So, I'm going to open a can of worms here and I know it, but I want to talk about sound properties of tenor ukulele. Here is my dilemma. I've been playing acoustic and classical guitars for many-many years and dozens of high end instruments went though my hands. So I have a pretty good idea of sound properties different guitars have and what I personally like.
Not so much with ukes. I got introduced to them about a year ago with a gift of a $30 soprano painted in white. I thought it was a toy until I realized I can play it. Since then I've been playing ukulele almost every day. But going to local stores I can only try pretty basic examples. Out of may be 30 ukuleles I played only handful were over $150. Most of them sounded not that much better than the one I was gifted and only a few were tenors. So, I did an extensive research on the subject and ended up with tenor all solid wood Mainland I bought online. I have chosen Cedar/Rosewood since I am a guitar player first and it seemed like a logical choice. Indeed I like the sound of my Mainland, it sounds almost like a mini classical guitar if I can draw such a comparison.
But in my head I knew that a "real" ukulele should be made of Koa. So, after playing my Mainland for about 6 months I bought a high end Koa tenor (not going to name a maker for now, but much more expensive than Mainland). When uke arrived I could immediately see and appreciate the quality of built. It's virtually flawless. But from the sound perspective I almost didn't like it at first. It is bright, loud, with a very good separation, but lacks the bottom end and warmth my Mainland has. For some reason I expected a "whole new world of sounds", but what I got seemed like just a different part of spectrum. After playing it for a while I grew to like the sound and enjoy almost bell like properties of it. But I still have a question...
What should a "classic" tenor uke sound like? I wish I could try a bunch of Kamaka, KoAloha, Martin and other tenors by respected makers, but I can't. Listening over the internet doesn't do me too much good either. So, in your opinion, what are the properties of a "classic" tenor uke sound?
Sorry for a long post and thanks.
Not so much with ukes. I got introduced to them about a year ago with a gift of a $30 soprano painted in white. I thought it was a toy until I realized I can play it. Since then I've been playing ukulele almost every day. But going to local stores I can only try pretty basic examples. Out of may be 30 ukuleles I played only handful were over $150. Most of them sounded not that much better than the one I was gifted and only a few were tenors. So, I did an extensive research on the subject and ended up with tenor all solid wood Mainland I bought online. I have chosen Cedar/Rosewood since I am a guitar player first and it seemed like a logical choice. Indeed I like the sound of my Mainland, it sounds almost like a mini classical guitar if I can draw such a comparison.
But in my head I knew that a "real" ukulele should be made of Koa. So, after playing my Mainland for about 6 months I bought a high end Koa tenor (not going to name a maker for now, but much more expensive than Mainland). When uke arrived I could immediately see and appreciate the quality of built. It's virtually flawless. But from the sound perspective I almost didn't like it at first. It is bright, loud, with a very good separation, but lacks the bottom end and warmth my Mainland has. For some reason I expected a "whole new world of sounds", but what I got seemed like just a different part of spectrum. After playing it for a while I grew to like the sound and enjoy almost bell like properties of it. But I still have a question...
What should a "classic" tenor uke sound like? I wish I could try a bunch of Kamaka, KoAloha, Martin and other tenors by respected makers, but I can't. Listening over the internet doesn't do me too much good either. So, in your opinion, what are the properties of a "classic" tenor uke sound?
Sorry for a long post and thanks.