I might get the Mahalo for my mate. The Alvarez look amazing, but end up 5-6x more expensive with postage!
The Mahalo is a Day of the Dead ukulele, NOT a Grateful Dead one. Day of the Dead is the Mexican celebration akin to Halloween, but which honors their ancestors.
The Mahalo Company Website calls the uke "Mahaloween". Its model MA1MA. So its a halloween uke, not a Day of the Dead, even though they are close to the same date. They also have a Pirate uke, and a Dalmation in the same product range. I might call mine the Brexit uke, since I like the UK history of Halloween more than the USA version.
Its not the Alvarez Grateful Dead tribute uke, but it is interesting. The (ply)wood seems to come from plantations in Indonesia and it has Graphtech components and genuine Aquila strings. A graphtech nut costs AU$17 in Perth. Aquila Strings cost AU$20. At AU$50 delivered it has some good value. How it sounds remains to be heard.
The Alvarez is also interesting, there are five models to collect and getting them all might cost less than US$400. Not a bad price for a set of collectible ukes. Obviously they wont be vintage Martin, but it is still an interesting collectible.
The Mahalo Company Website calls the uke "Mahaloween". Its model MA1MA. So its a halloween uke, not a Day of the Dead, even though they are close to the same date. They also have a Pirate uke, and a Dalmation in the same product range. I might call mine the Brexit uke, since I like the UK history of Halloween more than the USA version.
Its not the Alvarez Grateful Dead tribute uke, but it is interesting. The (ply)wood seems to come from plantations in Indonesia and it has Graphtech components and genuine Aquila strings. A graphtech nut costs AU$17 in Perth. Aquila Strings cost AU$20. At AU$50 delivered it has some good value. How it sounds remains to be heard.
The Alvarez is also interesting, there are five models to collect and getting them all might cost less than US$400. Not a bad price for a set of collectible ukes. Obviously they wont be vintage Martin, but it is still an interesting collectible.
It 100% Day of the Dead, which everyone here in SoCal would recognize as such because of our proximity to Mexico, and because of that proximity, we have begun to use many Day of the Dead decorations for our own Halloween celebrations or year round. The Day of the Dead is the day after our Halloween, but it has a different meaning, more of reverence for the dead and spirits of ancestors, than fear of spirits. Just google Day of the Dead and you will see what the motif looks like instead of knee jerk disputing. You could also contact Mahalo and simply ask them if their Mahalloween uke is a Day of the Dead uke. It is also possible, I guess, that Mahalo Australia is ignorant of the Mexican Day of the Dead and of American Halloween and culturally appropriated the Mexican motif because they wrongly assumed it was Halloween, our American quasi holiday, which they may not understand. Most stores here carry Day of the Dead decorations.We are heavily influenced by our southern neighbors, but we also acknowledge what they are. You could also watch the quite entertaining animated film Coco to learn more about the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday.
Looking more closely.
This is the link:
mahaloukuleles.com.au/ukulele-series/art-series-soprano-ukuleles/
The eBay site selling the ukes from Melbourne has the part number MA1SKBK, which corresponds to "Skull (Black)" on the Mahalo site. The Mahaloeen model has part number MA1MA and may only be available in China. But there is no mention of "Day of the Dead" on the Mahalo site.
Interestingly, it is called Skull Ukulele or Sugar Skull ukulele on a few sites outside of Australia, but "Day of The Dead" on most Australian sites which sell it. That is a reflection of what the Australian distributor thinks will attract buyers, I doubt that it has any real connection to the Mexican festival. "Day of the Dead" sounds cool like a skull tattoo on your "guns" in the gym, any relationship to a festival may be purely coincidental.
In surfing around looking for info, I have found that the Chinese and Asian cultures celebrate their own Ghost Festivals every year. They often have skull motifs on the costumes and there are celebrations and festival activities. I suspect that the Skull(Black) ukulele is aimed at Asian parents who buy their children a musical present for their version of the annual Ghost Festival, and that apart from looks, it has no intended connection to any Mexican festival. Some sites translate the Asian name for the festival into things like "Chinese Halloween", so naming the product with the Chinese translation of Mahaloeen in China would be good marketing.
I have met Chinese people who have a superstition about the words "dead" and "death". The number 44 is though to be bad luck because it sounds like the word for Death in Chinese. So I doubt that a Chinese company would use the words "Day of the Dead" in any product description, they would see it as being very unfortunate. I think that if I gave some of my Chinese friends a "Day of the Dead" ukulele it would get burnt as soon as I left the house, and the Feng Shui man would be called in to fix the energy hole in the house. And the uke is made in China by one of the oldest ukulele production companies in China. So I think the company would call it Skull(Black) or Mahaloeen as the English language product name.
Buying a $50 possibly collectible uke can be very interesting, you do not have to spend a lot of money to enjoy collecting and owning ukuleles. That is why the five Alvarez ukes which are the subject of this thread are so interesting. For less than US$400, you get the five ukes with the artwork to explore Grateful Dead history and with the right strings and set-up, you also get a playable musical instrument.
Anyway, the Mahalo MA1BLSK model I ordered will arrive soon and I can hear how it sounds out of the box.
Looking more closely.
This is the link:
mahaloukuleles.com.au/ukulele-series/art-series-soprano-ukuleles/
The eBay site selling the ukes from Melbourne has the part number MA1SKBK, which corresponds to "Skull (Black)" on the Mahalo site. The Mahaloeen model has part number MA1MA and may only be available in China. But there is no mention of "Day of the Dead" on the Mahalo site.
Interestingly, it is called Skull Ukulele or Sugar Skull ukulele on a few sites outside of Australia, but "Day of The Dead" on most Australian sites which sell it. That is a reflection of what the Australian distributor thinks will attract buyers, I doubt that it has any real connection to the Mexican festival. "Day of the Dead" sounds cool like a skull tattoo on your "guns" in the gym, any relationship to a festival may be purely coincidental.
In surfing around looking for info, I have found that the Chinese and Asian cultures celebrate their own Ghost Festivals every year. They often have skull motifs on the costumes and there are celebrations and festival activities. I suspect that the Skull(Black) ukulele is aimed at Asian parents who buy their children a musical present for their version of the annual Ghost Festival, and that apart from looks, it has no intended connection to any Mexican festival. Some sites translate the Asian name for the festival into things like "Chinese Halloween", so naming the product with the Chinese translation of Mahaloeen in China would be good marketing.
I have met Chinese people who have a superstition about the words "dead" and "death". The number 44 is though to be bad luck because it sounds like the word for Death in Chinese. So I doubt that a Chinese company would use the words "Day of the Dead" in any product description, they would see it as being very unfortunate. I think that if I gave some of my Chinese friends a "Day of the Dead" ukulele it would get burnt as soon as I left the house, and the Feng Shui man would be called in to fix the energy hole in the house. And the uke is made in China by one of the oldest ukulele production companies in China. So I think the company would call it Skull(Black) or Mahaloeen as the English language product name.
Buying a $50 possibly collectible uke can be very interesting, you do not have to spend a lot of money to enjoy collecting and owning ukuleles. That is why the five Alvarez ukes which are the subject of this thread are so interesting. For less than US$400, you get the five ukes with the artwork to explore Grateful Dead history and with the right strings and set-up, you also get a playable musical instrument.
Anyway, the Mahalo MA1BLSK model I ordered will arrive soon and I can hear how it sounds out of the box.
Sure the motif looks like the sugar skull motif. its just a decoration on a low cost ukulele. In 2019 the Sugar Skull motif goes way beyond the original items made out of real sugar in the most southern parts of North America. In the other continents of the planet like Asia, Europe and Australia it is has taken on a different cultural flavour.
People relax and please take your issues via PM. This is about the Dead Ukuleles.
People take forums way too seriously!!!