OldePhart
Well-known member
Okay, I promised a full review once I'd had the uke in my hands for a while and if I don't get to it now I might forget and not do it at all.
There is an 8-minute video to go along with this...I'd intended to make it shorter and mostly playing but I seem to have diarrhea of the mouth tonight...
For those who want the bottom line I'll start with that. (Would that make it the top line?)
This is a laminated uke...but it's a very good laminated uke, possibly the best I've played and, yes, I include even my Kiwaya longneck soprano laminated uke when saying that. That said, it's not all roses, and those who know me know that I don't pull punches on reviews. Still...I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this even to a beginner (one interested in a five string and with a couple of other caveats mentioned in the review).
In the video I mention briefly why I wanted a five string so I won't go into that other than to say a five string seems to be everything I hoped it would.
Setup and build: The build is as good as any I've seen on a laminated factory uke. Very tight inside, solid joins, no glue slop, etc. Setup was very good - good enough that I haven't yet bothered to take a file to the nut even though I may be the world's pickiest ukulele player when it comes to intonation. I ordered it from Amazon.com on a whim, fully expecting to need to spend some time setting it up. If this is typical of the model I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to beginners interested in 5-strings. Yes, the low-G string goes a fraction sharp at the first fret and I will fix that at the first string change but so far I've been playing the dog out of this thing for somewhere between two and three weeks without feeling like I need to fix it right away. Intonation up the neck is a bit above average - not perfect but better than I've seen on some "better" ukes.
Playability: Playability and setup often go hand in hand but, because the setup is good as far as intonation is concerned, I'm breaking this out separately. The playability is quite good, especially for a laminated uke, but it could be better. The good news is that I've picked pretty hard on each string all the way up the neck without a hint of tendency to buzz, so when I get around to setting it up I think I'll be able to get the action at the nut very low, improving playability even past the point where first-position intonation is acceptable. So, what I'm saying is that the playability is acceptable but can probably be made superb with careful application of the nut files.
"Voice" (Tone, Volume, and Sustain): Very good for a laminated uke. It can't hold a candle to a really good solid wood uke but would probably give some low-end solid wood ukes a run for their money. In short, I wouldn't hesitate to play it anywhere and if I hadn't had a lot of exposure to very good ukes I might think this was all I'd ever need.
Electronics: Good. Not superb, but certainly usable and the bass control does an adequate job of cleaning up the "thudiness" from the UST without totally eviscerating the tone. The tuner is not very precise, having only three LEDs, but is better than nothing in a pinch. I will probably use a Snark or Planet Waves Micro NS tuner, though. The electronics are pretty heavy (I'm used to MiSi pickups which are quite light). The adhesive anchor the wires are tied to inside the uke had pulled free - this is not a surprise as the adhesive on these doesn't adhere well to wood. I haven't bothered to glue it back in place as the harness appears to be short enough to keep the wires from vibrating against anything or clunking around.
Finish: This is probably the weakest point of the uke and it's not that there are horrible defects. There are some tool marks on the binding in the lower waist and on the back of the neck heel, but they are easily overlooked and don't bother me on a production instrument. The bigger issue for me is that whatever they sprayed on this thing is just very odd. This may be the only instrument I've owned that looks better in a video than it does in person.
Most of my ukes are matte finished and I love a good matte finish...and I'm not really that visual a person, anyway. This is honestly the first instrument that I've ever looked at and liked but really hated the finish - so much so that I may well take steel wool to it! In person the wood is dyed very dark, much darker than it appears in the video, and the finish is not so much matte as it is light-absorbing. Even the abalone looks dull in person.
As I mention in the video, I'm really not a visually driven person and I've got some pretty rough looking instruments and I don't even think about the finish on them...this is probably the only finish I've ever taken an active dislike to. I think that if I was a visual person it might well put me off the uke. Fortunately, I'm not a visual person.
Value: This is going to be a hard thing to rate. The main problem is that this uke is a laminated uke selling at a price point higher than many decent solid-wood instruments. Add the rather peculiar finish and it seems that they would have been better served to have omitted the abalone purfling and rosette, and the gold tuners, and priced it about $60 to $80 lower. As it is it seems like it will be a hard sell to anyone who is not specifically looking for a cutaway and a pickup. Someone who is not going to use the pickup often and who doesn't play high up the fretboard would probably be better served with an Ohana 5-string with its solid top at about $60 to $80 less than the Willie K.
Would I replace it? Yes, but only because of my peculiar requirements. If I did not own a motorcycle and intend to make long trips on it I would probably not replace the Willie K. As long as I have a motorcycle then the Willie-K will have a place because it is an easily replaceable, rugged, decent-playing, 5-string tenor with a cutaway and pickup.
John
There is an 8-minute video to go along with this...I'd intended to make it shorter and mostly playing but I seem to have diarrhea of the mouth tonight...
For those who want the bottom line I'll start with that. (Would that make it the top line?)
This is a laminated uke...but it's a very good laminated uke, possibly the best I've played and, yes, I include even my Kiwaya longneck soprano laminated uke when saying that. That said, it's not all roses, and those who know me know that I don't pull punches on reviews. Still...I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this even to a beginner (one interested in a five string and with a couple of other caveats mentioned in the review).
In the video I mention briefly why I wanted a five string so I won't go into that other than to say a five string seems to be everything I hoped it would.
Setup and build: The build is as good as any I've seen on a laminated factory uke. Very tight inside, solid joins, no glue slop, etc. Setup was very good - good enough that I haven't yet bothered to take a file to the nut even though I may be the world's pickiest ukulele player when it comes to intonation. I ordered it from Amazon.com on a whim, fully expecting to need to spend some time setting it up. If this is typical of the model I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to beginners interested in 5-strings. Yes, the low-G string goes a fraction sharp at the first fret and I will fix that at the first string change but so far I've been playing the dog out of this thing for somewhere between two and three weeks without feeling like I need to fix it right away. Intonation up the neck is a bit above average - not perfect but better than I've seen on some "better" ukes.
Playability: Playability and setup often go hand in hand but, because the setup is good as far as intonation is concerned, I'm breaking this out separately. The playability is quite good, especially for a laminated uke, but it could be better. The good news is that I've picked pretty hard on each string all the way up the neck without a hint of tendency to buzz, so when I get around to setting it up I think I'll be able to get the action at the nut very low, improving playability even past the point where first-position intonation is acceptable. So, what I'm saying is that the playability is acceptable but can probably be made superb with careful application of the nut files.
"Voice" (Tone, Volume, and Sustain): Very good for a laminated uke. It can't hold a candle to a really good solid wood uke but would probably give some low-end solid wood ukes a run for their money. In short, I wouldn't hesitate to play it anywhere and if I hadn't had a lot of exposure to very good ukes I might think this was all I'd ever need.
Electronics: Good. Not superb, but certainly usable and the bass control does an adequate job of cleaning up the "thudiness" from the UST without totally eviscerating the tone. The tuner is not very precise, having only three LEDs, but is better than nothing in a pinch. I will probably use a Snark or Planet Waves Micro NS tuner, though. The electronics are pretty heavy (I'm used to MiSi pickups which are quite light). The adhesive anchor the wires are tied to inside the uke had pulled free - this is not a surprise as the adhesive on these doesn't adhere well to wood. I haven't bothered to glue it back in place as the harness appears to be short enough to keep the wires from vibrating against anything or clunking around.
Finish: This is probably the weakest point of the uke and it's not that there are horrible defects. There are some tool marks on the binding in the lower waist and on the back of the neck heel, but they are easily overlooked and don't bother me on a production instrument. The bigger issue for me is that whatever they sprayed on this thing is just very odd. This may be the only instrument I've owned that looks better in a video than it does in person.
Most of my ukes are matte finished and I love a good matte finish...and I'm not really that visual a person, anyway. This is honestly the first instrument that I've ever looked at and liked but really hated the finish - so much so that I may well take steel wool to it! In person the wood is dyed very dark, much darker than it appears in the video, and the finish is not so much matte as it is light-absorbing. Even the abalone looks dull in person.
As I mention in the video, I'm really not a visually driven person and I've got some pretty rough looking instruments and I don't even think about the finish on them...this is probably the only finish I've ever taken an active dislike to. I think that if I was a visual person it might well put me off the uke. Fortunately, I'm not a visual person.
Value: This is going to be a hard thing to rate. The main problem is that this uke is a laminated uke selling at a price point higher than many decent solid-wood instruments. Add the rather peculiar finish and it seems that they would have been better served to have omitted the abalone purfling and rosette, and the gold tuners, and priced it about $60 to $80 lower. As it is it seems like it will be a hard sell to anyone who is not specifically looking for a cutaway and a pickup. Someone who is not going to use the pickup often and who doesn't play high up the fretboard would probably be better served with an Ohana 5-string with its solid top at about $60 to $80 less than the Willie K.
Would I replace it? Yes, but only because of my peculiar requirements. If I did not own a motorcycle and intend to make long trips on it I would probably not replace the Willie K. As long as I have a motorcycle then the Willie-K will have a place because it is an easily replaceable, rugged, decent-playing, 5-string tenor with a cutaway and pickup.
John
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