Oddball slanted uke

Ringlights are all the rage for video blogs on YouTube, especially makeup and beauty stuff. Back in the day they were much smaller—mounted on the camera lens—and mainly used for macro photography due to the soft, shadowless, wraparound lighting. Now the ring lights are huge and you mount the camera on the ring! People seem to like the donut catchlights but I'm not a fan. I prefer a big softbox.
 
I saw one 14 years ago made by Mike DaSilva at the Hayward Ukulele Festival. If I recall the head and body were slanted to.
 
Bought one. Tenor. The videos sound like it wouldn't hold anyone back as far as tonality, volume or sustain. We'll see. I've got Farallons, which meet most of my needs, so this is just for fun, really. I'll give my best feedback after I've had time to try it out.
 
Fan fret, cool
 
I think a more playable approach would be a double nut like a baroque lute or some 10 and 11 string guitars: extended scale length for the bass but no wacky frets. This guitar has 5 nuts!



Interesting. I did notice that it looked like a 7 string guitar. The additional bass string on the guitar covers more range. It appears that the 4 separate bass strings might have been tuned to allow for occasionally playing open bass notes, at least on this piece.

John
 
I just received my Uma Pulse ST. It arrived, well-packed from Taiwan in about a week. NO issues. Since it's brand new, I'll wait until the newness subsides before issuing a final verdict. BUT so far my first impressions are VERY favorable. Spotless build, beautiful woods and finish, nut makes the strings ride a little higher than I like, Tone and intonation are all very good (possibly GREAT) very loud, sustain is good. Gig bag is only so-so (not a total cheapie, but no neck support-single chamber. BUMPS? sure. DROPS? uh-uh) So far totally worth the money. Fun to play. Fan frets take a little getting used to (not much) If you close your eyes, it's really not much different. The EKG fret markers are very cool and very visible. All the candy woods are awesome front and back. Real nice uke. More after a week or so!
 
UPDATE: Since the Pulse comes with a squeaky round wound low-G, and I was swapping that out anyway, I elected to try it with a Hi-G (which they generously provided in the case) It sounds and plays very well in Hi. For those looking at on-line pics, that headstock logo is inlaid (maple?) not a decal or paint. So far there is little doubt that this uke is worth every dime I paid. I'll report back when I've switched out the stock strings (D'Addario) with my favorites. These aren't bad but seem a little cool and stiff for my tastes. Many might think they are just fine.
 
I was surprised when I saw a uke like that, but they do exist - guitars, too. There's a legitimate reason for that tilt.
 
I've had the Uma Pulse for about a week now, and it's a great uke for the price. I'm not ready to say that the intonation advantage is significant. Nor am I ready to say that the playing ease makes much difference. On the lowest frets it might even be a little harder, but not much. Speaking strictly for THIS uke, I WILL say I'm glad I bought it and would definitely do it over. They sound good play good and look good. BETTER than good. I've owned plenty of "Medium high-end) ukes. (Kanilea K1, Opio, Pono ProClassic, Rebel, Martin) This uke stands tall in that group. I would not trade any of those for it. And at ~$450, it's worth every penny. Nicely made and the Englemann Spruce/Black Walnut wood combo is tonally distinctive. If you're tempted, give in.
 
It seems like there's an attitude against her videos here on UU, but Bernadette also showed this ukulele the other day. I'd love to play one, and I'd probably like playing one in front of others for the shock value. I am going to get the Ortega Hydra when they come on the market, for a similar reason. (Admittedly, the dual eight string and four string with a pick-up is a benefit).



Impressive
 
FYI - Guitars have been made with fan frets for several years now, if not more. I've seen several fan fret tenor ukes over the years, including the one posted here with Uncle Kimo playing it. That one was made in Japan. It sold pretty quickly. Eastman has been making fan fret acoustic guitars for a few years now.
 
I don't play my Gretsch fan fret tenor much. I have difficulty cleanly fretting notes with it. Then again, maybe I'd be better at it if I played it more. The layout just feels . . . odd.
 
The more I play this ukulele, the better I like it. I DO find it a little hard to barre at the FIRST fret (Db7). Everywhere else it's either not an issue or slightly easier. I lowered the saddle and slightly lowered the A at the nut. The fingerboard (on mine) actually has a guitar-style "relief" rather than the common dead-flat By my standards (which may or may not be "high" but are certainly well-schooled) these are excellent ukes. The tone is full and rich, clear (not the clearest but good) balanced and louder than average. My closest comparison would be a good Pono Pro Classic (minus the truss rod and radius (and COST) with a comparable finish, build and prettier bling. I would have preferred real wood bindings to the black (ABS?) but I would suspect the price point would move a LOT for that. The ABS (if that's what it is) IS less ding-prone. The solid Black Walnut is a great tonal choice for the back and sides, in combination with the Engelmann Spruce top the mix of bright and deep is difficult to quantify, but it's "different" in a good way. The tuners (Der Jung) are neither great nor junk-they work fine. The gig-bag SHOULD be better- Okay for bumps or dust- NOT okay for travel or strong impact. As far as cons: I really can't come up with too much. If your go-to uke is >$1000 this may not be your thing. But if you're looking for a mid-priced uke that punches and looks above its price, consider it. You will enjoy it.
 
Fan frets have been a "thing" in the mandolin family for a while. There are no production models that I know of, and certainly no instruments that aren't well into four figures, but luthiers sometimes enjoy getting into it, particularly on the larger and/or five-course instruments. Like besley says above, it's to give greater scale length to the lower strings, and it's no doubt more sought after on instruments with large ranges.

bratsche
I've seen fan frets on 10 string mandolins so the Low C has a longer length than the E. The 10 string models combine a mandola with a mandolin which typically have different scale lengths.
 
Does anyone have one of the Pulse Uma ukes? What's it like?
 
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