal and the shipping costs are ridiculous, besides I can't find any online store that does setups and has great variety of quality brands in Europe...
Click to expand...
 
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