Saw one selling for 135 shipped and in good condition..
Have not heard much about this..
Have not heard much about this..
Opinions? Boulder Creek Rip Tide US-11NS, waiting for it to arrive.. impulse buy
- Thread starter kerneltime
- Start date
photoshooter
Well-known member
I've never handled one in person but I always thought they had a nice style to them.
Sarah seems to like them...
Sarah seems to like them...
As I've seen other members say, it doesn't exist without a photo, so here it is.
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars
• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars
• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
I played a couple of RipTides when I first started, and really liked them, but the store that had them couldn't get the model I wanted, then couldn't get me an HSC for one of the ones that they had, so I passed.
I even stopped at a store near their home in Gilroy CA, but they didn't have what I wanted, couldn't get it as it had been discontinued, and the new models wouldn't be in for quite a while. As I live in upstate NY, that didn't work for me.
A musical duo called The Don Juans, who perform often with Tom Paxton, use RipTide ukes. They sound wonderful, and the guys are very successful (Grammy-winning Nashville songwriters Don Henry and Jon Vezner,who is married to Kathy Mattea) and could have any ukuleles that they wanted. And they do - RipTides.
So if it sounds good when you get it, then for $135, you got a great deal. Mazel Tov!
I even stopped at a store near their home in Gilroy CA, but they didn't have what I wanted, couldn't get it as it had been discontinued, and the new models wouldn't be in for quite a while. As I live in upstate NY, that didn't work for me.
A musical duo called The Don Juans, who perform often with Tom Paxton, use RipTide ukes. They sound wonderful, and the guys are very successful (Grammy-winning Nashville songwriters Don Henry and Jon Vezner,who is married to Kathy Mattea) and could have any ukuleles that they wanted. And they do - RipTides.
So if it sounds good when you get it, then for $135, you got a great deal. Mazel Tov!
-Kurt
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Nickie
Well-known member
My spouse plays a tenor Riptide, and she loves it. They have the nicest neck shape of any Chinese made uke I've ever held.
stevepetergal
Well-known member
Everything I've read and heard about Riptides has been very positive. The price seems fair, to me.
As I've seen other members say, it doesn't exist without a photo, so here it is.
Interesting design features:
• The side sound hole is larger than the front face sound hole
• The saddle/bridge looks to have a pretty big angle compensation (But that could be image keystone-ing from a wide angle lens.)
• The bridge design is way thicker at the 4 string than at the 1. Is this to change the way the top vibrates, or a design affectation?
It's a quirky design, but on the whole, I kinda like it.
Xtradust
Well-known member
I have a concert and I love it. I bought it for $65 used and I was so happy to get it I started talking uke with the seller and didn’t notice three big cracks. So it’s my travel Uke now, but it sounds so nice I sometimes play it at home.
The side hole provides a nice amount of volume when I play quietly inside and the solid top doesn’t seem to effect how it projects when I play with a group. Even with the cracks, it’s a wonderful Uke.
I originally loved the tuners because of the big flat knobs/buttons, but I find that the are easily knocked out of tune because of their size, so I only give them a “like” now.
Looks like the fixed the button size in the pic above.
The side hole provides a nice amount of volume when I play quietly inside and the solid top doesn’t seem to effect how it projects when I play with a group. Even with the cracks, it’s a wonderful Uke.
I originally loved the tuners because of the big flat knobs/buttons, but I find that the are easily knocked out of tune because of their size, so I only give them a “like” now.
Looks like the fixed the button size in the pic above.
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Jerryc41
Well-known member
That looks nice, especially considering the reduction from the $250 list price. Is that the one from Reverb?
Yes, got it off reverb, there was a dealer getting rid of his stock, a new uke that has been sitting around in a shop for a year or so.
It arrives Tuesday, will post updates
It is here. Needed setup badly and a string change.
I changed the saddle to a spare one that is a lot lower and had to file the nut (the nut is glued :-( any suggestions?)
After that the intonation was acceptable (still not there yet). The frets are pretty tall and thus tend to go out of tune if I press the strings hard, kind of an interesting challenge to fret gently, might be a good way to improve my fretting hand technique.
This is not a loud uke like the martins and has a bit of laminate sound.
The tone is good, pleasing and sweet and is better strummed than finger picked.
Look wise it is really nice and the tuners are decent.
The bridge is screwed in and obnoxiously huge for the uke.
I am waiting for the uke and new strings to settle down, also will try some other strings than the martin fluorocarbon.
I have a feeling Fremont black or worth browns will sound good.
I changed the saddle to a spare one that is a lot lower and had to file the nut (the nut is glued :-( any suggestions?)
After that the intonation was acceptable (still not there yet). The frets are pretty tall and thus tend to go out of tune if I press the strings hard, kind of an interesting challenge to fret gently, might be a good way to improve my fretting hand technique.
This is not a loud uke like the martins and has a bit of laminate sound.
The tone is good, pleasing and sweet and is better strummed than finger picked.
Look wise it is really nice and the tuners are decent.
The bridge is screwed in and obnoxiously huge for the uke.
I am waiting for the uke and new strings to settle down, also will try some other strings than the martin fluorocarbon.
I have a feeling Fremont black or worth browns will sound good.
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Nickie
Well-known member
(the nut is glued :-( any suggestions?)
Try the Tech questions forum here.
Congrats on your new uke, I think you'll love it!
Try the Tech questions forum here.
Congrats on your new uke, I think you'll love it!
Update:
The sound on this uke was soft and it felt trapped inside the body. The tone was good but I felt that it is not meeting its potential.. so when I looked inside I see a massive piece of what I think is a mahagony brace a bit above the bridge laid out horizontally from left to right. It is as big and massive as the back brace which is at the same spot but on the back side. There was another brace diagonal towards the neck.
Touching the top the vibrations seemed to dull out past the brace (hard to tell but that is what I felt).
So, I went ahead and got a chisel from home depot and reduced that brace down to maybe 10-20% of what it was. I also widened the side hole by removing the cheap plastic ring.
The uke now sounds a lot better!
I will try to get a sound sample but alas I do not have one from before.
I plan on making 2 more changes
1. Change the bridge to a through bridge by cutting open the top cover over the place where the string knots are hidden and drilling holes. I think the bridge is poorly constructed and I do not want it coming off. This will also reduce the weight, probaly making the uke brighter.
2. Glue mahagony/sapele strips to the side to stiffen it further and give a rounded edge to the top and back. This is purely experimental and will use glued that can be reversed.
The sound on this uke was soft and it felt trapped inside the body. The tone was good but I felt that it is not meeting its potential.. so when I looked inside I see a massive piece of what I think is a mahagony brace a bit above the bridge laid out horizontally from left to right. It is as big and massive as the back brace which is at the same spot but on the back side. There was another brace diagonal towards the neck.
Touching the top the vibrations seemed to dull out past the brace (hard to tell but that is what I felt).
So, I went ahead and got a chisel from home depot and reduced that brace down to maybe 10-20% of what it was. I also widened the side hole by removing the cheap plastic ring.
The uke now sounds a lot better!
I will try to get a sound sample but alas I do not have one from before.
I plan on making 2 more changes
1. Change the bridge to a through bridge by cutting open the top cover over the place where the string knots are hidden and drilling holes. I think the bridge is poorly constructed and I do not want it coming off. This will also reduce the weight, probaly making the uke brighter.
2. Glue mahagony/sapele strips to the side to stiffen it further and give a rounded edge to the top and back. This is purely experimental and will use glued that can be reversed.
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Sound sample comparing in order
1. Brand new Ken Timms with worth brown BM
2. This martin Koa with worth brown BM
3. RipTide acacia where i reduced the bracing with worth clear fat
https://soundcloud.com/user-976857705/kentimms-vs-1927-koa-martin-s1
1. Brand new Ken Timms with worth brown BM
2. This martin Koa with worth brown BM
3. RipTide acacia where i reduced the bracing with worth clear fat
https://soundcloud.com/user-976857705/kentimms-vs-1927-koa-martin-s1
Jerryc41
Well-known member
Similar to this? Looks good - at a good price.
https://reverb.com/item/5367786-bou...cAaAn5iEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&pla=1udes-free-c
Famous people -
https://reverb.com/item/10946974-bo...acia-top-acacia-back-and-side-includes-free-c
https://reverb.com/item/5367786-bou...cAaAn5iEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&pla=1udes-free-c
Famous people -
https://reverb.com/item/10946974-bo...acia-top-acacia-back-and-side-includes-free-c
I got mine for a lot cheaper (check this thread). Also, the uke I feel is overbuilt and I manually reduced the bracing (thanks to the side sound port) and that I feel helps..
So I would not recommend some one to buy this, I believe for $200+ there are many other uses that might be better..
One showed on reverb.. maybe some one local in FL can pick it up and avoid the ridiculous shipping code..
Remember to take a chisel and remove the bracing from the side hole.. this is an over built uke in my opinion.
https://reverb.com/item/13013369-bo...cert-ukulele-koa-2017-satin-acacia-koa-family
Remember to take a chisel and remove the bracing from the side hole.. this is an over built uke in my opinion.
https://reverb.com/item/13013369-bo...cert-ukulele-koa-2017-satin-acacia-koa-family
