Cocobolo Concert Ukulele

Here's my take on the Cocobolo Concert Ukulele that I purchased. These have been reviewed before...so it's probably not much in terms of news for anyone (it's not a "hot new model"). But I was blown away by the sound of this instrument...I know they look great. I was also surprised by how comfortable it is to play. I think it is my favorite concert at this point mainly because of its attributes.

One Minute Review, then the full review.

Congrats and welcome to the Cocobolo Ukulele family!

nice review! But nevermind the uke. Where can I get one of those automatic tuner gun thingies?

Jim Hanks said:

nice review! But nevermind the uke. Where can I get one of those automatic tuner gun thingies?

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It’s the Jowoom T2. They are wonderful—especially as a teacher tuning 40 ukuleles or more at once...

Thanks for the review! I've had cocobolo archery equipment. I love the look of cocobolo, in my experience it can darken over time but it still retains the color tones, does not darken evenly, which I find nice in the contrasting colors. The sound is solid, build quality is solid per your review. I'll have to check their website and keep an eye out for a long neck soprano...if they ever make one.....and as you said.....if your picked be ready to buy....

mjh42 said:

keep an eye out for a long neck soprano...if they ever make one.....

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About 6 or so have recently come up for lottery, some with 16" scale even. I put in for one of them but didn't get it. Probably just as well since the concert I have is 16"

Jim Hanks said:

About 6 or so have recently come up for lottery, some with 16" scale even. I put in for one of them but didn't get it. Probably just as well since the concert I have is 16"

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I entered the lottery three weeks in a row, but only for the concert ukes that I wanted. (Not a fan of the star around the sound hole).

The third week, I got an email from a local player congratulating my on winning the lottery.

The email after that was from Cocobolo. I added the pickup and snakewood buttons. It shipped in a uke crazy polyfoam case, and I had a Gator concert hard case waiting when it got here.

My three favorite ukes: The Donaldson Concert Brad build for me, my Cocobolo, and the KoAloha Scepter. Of those three, my favorite is whichever one I happen to be playing at the time.

(Donaldson and KoAloha have Worth Clear strings, Cocobolo has Worth Brown.)

Nice ukes. I just utterly despise the lottery system to buy them. Other low volume builders had made it work with regular sales. Just take orders - start building and deliver. How many orders you get dictates how long the delay will be, but so long as you tell people the delay at the start, it's no biggie. I know some people who have waited well over 12 months for a custom.

bazmaz said:

I just utterly despise the lottery system...Just take orders - start building and deliver. How many orders you get dictates how long the delay will be.

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I do get your point, but then you have to manage your backlog. I've talked with builders where that got to be very burdensome. So I can see it from their perspective. Other alternatives have been debated such as auctions but those are imperfect too - good luck acquiring a uke from Chuck Moore or Ken Timms nowadays. Or you can raise the price so that you only get a few orders, which is probably the most "fair" system all around, but then again, there's basically no chance for the average player to obtain those brands (Devine, Moore, Lichty, etc.). All-in-all, the lottery system isn't without merit.

For a small volume maker Cocobolo Ukulele's has come up with a system of selling their product and the consumers seem to be buying them. There are myriad of other ways to sell products as well. I've been on waiting lists for hand made archery equipment, blacksmithed tools, and knives. Almost no one I have dealt with has been able to meet their projected delivery dates. One was always close. All these business are still in business because they make quality and custom products that people want to buy. People not happy with the delays either wait or go elsewhere. I've also stalked sellers webpages for well over a year waiting for a specific carving tool to be available. The tools are made in small volume limited run shop. When the run is done, they likely won't make that model again until next year. Supplies go out to dealers, are posted, sell until gone and wait a year for the next supply. Sure I can just pop over the Mim's or HMS and order up what they have in stock, but with CU I can sign up for their notices, if I see something I like I can get in on the lottery, if I win the lottery I can buy or not buy. I'm not going to get too worked up about an instrument with the system they have put into place. I've missed out on other instruments that I thought too long about, and I've been to a few shops to look at something I saw online and when actually handling and playing the instrument I was very glad I did not order online and have the instrument shipped. There are two ukuleles in the Marketplace right now that I would "like" to buy right now, it would not be a financial burden. But do I really need either of those uke's. Sure they would be nice, but,,,,,,,so goes the dance around the buy and sell and so on.......I'd rather spend the energy on playing the music.....

Those Cocobolos look great.
Except for those side sound ports. Side sound ports look off to me.
But I havent seen any without.

Some people think the lottery system is fun. They like to feel like they're gambling, I think.
I had the 1st Cocobolo Ukulele in the Tampa Bay area. My friends and acquaintances saw it and went nuts. Then they played it and went over the moon.
Now there are a lot of them here. Mine isn't perfect, but every time I play something else, no matter what it is, I go right back to my Cocobolo.
Each to their own!

Nickie said:

Some people think the lottery system is fun. They like to feel like they're gambling, I think.
I had the 1st Cocobolo Ukulele in the Tampa Bay area. My friends and acquaintances saw it and went nuts. Then they played it and went over the moon.
Now there are a lot of them here. Mine isn't perfect, but every time I play something else, no matter what it is, I go right back to my Cocobolo.
Each to their own!

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I think the lottery is as good a system as anyone could come up with. From the shop's point of view, they can then work at a pace that supplies and workforce will allow without the pressure of months or years worth of orders hanging over their heads. They know that there's enough of a demand that they will pretty easily sell whatever they are able to produce. From the consumer side it's all kind of exciting. You eagerly await the emails in anticipation to see if they have the size you want and if so, whether that uke "speaks" to you. There's also the beauty of seeing the actual uke you'd be vying for. I also like the idea of not having to be in the right place at the right time where the ukes are already disappearing before you become aware of them. It gives someone a better shot at getting one. Then there's the "contest" aspect. If you find one you like and go all in there's the excitement and anticipation of whether you end up winning it or not. Not winning one would certainly be a drag but then the excitement starts up again as you look for the next beauty to come down the line. Most likely anyone in the market for one of these already has one or more ukes they are happy with so the wait for one to come around would be tolerable and the Cocobolo would be appreciated that much more when you're finally able to get one. It's kind of like a reoccurring ukulele Christmas.

This review has tickled my fancy for one of these ukes again. I was looking at them before but the price and thoughts of the wood changing color took it off the table for me. This review has me intrigued again. It also helps that I have a "fun money" balance sitting in my PayPal account that would cover the cost which for me, is still very expensive. Given the slow trickle of supply and waiting to find one I'd want will give me plenty of time to think about it.

@Nickie - What do you see as "not perfect" in your Cocobolo? I'm guessing it's probably a niggle or nit-pick.

I've just been notified that I won the lottery for Concert #460 - "second". I'm getting this one without strap buttons or pickup.... so I can compare them. Just from the photos, the back brace seen through the side port is different. And I'm not getting a case - I have several spares already.

ksiegel said:

I've just been notified that I won the lottery for Concert #460 - "second". I'm getting this one without strap buttons or pickup.... so I can compare them. Just from the photos, the back brace seen through the side port is different. And I'm not getting a case - I have several spares already.

-Kurt​

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Congrats! Hope to see it in a "new uke day" post!

ksiegel said:

I've just been notified that I won the lottery for Concert #460 - "second". I'm getting this one without strap buttons or pickup.... so I can compare them. Just from the photos, the back brace seen through the side port is different. And I'm not getting a case - I have several spares already.

-Kurt​

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Lucky you! If I could get one with a 15" scale neck I'd put my name in. With my short arthritic fingers the 16" is a bit too much of a stretch. Yes, I've tried every stretch I can think of and I'm not someone who started with instruments before 60
Anyway, I love the look of these and people seem to love the sound. Have fun with it!!

mikelz777,

Mine cost a bit more than Choirguy's. We had another that was a $500 one, and I like mine a LOT Better. This one was a 'customized' uke, bought before the lottery, so it had special attention.

But, the bridge was positioned wrong, so the intonation is a bit off about #7. It can't be moved, either, cause it has through the body stringing. An aftermarket nut was made to help correct this.

Other than that, it's perfect. It cured my UAS.

I entered my name (I think) for a Cocobolo in the latest lottery. I'm subscribed to their emails and I clicked on the link which said to click here to enter the lottery. It took me to a screen which said, "Thank you for participating in the lottery". I didn't get any kind of response email stating that I was entered so I clicked it again with the same result. I'm assuming I'm entered and that they have it set up in such a way that I won't have more than one entry.

mikelz777 said:

I entered my name (I think) for a Cocobolo in the latest lottery. I'm subscribed to their emails and I clicked on the link which said to click here to enter the lottery. It took me to a screen which said, "Thank you for participating in the lottery". I didn't get any kind of response email stating that I was entered so I clicked it again with the same result. I'm assuming I'm entered and that they have it set up in such a way that I won't have more than one entry.

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Yup, that's how you do it. Any uke you are interested you enter for, and only accept one that you decide you want. If someone decides, after winning, that they don't want one, it is posted as "Available for Immediate Purchase."

For me, I'd been hearing about the Cocobolos, and none of the buzz really did it for me. Even Jerry's accolades were like, "Yeah, he's one of two people I know with more ukes than I have, so he probably likes all of them, anyway..."

Then I played Bernice Lewis's Cocobolo at a small uke fest last fall near Williamstown, MA... And her daughter had one, and one of the women in a class I was helping to teach had one, and I played that, and ... I went back and reread Jerry's comments.

I entered the lottery one week, and only put in for 2 of the concert models, and didn't win. The following week, I looked them over very carefully, and entered for a single concert, and won. I added the MiSi pickup and the Snakewood button; at the time the UkeCrazy case was included. The uke, pickup (installed), Snakewood button, and shipping all came to $739.00 - Not inexpensive, but not too bad, either, although it is in the top 50% of prices for ukes I've purchased.

The one I just got (which is supposed to arrive tomorrow) was a "2nd" for $399, pus $79 shipping, $478 total. This one in in the bottom 50% of purchase amounts I've paid. I decided that if I want a pickup and buttons, I'll go locally, to make sure my local shops get some of my money.

Oddly enough, I can only think of one uke that I'm not at least 95% happy with - and I bought it because of the price and the HSC, sight unseen. But it is so pretty, my wife won't let me sell it unless I buy a new Zebrawood uke to replace it... AFTER I play it, she said.

WTG Kurt. I Think you'll really enjoy your Cocobolo. I hope you'll share pics!