Outdoor Tenor Uke????

Fixedgear60

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Hi Everyone,
Anyone buy the outdoor tenor uke???? Anyone have any thoughts on in??? Thinking of buying it and leaving at the office.

Thanks in advance...

Chris
 
I have one. I like it. I was wanting to try a tenor, and I liked a lot about this one, so I got one of the first batch.

I play it outside in the side yard nearly every day. It lives in the back seat of my car, so it is easy to grab and play.

It takes little effort to keep it in tune - I like the tuners which seemed kind of tiny at first glance, but tune just fine.

It is always with me when I am out and about. When I visit my grandkids, the toddlers can strum it, pat it, etc. and I am not wincing in anticipation of dings or scratches.

Heat and humidity, sweat, sticky toddler fingers, and eating while playing have little lasting affect - it is fine with a wet washcloth cleanup.

And, it sounds pretty good. It isn't my KoAloha, but it is as good as some of my other ukuleles.

So, for an office ukulele, it would be a good choice. I have a little Zither Heaven soprano in my office. I am going for discreet and easy to hide, otherwise the Outdoor Ukulele tenor would be my office ukulele.
 
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Hi Everyone,
Anyone buy the outdoor tenor uke???? Anyone have any thoughts on in??? Thinking of buying it and leaving at the office.

Thanks in advance...

Chris

I was considering getting one when they first came out, but reports of high action, taller frets and non-adjustable/non-removable saddle put me off them, but that was like 1yr ago. I'm not sure if those issues have been fixed in the later production runs, but it seems that most folks here on UU either love them or hate them with little room for middle ground.

Fellow UU brother PeteyHoudini did a nice set of reviews of his soprano & tenor Outdoor Ukes and also did a sound comparison to his Martins in both scales if memory serves. I dont have a link, but you should be able to find his YouTube channel easy enough.

I also recall they they took orders, and then for a LONG time stopped responding to queries via email and FaceBook, and that many folks here were fed up and tried to cancel when many months went by with no updates for a shipping date and no response from the company, but I do not recall how that panned out. You can find those threads here on UU too. I stopped following the saga because it was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, so I'm sorry I cannot offer more details.
 
This is built differently than the sopranos - not just the size, but the shape of the neck, the frets etc. It is easy to barre and to slide my fretting hand up and down the neck.

I was one of the buyers last year. My order was refunded without a problem. They notified me about it and I had no issues with how it was handled.

I kept up with the company on their FB postings for the past year, and when the current tenor production run was successful, I ordered.

I liked that they persevered, and I wanted to support them. I wasn't expecting a Clara Blackbird, but I wanted something that was a step up from most plastic ukuleles. I feel that I got a nice ukulele.
 
The new Outdoor Ukes are from brand new molds, so I am sure they made some refinements from the first batch.

–Lori
 
Hi Booli,

Thank you gpt getting back to me. I really enjoy Petey's videos and he clearly loves his outdoor uke. Also Pete McCarty's does a nice review of the Outdoor Ukulele Tenor Camouflage on his facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pete.mccarty.7/posts/10153165988072957

I just ordered late yesterday a brown tenor with pickup and extra strap button. They shipped it in a couple of hours.. so production must be up and running and figured out. Will share thoughts and pics when received. I am a big fan of composite instruments and do not own a wood guitar or uke anymore. Love my BB Tenor and Clara but even though they are tough there $$$ makes more me careful with them when traveling and sharing with others. This seems to fit the bill.

Thanks again!!!

Chris
 
Thanks Laura for your insights... I had the same experience last year with refunds. Hope to receive shortly as they have already shipped the uke.

Chris
 
I have one. I like it. I was wanting to try a tenor, and I liked a lot about this one, so I got one of the first batch.

I have a little Zither Heaven soprano in my office. I am going for discreet and easy to hide, otherwise the Outdoor Ukulele tenor would be my office ukulele.

Hi Laura,

Good point on the discretion.... I am fortunate that I work for a software company and there is already an office guitar in engineering where people pluck while dreaming up the next big feature... :) At least that is what we say... on breaks. Should be fun!!!!

Chris
 
Hi Chris:

I just bought the Outdoor Tenor and received it last Wed.
I wanted a practice uke I could leave in the car so I could practice while on my lunch break, take to the beach, get knocked around, etc.
I ran across Petey's video review of the Outdoor Tenor and figured the $150 price tag was worth the risk.

My impression:
It exceeded my expectations. It's solid, easy to play, and sounds surprisingly good. The action is not adjustable, but is set very nicely and the intonation up the neck is spot on. As I play Tenor normally, the size and weight are exactly in line with what I wanted for a practice uke. It's also a great conversation piece among fellow ukers. :cool:

One consideration...because the neck is hollow, and the frets are molded, when the strings hit the frets (like when you're strumming hard), they make a distinct slapping sound. I was able to minimize it by changing to thin Worth Browns. I don't normally play Worth strings...but as this is just for practice...no biggie.

My only real criticism is...After I placed my order, I wanted to do an adjustment. Their website does not provide any links for order modification or cancel. Messages I sent to their "contact us" went unanswered. Phone calls placed to their number (which I had to look up on white pages) went unanswered.

As I said above...I like the uke, and Outdoor Ukulele processed my order very quickly. If you're in the market for one...I'd recommend them. I just think they need to work on their accessibility.
 
Thank you tw62862 for thoughts on this. I received the uke yesterday and was very impressed with the quality of construction sound and playability. I am a low G player so I replaced the high g with a Aquilla low g red and boy does this uke sound good. I left on the Rye Rabbit other strings on because they sounded fine. The Low G was a bit thick and had to really push to get it seated in the slot in the bridge but the tension during tuning helped seat it.

Has anyone used Rye Rabbit strings before???? Just curious... I also ordered it like Pete McCarty's order... extra button and pickup and all just work surprisingly fine.

Really have no complains other than I like it so much do not want to bring to the office ...and just want it with me all the time.. :).

This has me thinking to get the soprano version as well for the office.... given it's size it is not one I would want to play every day and just to have around to noodle on while working....(oh boy this is how it starts I guess....)

Any one know where you can get a outdoor soprano uke (natural) ??? They are not on their website anymore...

Thanks everyone!!! What fun....
 
Hi Everyone,

Thought I would share some news from Outdoor Uke on the availability of the soprano uke. Outdoor is currently re-tooling for a product run this spring of sopranos. They will be offering them in bottle brown, bottle green (very cool) and perhaps white gold.

Looking forward to it... can start to save my pennies.....

Chris
 
I was struggling between the gold and silver tenor model and ended up choosing the silver tenor model, pick up, and strap button. I had them install the Aquila Reds as I have never tried them and have been wanting to give them a try. Within 2 hours of placing my order I received email notification with the tracking # that it has been shipped USPS priority (shipping is free).
 
The Camouflage is no longer on the website. Wonder if it is just out of stock or no longer offered...
 
I am close to scoring one of these. I was hovering around buying them when the sopranos received such bad reviews, so I called it off. Now that the tenor seems to be so much a better instrument I am now going to get one. I too found the website a little weird to navigate, especially around the add ons like a pickup and strap buttons.

The real reason I wanted to get one is that the company is saying that the 'new' tenor can withstand temps of 250F (120C approx). Now, I know I will never want to play uke in temperatures that will boil water, but a uke that can stand up to temperatures of 40c plus is exactly the ticket for the climate and area in which I live. It's frequently in the mid 40C's in summer here and I really don't want to sacrifice my other ukuleles to the sun god when the Outdoor Tenor could be the answer to playing Uke in the Australian tropics.
 
I am close to scoring one of these. I was hovering around buying them when the sopranos received such bad reviews, so I called it off. Now that the tenor seems to be so much a better instrument I am now going to get one. I too found the website a little weird to navigate, especially around the add ons like a pickup and strap buttons.

The real reason I wanted to get one is that the company is saying that the 'new' tenor can withstand temps of 250F (120C approx). Now, I know I will never want to play uke in temperatures that will boil water, but a uke that can stand up to temperatures of 40c plus is exactly the ticket for the climate and area in which I live. It's frequently in the mid 40C's in summer here and I really don't want to sacrifice my other ukuleles to the sun god when the Outdoor Tenor could be the answer to playing Uke in the Australian tropics.

You should definitely get a tenor.

It is really sweet-sounding in the trebles and mids. Although it lacks in bass and volume, it is still a wonderful instrument that has excellent intonation up to and beyond the 12th fret.
 
Curious if any of you outdoor tenor owners would be so kind as to post a sound sample or two? I'm
Interested. Have a great day, everybody!
 
On you tube, Peteymack64 does some nice reviews on the brown bottle and camouflage tenors. Just type in outdoor ukulele on you tube.
 
I was one of the people who really trashed the soprano. The Tenor is considerably better. The sound is delicate. It's not that loud, on the quiet side and bass is weak. However, overall the sound is pleasant and musical. The uke is very playable. There are plenty of laminated tenors around $100-150 that are more adjustable, louder and have a more uke-like tone. However, the Outdoor uke is meant for more extreme conditions. It does the job. The reviews of the original soprano are completely irrelevant when considering the new tenor.
 
On you tube, Peteymack64 does some nice reviews on the brown bottle and camouflage tenors. Just type in outdoor ukulele on you tube.

Thank you. :)

I was one of the people who really trashed the soprano. The Tenor is considerably better. The sound is delicate. It's not that loud, on the quiet side and bass is weak. However, overall the sound is pleasant and musical. The uke is very playable. There are plenty of laminated tenors around $100-150 that are more adjustable, louder and have a more uke-like tone. However, the Outdoor uke is meant for more extreme conditions. It does the job. The reviews of the original soprano are completely irrelevant when considering the new tenor.

Noted. Thanks :)
 
How does the sound compare to a Tenor Fluke? Mine is laminate top? Curious. I like the gold color but at $200 that is getting up to price of KoAlana laminate. Now, I got my Flukeso I could take it anywhere and not worry. Outdoor tenor seems to do all that. How is sound compared to Fluke?
 
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