Baton Rouge V2T8 Sun series 8 string tenor - REVIEW

bazmaz

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Thumbs up for "GOT A UKULELE REVIEWS DATABASE!"
 
Not entirely sure to be honest. I know that doesn't sound helpful, but hear me out. When I first reviewed one of theirs in 2014 I had similar comments, but then I was totally sure I remember them being available in the US. Whether it was as short term thing or not I don't know. Might be worth looking as they are really good for the price.

But of course - I am not from the US, and neither is a large part of my readership!
 
Now ordered and awaiting delivery! Thanks for a great review - :music:
 
Hello,

I just received my V2-T8 purchased from Red Cow music in UK (great transaction, carefully packed) and I'm more than pleased with it. This is a serious instrument, well finished, the set-up is perfect and it sounds far above its price point. Early lute music and baroque guitar repertoire sound more accurately than on any regular tenor, and the chiming sound ouf the octaves is sometimes reminiscent of the portuguese guitarra, or the viola caipira... It would be a pity to play it only to get more power in strumming, because, when played fingestryle, you can get a incredible range of nuances, from lush and mellow to bright and flamenco-like...
A must-buy for every uke-player with an open mind.
Regards,
Gilles
 
Great to hear - I think they are staggeringly good for the money - in fact all Baton Rouge instruments seem to be.
 
Hello Bazmaz,

I forgot to thank you for giving me the inspiration ! Your in-depth reviews are always very useful, but this one was really convincing!
Cheers,

Gilles
 
Glad you like it Gilles!
 
Hello,

Just to let you know I changed the strings (I was somehow disappointed with the stock ones) for a set of Alliance KF. These strings, specially geared towards period instruments, come in a vast array of calibers, so you have to use a string calculator, enter the scale lenght and the pitch you desire, to come up with the proper diameter. But once it's done, and once the strings installed and settled, just wow ! Incredible dynamic range, with a singing quality, and an overall sound that emulates quite well the sound of a baroque guitar. The laminate top, which may sound "lazy" with average nylgut now responds very well, even with hard strumming.
Strongly recommended !
Regards,
Gilles
 
Nice!
Interesting - will check them out
 
Following these reviews, for which many thanks, I've given in to UAS and bought one.
For the price it's fantastic.
After 24 hours I have decided to lower the pitch a tone, and replace the rather intrusive high 3rd (which was even higher than the 1st) with a unison string, and now it's good for melodic passages.
So far I've found it best for simple, rustic pieces (jigs and dance), but I will give it a full work-out with more challenging (for me) pieces.
 
Nice to hear that Low-G!
 
Just picked one of these up and am so impressed. Makes a lovely noise even with me playing it, was set up nicely out of the box and looks great too. Think I might agree with the high C but going to play it more before deciding.

Thanks for the review too as that really helped convince me I didn't need to spend more.
 
This review is dated 29 January 2017, so I assume it's the review that "forced" me to buy one of these. It has a great sound, and for $133 delivered from Germany, it was a bargain. Two other people in my group bought one after playing mine.
 
Great review, as always. Very informative and reasonably objective. After reading a lot of these reviews over the months, I have only a couple of minor, nit-picky grumps:

1- On bazmaz's videos, he seems to think that banging his thumb loudly on the soundboard somehow adds to the review. It does NOT!. Instead, it sets my ears to ringing since that sound is quite a bit louder than his narrative. I have a lot of ukes and ALL of them sounded 99.99% the same when I thumped them, depending solely on how vigorously they were thumped. The thump tells little or nothing about soundboard quality or thickness. It is theatrics, nothing more.

2- By the way -- has bazmaz ever rated any ukulele below 7 or 6 or 5 (excluding "Value for money")? All the ratings I have seen nestle tightly in the 7+ to 9++ range so that the scale seems, not 1-10 with 1 being the worst, but 7-9++ with 6 being the kiss of death and 10 being an unattainable phantom.
 
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2- By the way -- has bazmaz ever rated any ukulele below 7 or 6 or 5 (excluding "Value for money")? All the ratings I have seen nestle tightly in the 7+ to 9++ range so that the scale seems, not 1-10 with 1 being the worst, but 7-9++ with 6 being the kiss of death and 10 being an unattainable phantom.

He has rated quite a few between 2 and 6. The ratings seem to rise along with the price. I'd like to see him let us arrange the ukes by name, price, or rating. As an alternative, he could have a listing starting with the highest rating and going down to the lowest.

https://www.gotaukulele.com/p/ukulele-reviews.html
 
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