Cali Walnut Baritone from Mike Pereira

Doc_J

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Was looking to find a Cali Walnut Baritone by Mike Pereira since September. Mim was able able to get me one, a very nice sounding one. Had an older MP baritone a while back, and wanted to see what a new MP would sound like in comparison. The Cali ukes by Mike are built in small batches, similar to a production setting. Therefore, Mike can keep the pricing down to under $1000. These Cali models are low on bling, but big on sound. All Black Walnut body, Honduran Mahogany neck, East Indian Rosewood fingerboard & bridge. Black Walnut headstock overlay, Cali decal on back of the headstock. MOP face dots. Bone nut & saddle. Basic Grover 14:1 open geared tuners and a simple satin poly finish. The fit and finish are great, very comfortable to play. The neck is smooth and just the right flattish D shape and thickness (not too thick). Great intonation, smooth fretwork, all as you would expect from Mike.

Living Water strings are standard. While I like them, the D string can be thuddy. So, I took some advice and swapped it out for a .033 smooth wound Oasis tenor G string (it worked!). Sounds better, clear, warm and smooth, lots of volume. I'm impressed with sound. Here's a sample.
https://app.box.com/s/5l23w1b2264wa0vhwbq6b96yg8dakjux

For just under $1000, this baritone is hard to beat for quality construction, comfort and sound. Custom sound and quality at a production price.

A few pics.
P1090092 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr
P1090090 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr
P1090083 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr
P1090079 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/150516092@N02/, on Flickr
 
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A beauty - in both sound and looks. Congratulations, Hodge!
Jan D
 
Ditto. What a nice instrument. I'm not familiar with this maker, so thanks for posting this.
 
Ditto again, very nice looking baritone and the notes thick and clear almost piano like.

Tim
 
Fantastic instrument Doc. I love the look of that walnut, beautiful grain and colour variations. It sounds as wonderful as it looks, and it's a real bargin considering it is custom built. Congratulatiins and thanks for the great review as always
 
It really looks like a great instrument! I am very interested in these and I'm considering buying another baritone soon.

I've seen Cali instruments before in stores and I've enjoyed playing them if I recall. My reason for not considering buying one so far though is very, very petty and silly. The name "Cali" is a big turn-off for me. In my experience... people from California do not call our state Cali. Out of staters do, it's a shibboleth. It's faux-surfer speak. So it's kind of weird to me that a California builder would use the name... but to each their own. Others may not mind at all, but I know I am not alone.

So, yeah, it's silly. Otherwise, I would absolutely love to have a locally built black walnut instrument. These days my interest is now 100% in keeping an eye out for instruments made by local Northern California builders (which for me, is Kala Elite, Tyde, and individuals like Mike).
 
I scored this model over the 2023 holiday and snagged it at a very nice price. Teaching myself how to play a Ukulele and so glad I stumbled onto this model.
 
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