mahogany concert decisions

SuperSecretJohn

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
1,092
Reaction score
41
Location
Southern California
I'm deciding on a new ukulele. Mainland Mahogany Concert set up by Mike or Ohana CK-35G set up by Michael? I've sorta narrowed it down to that.

Similarities:
all solid mahogany
concert size
14 frets to body (19 total)
genuine bone nut + saddle
rosewood fretboard + bridge
price range

Differences:
Ohana has friction tuners. Mainland has choice of tuners.
Ohana has a gloss finish. Mainland has a choice of finish.
Different bindings + rosettes.

Could someone please convince me of one over the other? If it's of any help, I'd get a matte finish with geared tuners for a Mainland. Does one have better intonation over the other across the fretboard? Intonation is a huge factor for me. Oh, and no, I'm not getting both. :p Thanks for your input.

Any other suggestions would be fine too, but I'm looking away from the Kala and Bushman solid mahoganies.

P.S. How much will changing strings change the intonation?
 
Last edited:
alot of people are diggin the mainland ukes. To me, the mainland sounds like a better choice, being that with the mainland you have alot of choices, and you can basically customize it to your liking.

i would get the mainland
 
alot of people are diggin the mainland ukes. To me, the mainland sounds like a better choice, being that with the mainland you have alot of choices, and you can basically customize it to your liking.

i would get the mainland

True, but I wanted to know how well the intonation is compared to the Ohana equivalent. We'll see. I'm somewhat siding on Mainland, but I'm still on the fence.
 
Although I have not played either, Mainland Ukes is a company in Indiana whose owner is a member here, so that is sort of neat. I am suer he must have some pretty great customer service, especially to UU members right here on our boards.

Of course, MGM is a great customer service guy as well, so no deduction there, of course!

I don't think you would go wrong either way. Geared tuners may be a nice option, though...to me that would be a deal maker.
 
I don't think intonation is really brand dependent. You can have two exact same ukes from the same company that doesn't quite intonate the same. I'd go with Mainland because he's just starting out and will probably do more to make sure his customers are happy. Also, geared tuners would be a deal maker for me as well.
 
I don't think intonation is really brand dependent. You can have two exact same ukes from the same company that doesn't quite intonate the same.

Understandable. I just didn't know whether there was more consistency over another across their ukes.

Thanks for everyone's input. :)
 
I sell em both and both have similar features, except the custom tuner option with Mainland. Mainland has a bolder pattern than Ohana. Both do great Q.C. before they arrive to the dealer of said uke. They both are set up with Aquilas.Hmmm, buy them both or flip a coin. you can't go wrong! Nice quality instruments the both of em.:smileybounce:
 
Top Bottom