Why not buy a 1/2 sized guitar instead of a guitarlele?

[bellgamin]

You'll likely need to work through 3 or 4 to find a good one. Well, those were the odds I ended up with.

OUCH!! I have a Mini II on the way. I hope it beats THOSE odds.

 

[Ziret]

Thank you, I get it now. Hope I don’t succumb.

 

[Peter Frary]

The Mini II is a different model a few years removed from the Mini, and it's a new design. So maybe they fixed the QC problems. They do feel more like a classical guitar than a guitarlele.

 

[merlin666]

I like my ukes to be ukes and my guitars to be full sized and big, and I am grateful that I don't have to wade into the grey zone in between. This stuff is way too complicated for my simple brain. Kudos to you who can safely navigate the murky waters of small guitars.

 

[bellgamin]

I like my ukes to be ukes and my guitars to be full sized and big

Big guitar? Okay, here's just the one for you....

 

[bellgamin]

My Cordoba Mini II arrived. It's perfect! Nicely set-up 2.5mm at 12th, as I like it. Bee-yoo-tiful tone. Lovely to look at, delightful to hear... I am stoked. However -- even though it came equipped with Savarez high tension strings, the lows felt a little floppy when tuned E to E. Ergo, I'm going to tune it G to G after I give it a few days to acclimate to Hawaii's humidity.
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Yesterday a pal dropped by to show me his new Kremona Soloist -- a 3/4 size classical guitar that he bought HERE for his granddaughter.

My friend is a viola player with Honolulu symphony but also an accomplished classical guitar player. He played Bach's Prelude from Well-Tempered Clavier for me on the Kremona. Wow! Great volume, superb resonance, and the basses, mids, & trebles were full & well balanced. Here's a youtube sound sample.

Solid red cedar topwood, sapele veneer B&S, 48mm nut, 580mm scale. As to total length, the Kremona is ~5 1/2" bigger than a baritone ukulele.

P.S. Shame on me!!! I just ordered one as a birthday gift from me to me (I'll be 91 in a couple of weeks).

 

[Peter Frary]

I really like Kremona's instruments. I have one of their 7-string classicals and two tenor 'ukuleles. The Kremona Mari was my gateway drug to the 'ukulele world.

 

[bellgamin]

@ Peter Frary: do you know if Kremona makes a 5 string tenor ukulele?

When it comes to tenor ukuleles, I like those with 5 strings for accompanying singers & pickers. On a 5-string, the G is a course of 2 strings -high G & low G. This gives the 5-string uke richer, fuller sound than a 4-string uke..

 

[Poul Hansen]

Well my odds were 2 out of 2
Lets see when the third arrives

 

[Peter Frary]

Kremona makes the Mari and Coco 'ukuleles in standard 4-string tenor, concert and soprano sizes. The Coco is the loudest 'ukulele I have ever played. Both my Mari and Coco broke in nicely and record well. Both are lookers.

Hopefully, Cordoba has improved its quality control. I bought 4 Mini and 1 series 30 'ukulele in 2017 and early 2018. Two of the Mini's necks and fret were back bowed and made fut and buzz sounds all over the place. One was playable, but neck angle was so extreme I couldn't lower the action at the bridge enough. And one was almost perfect. I still have that one (Mini R). The Series 30 'ukulele sounded good but had a bad 7th fret.

 

[Poul Hansen]

@bellgamin You must change strings when going from A tuning to E tuning or they will be too floppy

 

[bellgamin]

The Mini II comes with Savarez High Tension strings which Cordoba includes specifically so the Mini II can be tuned to E, not A. When I tuned the high tension strings to E on the Mini, they worked fine but felt like normal Tension. I greatly prefer the loudness & feel of high tension, so I plan to tune the Mini up from E to G. The Savarez strings should easily be able to handle the extra tension of 3 more semi-tones.

 

[Poul Hansen]

It had plastic string pins but I just substituted them with white bone pins, to contrast with the dark wood.
I do wish they would have a gloss option. I wiped some alcohool over it, and it's so beautiful when wet. I might just give it some shellac some day

BUT I just realized that the sides aren't koa as declared on the gear4music website!! I'll have to talk with them.

 

[Poul Hansen]

.......

One of the salesmen at HMS told me they liked them, but stopped selling Cordoba due to constant quality control issues. However, if you can get a good one, it's a great instrument for the money. You'll likely need to work through 3 or 4 to find a good one. Well, those were the odds I ended up with.

Well till now my odds were 2 out 2 but my Koa had a strange fault:
Only top and bottom was Koa, the sides were from a standard Mini M. There is a worker somewhere with red ears!!

Negociations are underway.

 

[bellgamin]

Bummers to the nth!!! UPS lost my Kremona 3/4 size guitar. Amazon sent it from New York via UPS 2nd day air on October 2. The tracking showed the Kremona was accepted & loaded by UPS on October 3 but -- after more than 3 weeks -- that was the only tracking entry. So I asked Amazon for a refund & got my $$ back. However, Amazon has no Kremona 3/4 guitar in stock now, & do not know when or if one might become available. Result: I just today ordered a used/Mint-condition Kremona 3/4 from Musicians Friend.

I sure hope they use FedEx & not UPS.
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@Poul Hansen -- that is a bee-yoo-tiful instrument. As for Koa top & bottom with hog sides -- that makes it fairly certain that yours is the ONLY such instrument on this planet -- might turn into a collectible some day.

 

[Poul Hansen]

........

@Poul Hansen -- that is a bee-yoo-tiful instrument. As for Koa top & bottom with hog sides -- that makes it fairly certain that yours is the ONLY such instrument on this planet -- might turn into a collectible some day.

Hmmm, I renounced the uniqueness and sent it back. I then ordered one from another vendor in the UK, as gear4music couldn't guarantee a new faultless one.

The new vendor failed to include VAT in the price, as I thought he had, so to avoid a price hike of 80£ I cancelled this order.

In the meantime gear4music again had the Koa in stock, so I expect the third Koa to be delivered 4 days from now.

 

[merlin666]

Why bother with a guilele when you can buy a micro guitar for 98 Euros? Check out Mimmo's post for the new Aquila development.

 

[bellgamin]

Thanks for the heads-up, @merlin666 I found that micro guitar link HERE.

The micro guitar looks about the same size as a baritone ukulele. Its Ovation-type rounded plastic back does give it a better bass. As for the special strings mimmo used, I wish he had given that string set a name & buying location. I would like to try them. Romero also makes a string set that is special for a guitarlele. Maybe someone will do a comparison demo (I hope).

 

[necessaryrooster]

Thanks for the Outdoor Guitar's link, Bill1. It's a beauty & -- over & above its musicality -- it should make a good shillelagh, in case a bear of dingo or axe murderer enters camp at night. (Does Australia have bears?)

I wish I could hear a sound sample.

If you scroll down the page here, there are two sound samples: https://www.outdoorukulele.com/products/outdoor-guitar-carbon-nickel

Here's another sound sample with no singing:

 

[bellgamin]

Thanks MUCHLY for the link @Bill1.

@necessaryrooster -- I gotta get me an Outdoor travel git. Nice video. Plays really sweet for such a small body.