I’ve had my homestead cherry cutaway concert for about two weeks now and here are my thoughts.
Pete and Shelly Mai are great. Shelly posted a video of her playing the uke just before sending it out. That’s a nice personal touch.
It’s fairly quiet compared to my Eddy Finn travel uke with which I’d hoped to replace with the homestead. It is comfortable to hold, and will be getting much more playtime than the Finn, but it won’t be able stand out when played in a large group.
The string action was too low. There was a slight, but noticeable to me, fret buzz on the first 4 frets or so. I hastily ordered a string action gauge to measure it - 2.25 mm at the 12th fret. I have raised the saddle with several thin pieces of card stock to bring it closer to 3mm.
The nut and saddle are both made from corian which is typically used for countertops. It is a very hard material, rather like granite. The saddle top is v-shaped, not u-shaped like all my other ukes. I note this only because I am concerned that the relatively sharp edge may weaken the strings prematurely.
My current plan is to replace the saddle, and perhaps the nut, when it is time to change out the strings. It came with clear fluorocarbons vs my favorite Fremont Blacklines.