Bonanza Ukuleles 5 String Tenor - REVIEW

M3Ukulele · Jun 1, 2020

This also makes me wonder if a homestead can be ordered “thicker” for an up charge? Any idea? Baz, I think you said body shape on five string is different from Homestead and Oreo? I have impression Homestead and Oreo have same body shape! I think Oreo has option of cutaway. I’m not sure that Homestead is offered in cutaway. I think Bonanza is offering good value at fair price. I like local wood offerings. I don’t know much about aspen as a tone wood but have a black walnut/spruce custom Tenor I really like. A lot of people like cherry wood. It’s kinda cool it darkens with age.

Initially, I was thrown off with the volume of Oreo and Homestead. I don’t play with amps so it has to be acoustically good sounding for me.

Corian net is interesting. In my case if I got one and didn’t like it I could always get a TUSQ nut made.

Great info in this thread.

bazmaz · Jun 2, 2020

M3Ukulele said:
This also makes me wonder if a homestead can be ordered “thicker” for an up charge?

Certainly the Oreo can -and it's only a minor $10 upcharge as I believe. The homestead is different though as it is built to a no frills budget and has no inner core to widen. You'd have to ask Pete though.

Homesteads are all about no frills, no extras and for that reason they are much cheaper.

I think he has always used Corian btw. Lots of luthiers do. It's a great material for that purpose.

Jordana · Jun 3, 2020

So excited to see this review. I custom ordered the first 5 string Oreo after seeing Shelley’s video of some of their 5 strings. She told me they were considering adding it as an option for Oreos and my Oreo was born. As they were finishing mine, she mentioned that they were sending you one to test and were debating between cherry and walnut. My Oreo is a walnut so it was fun to hear the cherry.

I am in love with this uke. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the 5 strings and if it would just be something fun to travel with (when travel is a thing again), but I’ve been playing it constantly - even more than my concert mayamoe which has been my daily uke for the past 4 years. I’ve never fallen in love with a uke this quickly. For a thin body, the sustain is incredible and the sound is rich and loud.

If anyone else is considering a 5 string or a bonanza, I highly recommend it!!

Jerryc41 · Jun 3, 2020

Jordana said:
So excited to see this review. I custom ordered the first 5 string Oreo after seeing Shelley’s video of some of their 5 strings. She told me they were considering adding it as an option for Oreos and my Oreo was born. As they were finishing mine, she mentioned that they were sending you one to test and were debating between cherry and walnut. My Oreo is a walnut so it was fun to hear the cherry.

I am in love with this uke. I wasn’t sure how I would feel about the 5 strings and if it would just be something fun to travel with (when travel is a thing again), but I’ve been playing it constantly - even more than my concert mayamoe which has been my daily uke for the past 4 years. I’ve never fallen in love with a uke this quickly. For a thin body, the sustain is incredible and the sound is rich and loud.

If anyone else is considering a 5 string or a bonanza, I highly recommend it!!

FYI, Taimane seems to prefer the 5-string uke. That's what she's playing in most of her videos. I was at one of her concerts recently, and the 5th string broke. She tucked it out of the way and kept playing.

Bonanza Ukuleles 5 String Tenor - REVIEW

M3Ukulele

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bazmaz

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Jordana

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Jerryc41

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