FrankB
Well-known member
They both came from Elderly not long ago. The Martin is flawless, loud, and has a rich tone. The Koa is nicely book matched, but I did specifically request a good looking ukulele. The C1K pictured on Elderly's website has a huge amount of curl on the A string side, and none on the other half. The frets are lower and more narrow than I expected, but it's very easy to play. Someone did a review, and said Martin used guitar frets. This is not the case here. Intonation is as close as it needs to be, i.e. it's exactly as it should be. I didn't use a strobe, or anything from NASA, just my clip on tuner and ears.
I'm looking at the frets, and they are all crowned beautifully, and identically. That is not the case with the uke below.
Its frets were leveled, but barely crowned in some quick fashion. Most of that uke's frets still had a flat top. Neither uke buzzed anywhere along the fretboard, and both were set at just below 3mm at the 12th fret. It should be noted that the Martin has 12 frets to the body, but that's what I'm used to with classical guitar. I really don't see playing that high with a concert ukulele, and it suits me fine.
The second was an Ohana CK-35GS. Volume is just adequate, and tone is slightly better than the Cordoba 15CM I bought yesterday for my niece. Fret work was crude, but the tuners worked better than the last Ohana I bought. The nut is glued to the fretboard, and does NOT have a slot. I've seen this done on budget guitars before, but the Martin and Cordoba have very nice nut slots. How long could it take to cut one? There are a few spots on the back were the wood was sanded too much, leaving flat spots, and finish was drop filled in several places. The saddle was much too thin for the slot. Other than that, it certainly looks nice on the outside. One peek inside quickly revealed this:
The Martin stays, and the Ohana is most likely going back. That'll be up to my wife. I'd buy another Cordoba 15CM for $99 rather than the Ohana, however. It has better fretwork, a bound fretboard, and probably as much volume as the Ohana. The Cordoba is larger, and wouldn't even begin to fit in the Stagg tweed case I bought. Both the Martin and Ohana fit in there nicely. It could be the Cordoba's larger body that gives it a fuller sound than the Ohana. I'll probably back track, and say the Ohana has more volume than the Cordoba, but I'm going by memory of playing it for two hours last night. The Ohana has more resonance, that's for sure.
EDIT: The Martin has a much wider nut width than the Ohana, and also the Cordoba (from what I remember). It's not so wide that barring is a chore, but is wide enough that large fingers don't touch the other strings when playing in the first position. The Ohana and Martin have very similar neck profiles, but the Ohana stays flatter over a greater length. There's very little difference when playing both.
I'm looking at the frets, and they are all crowned beautifully, and identically. That is not the case with the uke below.
Its frets were leveled, but barely crowned in some quick fashion. Most of that uke's frets still had a flat top. Neither uke buzzed anywhere along the fretboard, and both were set at just below 3mm at the 12th fret. It should be noted that the Martin has 12 frets to the body, but that's what I'm used to with classical guitar. I really don't see playing that high with a concert ukulele, and it suits me fine.
The second was an Ohana CK-35GS. Volume is just adequate, and tone is slightly better than the Cordoba 15CM I bought yesterday for my niece. Fret work was crude, but the tuners worked better than the last Ohana I bought. The nut is glued to the fretboard, and does NOT have a slot. I've seen this done on budget guitars before, but the Martin and Cordoba have very nice nut slots. How long could it take to cut one? There are a few spots on the back were the wood was sanded too much, leaving flat spots, and finish was drop filled in several places. The saddle was much too thin for the slot. Other than that, it certainly looks nice on the outside. One peek inside quickly revealed this:
The Martin stays, and the Ohana is most likely going back. That'll be up to my wife. I'd buy another Cordoba 15CM for $99 rather than the Ohana, however. It has better fretwork, a bound fretboard, and probably as much volume as the Ohana. The Cordoba is larger, and wouldn't even begin to fit in the Stagg tweed case I bought. Both the Martin and Ohana fit in there nicely. It could be the Cordoba's larger body that gives it a fuller sound than the Ohana. I'll probably back track, and say the Ohana has more volume than the Cordoba, but I'm going by memory of playing it for two hours last night. The Ohana has more resonance, that's for sure.
EDIT: The Martin has a much wider nut width than the Ohana, and also the Cordoba (from what I remember). It's not so wide that barring is a chore, but is wide enough that large fingers don't touch the other strings when playing in the first position. The Ohana and Martin have very similar neck profiles, but the Ohana stays flatter over a greater length. There's very little difference when playing both.
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