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Thanks for the great review, Baz. I'm curious as to what the advantages/disadvantages of this are compared to a Risa Stick? Is it essentially the same thing, but just with a larger body which looks more uke-like?

For an entry-level bari, an option is the Flight NUB310. I'd say it's similar in quality to the Kala KA-B. Choirguy reviewed it here: .

If you're in linear C tuning (GCEA), it's true that a bari will have more sustain than a tenor—but I'd take a better-quality tenor over a mediocre bari for that tuning any day. And this is from someone who vastly prefers bari to tenor for linear GCEA. Most players in linear GCEA are using...

I agree with others above that the easiest solution (for your four points) will be to use re-entrant baritone tuning: dGBE. It's the first four strings of the guitar, but re-entrant. It's also the original tuning for the tenor uke. There will be fewer resources than for gCEA tuning, but...

Reporting back that I've found the source of the problem. I had the bari looked at by a luthier, who discovered that the bridge is in the wrong place and needs to be moved. Cost will be about $300NZD ($200USD). On the Flight, it seems I just had really bad luck with faulty strings. After...

I'd reframe this advice as: avoid the higher-priced ukes from mass production factories in China. As you go up the price range for Kala, Ohana, etc., you're largely paying for bling or for more exotic (not necessarily better-sounding) woods. Workmanship remains the same as their lower-price...

Don't be afraid of it. Acoustically, most baritones will work better in C tuning than in linear G. It actually works better than a low G tenor (since you can use an unwound *and*unfloppy low G on the bari). There's some perspective from Southcoast here...

If you play 'ukulele and are looking for a bass instrument to double on, have you considered the bandora? It's tuned like a (linear) uke, one octave lower, and with two bass courses. C-D-G-c-e-a. Originally played in the English 'broken consort' of the Renaissance (flute, treble viol, cittern...

Like others above, I'd recommend starting on a concert size, tuned gCEA. That said, the most versatile size (for tunings) is the baritone. With commercially-available strings, you can tune it gCEA (standard 'ukulele tuning), GCEA (linear tuning), DGBE (conventional baritone tuning, like the...

Thanks for your responses, everyone! (OP here.) UUers have a lot of creative ways to enjoy playing in the rain and the water. Keeping a uke in the car is also a new idea to me. Has been fascinating to read. Others are pretty adventurous with their wooden ukes and have no worries. For now I'm...

I've just heard back from the luthier now—for my Mainland bari that has the same problem. Apparently the bridge is in the wrong place and needs to be moved. The luthier says this is a surprisingly common problem (not with this brand in particular). It will cost about $300NZD to fix and will...

I had exactly this problem on my Mainland Red Cedar bari. Other than the intonation, it’s a lovely instrument. Mine is being looked at by a luthier at the moment. I hope it can be fixed easily.

Two decisions: Ohana or Kala, and Cedar or Mahogany. These ukes will all be relatively similar. I personally like Ohana as a brand, but Kala sure has a lot of fans too. Quality is about the same. I'd choose cedar if I wanted more sustain for fingerpicking, or mahogany if I wanted to focus on...

Brad! Great to see your reply. I’m a big fan of your podcast! I know you’ve travelled a lot with your Outdoor. Do you find the extra durability makes it worth having the OU over a laminate (or Flight)? Other than water, the other pros you list above should apply to laminates too? (If not...

This, too, sounds idyllic. I read your earlier post on friluftsliv and that actually got me thinking about this topic. Must be nice to live and strum by the Puget Sound!

Sunscreen’s an interesting one! I hadn’t thought of that. Wouldn’t want to get sunscreen on the top of my Flight. On the neck or fingerboard wouldn’t matter so much … (Though I guess that’s one reason to favour the plastic Flea fingerboards over the wooden upgrade!). Photo looks idyllic!

Wouldn’t the heat in the car damage the strings? For all the other activities (camping, beach) other than getting the uke wet, the Flight—or, indeed, any inexpensive laminate—would be equally hardy?

Ah, fair call! I guess I meant ‘fully plastic’ ukes (Enya Nova, Waterman, OU, etc.) as opposed to the Flight/Fluke/Flea semi-plastic ukes. I have a Flight TUSL—which I like a lot—but was curious what an Enya would add beyond the ability to play in the rain or the surf!

I ask this question in earnest. I'm quite curious about the Enya Nova. But I can't find any use case, except if one actually expected to get water on the uke. (For example, to play on a kayak, or standing in the sea, or ...?) Assuming one is not getting the instrument wet, would a Flight TUS(L)...

I think it's also sometimes a case of wanting to try a certain instrument. Those of us who live far from the specialist uke shops don't have the chance to try instruments without buying them. (Far from the main uke centres, it can also be hard to re-home them.) I make a point of deciding if I...