bbkobabe
Well-known member
I really wasn't going to buy another uke... Until I saw this Bruce Wei on eBay and couldn't resist the amazing inlay work. It just dazzled my senses... I'm sure I'm not the first to have this experience when seeing a Bruce Wei for the first time!
This company seems to make such a wide range of styles it's hard to keep up. I think this tenor might be a prototype or experiment as I have not seen another one like it anywhere. This beauty is a shallow body "travel" style uke with a round back that looks like acacia. The top looks like mahogany(?), with twin inlays that strongly resembles the Ovation design... two "wing" like mixed wood and abalone inlays on either side of the neck on the upper bouts with multiple holes drilled through them. Then, the 1.5" tall walnut sides feature 3 small square holes cut into them that point directly towards me as I play. (The square holes appear to have been cut by hand and look strangely improvised. I'm fighting a strong desire to grab a small file and perfect their shapes.) The bridge and saddle arrangement is also unusual, with two parallel holes for each string for a unique string tie entirely underneath the saddle. The bound walnut neck has a beautiful floral inlay, a unique joint with the body, and the whole thing has a lovely flat finish. The head stock is blank, and sports Der Jung tuners. Their are no identifying features inside the body, either.
Curious...
Price was $340 + 65 for shipping. It arrived fairly quickly from Vietnam, and was well packaged, including a flimsy plastic gig bag case.
Inside the box was a sealed bag, and also in the bag was a card admonishing me to use a humidifier at all times... Hmmmm...
So, I pull it out of the box and start playing... Amazing! Of course the tone is as thin as the body, but I've owned a KALA travel uke (KA SSTU-T) for a couple of years now so I'm used to that. But this thing had such a sparkly and bright tone, it more resembles a mandolin. And those three 1/2" square holes on the side make it sounds really loud to me without being really loud in the room, which my family appreciates. The intonation is truly outstanding. Once I got it in tune and broke the strings in a bit, each string really seem to be in wonderful agreement with each other. That is also true for the volume from string to string. The set up has clearly been labored over. My affection for it began to grow immediately...
Then I started really digging in, and playing as quickly as I can. From triple strums to furious finger picking, it plays like a dream. I could instantly play faster than ever before. The playing effort is really low and I kept finding that I could sneak in an extra note into a run and indulge in last minute additions just by thinking about them. Wow! I would end a run, and then grab my Pono tenor and try to duplicate it. I simply could not play as fast and as cleanly on my "daily driver" AT-CR. After a couple of hours of this fun, I set it down on the couch and went to bed. Ecstasy!
By the time I got up in the morning, the Agony part began... Overnight, two fat parallel cracks had opened up below the bridge. ARGHHHHHHHH!!!
I immediately soaked my humidifier and put both into the tightest closing case I have... and didn't touch it for two weeks.
Finally, I dared to crack the case a take a look...
Well, the cracks had shrunk considerably and were no longer super obvious. Thank goodness they had not extended up under the saddle, which stopped their upward progress, or all the way down to the lower edge of the face. <sigh of relief>
I played it tentatively, soaked my humidifier again, and then put it into the case for another two weeks.
It's been about three months now, and the cracks have stabilized. I have been leaving it out of the case a bit - since it's not as hot and more humid now - here in Northern California. I've been rubbing the face up daily with me oil, which is slowly sealing up the cracks. I think I dodged the bullet this time...
I'm happy now, but this stupid uke almost gave me a heart attack. I love the damn thing, but I'm not sure I would buy another one.
Too much pressure!
This company seems to make such a wide range of styles it's hard to keep up. I think this tenor might be a prototype or experiment as I have not seen another one like it anywhere. This beauty is a shallow body "travel" style uke with a round back that looks like acacia. The top looks like mahogany(?), with twin inlays that strongly resembles the Ovation design... two "wing" like mixed wood and abalone inlays on either side of the neck on the upper bouts with multiple holes drilled through them. Then, the 1.5" tall walnut sides feature 3 small square holes cut into them that point directly towards me as I play. (The square holes appear to have been cut by hand and look strangely improvised. I'm fighting a strong desire to grab a small file and perfect their shapes.) The bridge and saddle arrangement is also unusual, with two parallel holes for each string for a unique string tie entirely underneath the saddle. The bound walnut neck has a beautiful floral inlay, a unique joint with the body, and the whole thing has a lovely flat finish. The head stock is blank, and sports Der Jung tuners. Their are no identifying features inside the body, either.
Curious...
Price was $340 + 65 for shipping. It arrived fairly quickly from Vietnam, and was well packaged, including a flimsy plastic gig bag case.
Inside the box was a sealed bag, and also in the bag was a card admonishing me to use a humidifier at all times... Hmmmm...
So, I pull it out of the box and start playing... Amazing! Of course the tone is as thin as the body, but I've owned a KALA travel uke (KA SSTU-T) for a couple of years now so I'm used to that. But this thing had such a sparkly and bright tone, it more resembles a mandolin. And those three 1/2" square holes on the side make it sounds really loud to me without being really loud in the room, which my family appreciates. The intonation is truly outstanding. Once I got it in tune and broke the strings in a bit, each string really seem to be in wonderful agreement with each other. That is also true for the volume from string to string. The set up has clearly been labored over. My affection for it began to grow immediately...
Then I started really digging in, and playing as quickly as I can. From triple strums to furious finger picking, it plays like a dream. I could instantly play faster than ever before. The playing effort is really low and I kept finding that I could sneak in an extra note into a run and indulge in last minute additions just by thinking about them. Wow! I would end a run, and then grab my Pono tenor and try to duplicate it. I simply could not play as fast and as cleanly on my "daily driver" AT-CR. After a couple of hours of this fun, I set it down on the couch and went to bed. Ecstasy!
By the time I got up in the morning, the Agony part began... Overnight, two fat parallel cracks had opened up below the bridge. ARGHHHHHHHH!!!
I immediately soaked my humidifier and put both into the tightest closing case I have... and didn't touch it for two weeks.
Finally, I dared to crack the case a take a look...
Well, the cracks had shrunk considerably and were no longer super obvious. Thank goodness they had not extended up under the saddle, which stopped their upward progress, or all the way down to the lower edge of the face. <sigh of relief>
I played it tentatively, soaked my humidifier again, and then put it into the case for another two weeks.
It's been about three months now, and the cracks have stabilized. I have been leaving it out of the case a bit - since it's not as hot and more humid now - here in Northern California. I've been rubbing the face up daily with me oil, which is slowly sealing up the cracks. I think I dodged the bullet this time...
I'm happy now, but this stupid uke almost gave me a heart attack. I love the damn thing, but I'm not sure I would buy another one.
Too much pressure!