NUD: My Baby Mainland Arrives!

This week has been one calamity after another. My husband slipped on the ice and hurt his ribs and shoulder. An ice-related driveway accident caused damage to two of our three cars. I fell carrying my old dog down the stairs and broke my foot, so I'm on crutches. Our daughter came down with strep throat. And honestly, that's only about half of it.....

But one thing did go just right: I got my new Mainland Cedar/Rosewood Soprano, and it's a beauty! Here she is, all snug and seatbelted in:


The rosewood back is really stunning. It's hard to get a decent photo with a glossy finish combined with my horrible photography skills:


I love the amber and gold tuners. It's such a pretty combination, and they are very smooth to operate:


The uke is without defects or buzzes, is set up very well, and easy to play. It has a warm, smooth, balanced sound, with plenty of volume. I think it's an excellent value for the money. I am happy happy! If I have to spend much of the next few weeks stuck on the sofa with my foot up, this Mainland will be a great asset in making the time more enjoyable. I'll do a full review in a month or so, with some better photos and a sound sample.

I should add that I got a soprano from Mainland a couple of weeks ago, but it was badly damaged in shipping. Mike took such good care of me with the return and replacement; I can't thank him enough for making the process so effortless. That uke was gorgeous and it broke my heart to send it back. Fortunately, this new one is also beautiful, and it's intact and perfect in every way.

Pretty uke!

But how is the dog????

BlueLatitude said:

Pretty uke!

But how is the dog????

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Of course, being the good mommy that I am, I protected the dog instead of myself. So he did not get hurt in the fall, and my foot suffered the consequences! However, the doggie is in liver failure, hence the reason why he cannot do stairs, and we have to put him to sleep tomorrow --- yet another casualty of this week. Everything always hits at once. I guess that's life. My grandmother used to say, "You want peace? Peace is what you get when you die." So I'm grateful that I'm still here, and with a nice new uke to boot!

Well, bless you for protecting the dog, and for letting him go peacefully tomorrow. Not an easy thing to do, I know.

Congratulations on the new Mainland, enjoy it. You have a tough day ahead of you tomorrow.

cantsing said:

Congratulations on the new Mainland, enjoy it. You have a tough day ahead of you tomorrow.

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Thank you! Life's joys and sorrows are what it's all about. And BTW, I can't sing either!

Very nice soprano! The rosewood looks schweeet!

I hope things settle down for you soon.

Sending you peaceful thoughts! And thanks for sharing the joy too, every uke should bring as much.

Sorry to hear about your mishaps, but I do hope that you enjoy your new ukulele. These are great sounding sopranos, with a loud and punchy tone. I played one a few months back and was amazed at how much better the string to string articulation was compared to my mahogany soprano. Mainlands are the best sounding and playing ukuleles in the under $500 price range.

Sit on your sofa, and play that great looking ukelele. If anything else goes wrong, just play louder.

Gorgeous uke! Those red cedar / rosewood ukes are stunning, the rosewood back on this one is especially stunning.

I strongly suspect that when UAS strikes again, it will be a Mainland for me. Don't anybody tell the husband, he just doesn't "get" it . . . .

Condolences regarding your dog. We are seriously Dog People. It's never easy letting go -

Dennis, thanks so much.

Peaceweaver, peaceful thoughts and sharing joy are always appreciated. Thank you.

Brian, is your mahogany soprano also a Mainland? I just ordered a Mainland Mahogany Concert, since they are out of them in cedar/rosewood. Folks here certainly seem to like the mahogany versions too.

Frank, humor is great medicine. Thanks so much.

Uke-Conn, I try to keep UAS a silent affliction around my house too! It's nice to be able to at least share it here in the forum!

Jamie

Good choice. Those Mainland red cedar and rosewood ukes are sweet sounding ukes.
Be careful out there.

JamieWG said:

Dennis, thanks so much.

Peaceweaver, peaceful thoughts and sharing joy are always appreciated. Thank you.

Brian, is your mahogany soprano also a Mainland? I just ordered a Mainland Mahogany Concert, since they are out of them in cedar/rosewood. Folks here certainly seem to like the mahogany versions too.

Frank, humor is great medicine. Thanks so much.

Uke-Conn, I try to keep UAS a silent affliction around my house too! It's nice to be able to at least share it here in the forum!

Jamie

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Jamie,

My soprano is an Ohana SK-35, solid mahogany, and unfortunately not a Mainland. From what I saw, the bracing pattern and top thickness between the Mainland and my Ohana was very similar, so I suspect the sound between 2 mahogany versions would also be similar. I like the sound of mahogany, but I think the cedar/rosewood sounds better, especially on a soprano. Mike and his wife do a good job inspecting these instruments for defects, and also for proper setup, so i am not surprised that you are happy with the results. I do plan on purchasing a soprano from him in the future.

- Brian

Sorry to hear about your mishaps. I was on crutches once for a few weeks; I can't imagine what it must be like to be on crutches in wintry conditions. I hope you, your husband, and your daughter recover quickly, and that you're thankful that the incident in the driveway is one of those problems you can fix by throwing money at it (not all problems are). Think about how much Karma you're accruing!

Congratulations on your new uke! It's gorgeous!

Congrats on the cedar soprano. I hope to have one of those someday myself. The concert version sure sings.

The rest of your travails will later make a good story about that "Winter of '14"

I'm sorry to hear about your dog and all of the bad things hitting at your house. I hope this new uke is the beginning of much better luck. Being stranded on the couch with a uke is a very good thing, though. That's how I started playing. I was on the couch, rebounding from a horrid case of the flu. I was bored out of my mind and spotted my son's blue mahalo lying across the room. Grabbed it, and started puttering.

That ukulele is gorgeous!!!

CB56, mds725, TG&Y, and UkeJenny, thank you for taking the time to reply and support!

Brian, I sure do envy folks who have a great local uke store and have the opportunity to compare brands and do a real try-and-buy! I suspect you feel that way too.

MDS, crutches in the winter are not a bad thing. It's certainly better than not being able to go hiking when the weather is good! I think if my activities are going to be curtailed, I'd rather it be in winter when I'm less active anyway.

TG&Y, the "Winter of '14" story pales in comparison to the "Winter of '13" version, so I thank my lucky stars every single day, and I am smiling. Do you have the concert version of my uke?

Jenny, it is funny to hear the different paths that lead us to the ukulele! I was just looking for something to travel with instead of my guitar.....And here I am totally hooked.

Well, I swapped out the strings on the Mainland last night, and now with the higher tension strings, I'm wanting to take down the saddle a bit, so I'll be tending to that this afternoon....

I need to start reading the whole post. So very sorry about your doggie.

My heart grieves with you over your doggie...I know it's not easy.