Farida?

This gives some idea of the sound

 
The Ukulele Kings were playing at Elderly recently, and they played Farida ukes in the video that was posted.

 
The Farifas on the Elderly website looked interesting, especially the prototype ones.
 
I drove to Elderly today (70 miles) and I played ALL tenor ukuleles they had on display (a lot). Farida, Ohana, Kanilea, Kamaka, Cordoba, et... etc... Based on my personal opinion, I believe that Farida beats every other brand at the same price point. I ended up buying a superb all solid premium mahogany Farida with nitrocellulose finish that was a joy to handle and to play and tbat compared favorably with other similar ukes costing twice the price.
 
I missed this thread earlier. I played a few of the Farida sopranos at Elderly during Mighty Uke Day last year. I liked the Faridas right well. Light build, resonant, a pleasure to play. Very reminiscent of vintage mahogany ukes. I almost brought one home and it's still calling me: https://www.elderly.com/collections/category_ukuleles/products/farida-kas-3-nc-soprano-ukulele

Dang, now I'm really wanting that...

I’m glad this thread came back to life - I forgot about these. Now I too am really wanting that soprano!! Great price!
 
I generally shy away from buying house branded instruments, & from buying any instrument sold by a sole retailer. Big box stores, sole distributorships, & house brands are eating away at local music stores & my friends who work & play instruments there.

Besides ukuleles, my other favorite pass-time is photography. Here on Oahu, ALL of my favorite camera stores are gone. Kaput! My favorite music store, Easy Music, has closed all of its outlets except one, & who knows how long that one will hold out against competition from online retailers like Elderly.

At my favorite Easy Music outlet, before it closed, people would come there to play the guitars & ukuleles etc, take the time of sales people to demo instruments & answer questions, find one they liked, make a note of the make & model, then go buy it online.

Yeah, I know .... it's progress. IMO, it's retrograde progress. Eventually, I suppose, local retail stores will mostly disappear & the ones that remain will be staffed by robots. Live customers will then be free to always stay at home, playing with their ... equipment. I'm happy to be too old to stick around & watch it all happen. Farida? No -- not until Easy Music stocks it.
 
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I really like the classic looks of their sopranos. If there was a dealer close to me, I might snap one up. Don't need one though, so I'd have have it personally convince me to take it home rather than ordering one.
 
They look nice. I’d like to know about the Eastman ones, too.
 
Got a used one of these in recently, a tenor KAT-3NC. Elderly had some prototypes a while back, this is one of those. They now sell a standard version, exactly the same, except with a haircut headstock and different logo. Very nice all solid mahogany tenor. Super comfortable neck, which plays like a dream, so easily, despite the standard size 35mm nut, which is often a problem for me. String spread at the nut is 28.5mm. 12-fret to body design puts the bridge way down in the sweet spot of the lower bout. Acacia fingerboard and pin-style acacia bridge, bone nut & saddle. Comes with unbranded friction tuners, which are seldom seen on tenors these days. Not terrible once the strings settle in, but I installed black UPTs. A Schatten brand UST pickup is i
nstalled. Anyone heard of those? I haven't.

Nice loud, sweet mahogany tone. More lively and chimey than my Kala solid cedar top KA-ATP-CTG, which is deeper/richer sounding; both good, just different. Finish is open pore thin nitro gloss, not a mirror gloss, as seen on many Ohanas or Kalas. All in all, a real nice tenor uke. Like the poster above, I agree that they are step above the usual all solid or solid top Kalas and Ohanas I've had. It seems to be lightly built, as it is much louder/punchier/open than either of the Ohana TK-35s I've owned. Worth checking out if you want a mid priced solid mahogany tenor.

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Nice review John. I've seen them in the Elderly listings, but had never heard of the brand before.

They seem to have offered quite a range of builds and woods over the last couple of years. Some were in the K-brands/Martin cost range.
 
Came with a Schatten brand UST pickup installed. Anyone heard of those? I haven't.
Yes, I have. They've made pickups for years in Canada. I traded several e-mails with Les Schatten back in the day. Nice guy with good products at reasonable prices. Not sure if he's still around or what has happened with the company over the years. I just found the website and it looks like a lot has been upgraded/updated etc. I used to have one of their Dualie pickups that I used on various instruments and it was as good as any other of the type I've ever owned.
https://schatten-pickups.myshopify.com/
 
Sweet! and nice playing too
 
Nice and round with a good balance!
 
What song is that, John? I love it. Can you send it to me? Or wait, I can probably figure it out.

At first I couldn't tell the difference between the strings, but then I heard the UkeLogic ones give it more low end, while not taking away the treble. Is that what you hear, too? I'm kind of blown away, I love how it sounds--almost as much as my Kiwaya, and you know how I feel about that.

How would you compare the neck to a Kiwaya? Is it thin like that, or more like a Kala?

Nice job on the tuners, they look fantastic.

Really nice playing.
 
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Here's a few chords on the new (to me) Farida. The friction tuners were tolerable, but barely, so I installed Gotoh UPTs. What a difference, so smooth and reliable. This one has quickly become my favorite tenor, better than the Kala or Cordoba I have.

View attachment 129538



Wow, thx for picking up my post again, John!
I'm jealous you found a used one.
Really fun to hear it.

I almost bought one of those prototypes... but I couldn't find a review or a sound sample at the time.
 
By God! That's the first time I've heard Ukulele used to accompany an Operatic Soprano! And, I think that's Italian opera, not Chinese. Unfortunately, I'm not an opera buff, and can't identify the particular aria.
 
I generally shy away from buying house branded instruments, & from buying any instrument sold by a sole retailer. Big box stores, sole distributorships, & house brands are eating away at local music stores & my friends who work & play instruments there.

Besides ukuleles, my other favorite pass-time is photography. Here on Oahu, ALL of my favorite camera stores are gone. Kaput! My favorite music store, Easy Music, has closed all of its outlets except one, & who knows how long that one will hold out against competition from online retailers like Elderly.

At my favorite Easy Music outlet, before it closed, people would come there to play the guitars & ukuleles etc, take the time of sales people to demo instruments & answer questions, find one they liked, make a note of the make & model, then go buy it online.

Yeah, I know .... it's progress. IMO, it's retrograde progress. Eventually, I suppose, local retail stores will mostly disappear & the ones that remain will be staffed by robots. Live customers will then be free to always stay at home, playing with their ... equipment. I'm happy to be too old to stick around & watch it all happen. Farida? No -- not until Easy Music stocks it.
To call Elderly an "online retailer" is simply not true and not fair. Elderly Instruments is a brick and mortar store that has been in business since 1972 in Lansing Michigan ( it is literally an old brick building that is very cool and old school ). Yes, they have an online presence just as every business these days does (if a business does not they are foolish). I have personally walked in to Elderly many times and demoed dozens of musical instruments of all kinds. They have a staff of experienced musicians and luthiers on the sales floor who are happy to talk to you and give you personal service.
 
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