UkeStuff
Well-known member
I've bought two ukuleles (at least) from the marketplace, won a ukulele, and was kindly sent two ukuleles from UU members. It's a great community, and I'm very, very happy to give back through my own efforts!
Agreed. I haven't bought a new ukulele yet since I joined UU, but when I do (and I know I will), I will choose the instrument with a lot more knowledge than I had before. So I appreciate all the great info and perspectives that are offered here.
Aside from my wife’s Kala, which was the first uke in our household, I researched all the others we bought, mainly using UU for reference.
The reason I found UU in the first place was only because I was interested in buying a Mele ukulele while on vacation, and the only info I could find via Google were reviews on here.
Did you end up buying that Mele? My Mele was one of the ukes that I bought in spite of mixed reviews on UU. I was in their shop in Maui and I fell in love with the sound and feel of it, so I bought it anyway and never looked back. It is by far my favourite uke.
I did and loved it...until I bought a Kanile‘a pineapple, which is now also gone. My uke journey is teaching me that while I love the sound of koa, it isn’t my favorite. And I still have a nice little vintage koa soprano for when I want that sound.
I did and loved it...until I bought a Kanile‘a pineapple, which is now also gone. My uke journey is teaching me that while I love the sound of koa, it isn’t my favorite. And I still have a nice little vintage koa soprano for when I want that sound.
What tone wood is your favorite now? Since I love the bell like chime of finger picked resonators, I'm spared the decision of a favorite tone wood.
Interesting. I haven't had the funds to get anything better than my Mele yet. I've had the opportunity to play a few ukes, though. When I bought the Mele, I really disliked the sound of spruce tops and I leaned towards mahogany and koa, but I recently had the opportunity to play a few spruce tops and I found that I actually really like them. I think it's because my right-hand attack lacked finesse when I first looked at ukes, whereas now I have a bit more subtlety. FWIW, I think the best ukes that I have played have been a spruce top Da Silva and an all koa Pohaku. I've also had the opportunity to play Kanilea, Kamaka, and Koaloha, and I'm a little bit torn between Koaloha and Kamaka. I would take either over Kanilea.
Don’t get me wrong, my Mele was great! Just not my forever uke.
I’ve yet to play a current Kamaka or a made in Hawaii KoAloha, so I don’t think I can make a fair comparison against the Kanile‘a Platinum I had...that thing was dynamite.
- but I think that will be my last uke purchase.
...I was interested in buying a Mele ukulele while on vacation...