NUD: Fred Shields' PINEAPPLE - All CHERRY

Dave and his FS uke along the lake front. 100km a day ! That’s pretty impressive!
Hat off to you young David and your bum LOL
 
DownUpDave said:
Because I wanted to be just like Brenda I ordered Fred Shields pineapple. Mine is all walnut, it is a super soprano so it has a 15" scale length concert neck, with radius fretboard. I have had it 4 or 5 months and I enjoy it strung low G, the pineapple body is large for a soprano and resonant. I like walnut but Brendas cherry is an exceptionally beautiful piece of wood. I secretly have cherry envy. I took mine on a 7 day cycling trip which I am just finishing. It held up very well. Some pictures below, it is in a quality gigbag then inside the blue canoe sealbag strapped to the top of the rear rack. I enjoyed playing it every morning and evening between long cycling days

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That sounds like brilliant fun as well as being extremely arduous! I assume you must have trained for the week long tour. Did you think about having one of these plastic outdoor Ukuleles that seem to be the vogue.......! I can't imagine them sounding as good as your Fred Sheilds........but horses for courses!
Mike
 
Does Mr. Shields have a website or a way of contacting him?I saw a FB page but the posts look quite old on there. Cheers.
 
MikeHollandGuitar said:
That sounds like brilliant fun as well as being extremely arduous! I assume you must have trained for the week long tour. Did you think about having one of these plastic outdoor Ukuleles that seem to be the vogue.......! I can't imagine them sounding as good as your Fred Sheilds........but horses for courses!
Mike
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Hi Mike, yes I rode at least 4 times a week all this summer. You bring up a good point about synthetic material outdoor ukes. I own a few Enya XI ukes which are HPL , basically counter top material, they dont sound too bad. But they dont sound good enough to be stuck with for 7 days. When I travel or go car camping I bring one of my good tenors and never had an issue.

You are a long time guitarist so you can appreciate the days of nothing but wood instruments. My brother in law hitch hiked around the USA for over 5 years in the 70s with a Martin D28. Wood instruments have been traveling outdoors for centuries. Life is too short to play a crappy sounding instrument for a full week
 
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DownUpDave said:
Hi Mike, yes I rode at least 4 times a week all this summer. You bring up a good point about synthetic material outdoor ukes. I own a few Enya XI ukes which are HPL , basically counter top material, they dont sound too bad. But they dont sound good enough to be stuck with for 7 days. When I travel or go car camping I bring one of my good tenors and never had an issue.

You are along time guitarist so you can appreciate the days of nothing but wood instruments. My brother in law hitch hiked around the USA for over 5 years in the 70s with a Martin D28. Wood instruments have been traveling outdoors for centries. Life is too short to play a crappy sounding instrument for a full week
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Hi Dave, You are so right. The worst guitars ever in my opinion was Ovations.........................I just hated them, yet everybody played them in the 70s. They were just a moulded plastic back. Terrible acoustic sound!
 
MikeHollandGuitar said:
Hi Dave, You are so right. The worst guitars ever in my opinion was Ovations.........................I just hated them, yet everybody played them in the 70s. They were just a moulded plastic back. Terrible acoustic sound!
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I looked up to boy owns a ovation. Ha ha.
 
Bill1 said:
Maybe in a new thread, can we get some details of the taking the ukulele on the bike ride. How it was packed, case arrangement, any special care activities. Not only for me and my adventures, but also for those who have some fears about taking "nice" uke out of the house.
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That’s a great idea !
 
Thank you Brenda for telling us about Fred.
I just got off the phone with him. (Told him I learned of him from you.)
I ordered a concert sized backpack ukulele. It'll be alder and mahogany. 3-4 weeks, yippee!!
 
TobyDog said:
Thank you Brenda for telling us about Fred.
I just got off the phone with him. (Told him I learned of him from you.)
I ordered a concert sized backpack ukulele. It'll be alder and mahogany. 3-4 weeks, yippee!!
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Fred make awesome backpack uke. His craftsmanship is impeccable! I look forward to reading your NUD
 
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Fred suggested they alder and mahogany. I've never heard of an uke made with alder, but I said whatever he wants, he knows more than me. Is alder ok? Or should I call back and ask for a different wood?

thanks for any help.
 
He often use alder on side and back especially for backpack uke
I would ask for all mahagony though
 
TobyDog said:
Fred suggested they alder and mahogany. I've never heard of an uke made with alder, but I said whatever he wants, he knows more than me. Is alder ok? Or should I call back and ask for a different wood?

thanks for any help.
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Alder is a local wood native to California. It is a hardwood and used in cabinetry. But as Brenda says..and I hate to agree with her :biglaugh:....all mahogany is a safe bet and always a good choice
 
Thanks Dave. Two votes for mahogany - I'll call him today and upgrade;). I love the look of the backpack, really looking forward to playing it.
 
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