Schoenhut Oak Mahogany Uke - REVIEW

bazmaz · Mar 24, 2014

Well, things were getting crazy on UU, so raced ahead to get the review done. Good and bad I think. Cue 11 pages of arguments....

http://www.gotaukulele.com/2014/03/schoenhut-oak-mahogany-ukulele-review.html

seanmorr · Mar 24, 2014

good review - I found similar problems with mine. I left a comment on your blog.

Just got martins installed today and have played it a bit.

Sound is ok but the lack of taper on the neck is a definite issue for me.

Really feels cramped when playing g7, f and anything else on that uses the first fret. Never noticed any problem at all on my flea and fluke.

bazmaz · Mar 24, 2014

Thanks Sean

bnolsen · Mar 24, 2014

seanmorr said:
Really feels cramped when playing g7, f and anything else on that uses the first fret. Never noticed any problem at all on my flea and fluke.

Hmm. with the size of my hands I pretty much constantly bump tuners no matter what I play so I don't even notice...well except for this morning when I bumped the 'A' tuner and discovered that it slipped all the way to perfect 'G'. That was wierd.

itsme · Mar 24, 2014

Baz, I think if anything, you were too kind in your review.

Worse still one of the tuner buttons had sheared internally and turning it would not turn the post. That is terrible quality control.

Dealbreaker right off the bat. That's not just terrible QC, it was dead on arrival and could not even be tuned until you made a major repair by swapping out the tuners. I don't expect an inexpensive uke to be perfect, but I certainly don't expect for it to arrive broken and completely unplayable.

And in coming to a conclusion on it, I have to return to the issue of who is buying it. Sure, if you know what you are doing, and prepared to deal with the pitfalls, it is a bit of a bargain (even though that £35 will become about £60 when you have bought new tuners and strings!). But for beginners and children, I cannot recommend this as I am not convinced you will get one without issues.

I am not a child, nor a beginner. However, I don't possess the wherewithal to effect the necessary repairs to make this uke even playable. I don't see how this uke could be recommended to anyone who's not a tinkerer.

Tootler · Mar 29, 2014

itsme said:
Baz, I think if anything, you were too kind in your review.

Worse still one of the tuner buttons had sheared internally and turning it would not turn the post. That is terrible quality control.

Click to expand...

Dealbreaker right off the bat. That's not just terrible QC, it was dead on arrival and could not even be tuned until you made a major repair by swapping out the tuners. I don't expect an inexpensive uke to be perfect, but I certainly don't expect for it to arrive broken and completely unplayable.

In UK law goods have to be "fit for purpose". If they are not you can take it back for replacement or refund. Baz's was clearly not fit for purpose so, had it not been for review, should have gone straight back to the seller.

bazmaz · Mar 29, 2014

You are right Tootler. With hindsight, I perhaps made too much of a deal of the broken tuner as you would indeed send it back, but I mentioned it as above anything else it shows the perils of buying online, particularly from Amazon.

However, the broken tuner should not overshadow the basic fact that the tuners on the Schoenhut are dreadfully cheap and nasty. I have seen people suggest they are 'the same' as the stock tuners on a Flea. They really are NOT!

bnolsen · Mar 29, 2014

bazmaz said:
You are right Tootler. With hindsight, I perhaps made too much of a deal of the broken tuner as you would indeed send it back, but I mentioned it as above anything else it shows the perils of buying online, particularly from Amazon.

However, the broken tuner should not overshadow the basic fact that the tuners on the Schoenhut are dreadfully cheap and nasty. I have seen people suggest they are 'the same' as the stock tuners on a Flea. They really are NOT!

The tuners look like a copy of the plastic headed grover 2bs. The flukes and fleas I've seen have a plastic button with something that looks like a metal finishing washer to provide the friction. Unfortunately those metal washers bite into the headstock wood. The new fleas/flukes still have this setup?

If anything these schoenhut tuners are a bit gritty. Since the "skips" are so small I don't mind. If the tuner is too smooth (like my martin oxk or the grover 4bs I put on my fluke) I have a much harder time telling If the tuner even moved a tiny bit. Hey at least the tuners weren't cardboard based!

bazmaz · Apr 4, 2014

Flukes still do use the grover 2b's with the metal collar. Why is it a problem that the metal washer bites the wood - keeps it secure. Certainly the tuners on a Flea and Fluke are FAR better than the Schoenhut.

The reason my tuner was broken (on closer inspection having taken them off) is that the plastic of the peg - that should sit squarely on the metal shaft, is cheap and quite soft. That leads me to a couple of conclusions - one that tightening them is likely to cause a crack or split, and two, that in time, the others will shear on the shaft in the same way.

Schoenhut Oak Mahogany Uke - REVIEW

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