A little about the ukulele you play most often and a picture

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The ukulele I play most often is my Kamaka HF-1 soprano ukulele; it is also my favorite ukulele.

Besides being a well-made instrument with excellent intonation and excellent playability, it is its tonal quality that really draws me in.

I like its clear-sounding strings where each note is given an equal presence. My favorite is the tone's balance of just the right amount of brightness and warmth, without much tonal change up and down the fretboard, so I'm happy with the sound anywhere I play.

While many people keep a beater ukulele around, this Kamaka is my beater ukulele. It is the only ukulele I normally play, so it is really my everything ukulele.

what_i_play.JPG
 
I don't play my ukes a lot these days, but my favourites have always been 'long necks', both soprano & concert bodied.

My goto uke was always my Kala KA-SLNG, always picked it up to try things out, then I would choose the best uke for the tune from my collection.

My best uke is a tenor neck concert bodied KoAloha Opio solid acacia, with Living Water fluorocarbon low G strings.
 
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Those are a few shots of my favorite uke. I have kept only one other, a long neck Kamaka tenor

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and even that one trails a very distant second to my Yorkie.

I like it because it is a custom ukulele and I bespoke all its features. So it is everything I want. It has a unique voice and it has side dots (no fret markers) on 3, 5, 7 10, 12, 15, 17, and 19.
 
Joe Zier tenor - Madagascar rosewood sides, back, bridge and board, curly koa binding, mahogany/maple neck with lattice bracing on the cedar soundboard. No front soundhole, but a bass side sound port. It has a Misi pickup and linear tuning with Worth browns (The first string has been replaced with an Aquila).

JZ front.jpg JZ back.jpg JZ Hole.jpg JZ Uke hedstock.jpg
 
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This was my first custom, a LfdM tenor. It has Sitka spruce top with Amazon rosewood back and side. Includes a radius fretboard, side sound port, cutaway and Laskin armrest. It is made in the maccafari jazz guitar style, the rosette is splatted maple.

This does everything I want from an ease of playability, comfort and tone. It is rich, complex, resonant and has great projection. I could sell everything else and be happy with just this, but I won’t ;)
 

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I love all my ukuleles. They each have a special quality, and a special place in my musical life. However, I must say that I reach for and play my Cocobolo concert the most these days. It looks beautiful, it sounds beautiful, and it's so comfortable to play.
 

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For a few years my go to uke was a Kala KAATP-CTG-CE, solid cedar top, acacia koa body ($379). Then last year I bought a Lanikai Thinline Bocote FBCET-T A/E that was very comfortable to play and rather durable ($359). But then early this year I saw an Aklot all bamboo tenor cutaway that I now also use as a beater, to which I added a black nut and saddle, black fret markers, black and gold strap buttons to match the tuners, black strap and black strings with black end beads ($110).

UU 3 ukes.jpg



This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Lately the ukulele I play most often is this one... a 1920s 17 fret tenor banjo strung with nylon guitar strings 1-4 and tuned F, Bb, D, G with a capo at fret #2.25904F34-060D-4675-A50B-BFDCAB27E1C4.jpg
 
Lately the ukulele I play most often is this one... a 1920s 17 fret tenor banjo strung with nylon guitar strings 1-4 and tuned F, Bb, D, G with a capo at fret #2.View attachment 131008

I also have an old tenor strung with nylon strings tuned f,Bb,D,G (re-entrant) with a capo at the 2nd fret. Mine is an S.S. Stewart which I have modified by installing planetary tuning pegs and a simple brass tone ring. I must have taken the capo off for this photo.
Tenor banjo SS Stewart.jpg


With my friend Jimmy Bowskill at a gig in Toronto.
Jim & Jimmy Bowskill.jpg
 
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I also have an old tenor strung with nylon strings tuned f,Bb,D,G (re-entrant) with a capo at the 2nd fret. Mine is an S.S. Stewart which I have modified by installing planetary tuning pegs and a simple brass tone ring. I must have taken the capo off for this photo.
View attachment 131009

With my friend Jimmy Bowskill at a gig in Toronto.
View attachment 131010


Nice!
I used to string mine reentrant using a cannibalized set of nylguts for a 5 string banjo. But in its latest iteration, it’s linear, and getting flatpicked more often than not.
 
I also have an old tenor strung with nylon strings tuned f,Bb,D,G (re-entrant) with a capo at the 2nd fret. Mine is an S.S. Stewart which I have modified by installing planetary tuning pegs and a simple brass tone ring. I must have taken the capo off for this photo.
View attachment 131009


With my friend Jimmy Bowskill at a gig in Toronto.
View attachment 131010


Here’s a pic under the hood. It has something like a Morrison tone ring, nickel plated brass ring on posts raised off the maple rim. I believe Own Make was a Lyon & Healy brand name. Apparently it once had some sort of resonator, judging by the ivoroid knobs on the rim at 2, 4, 8 and 10 o’clock. I think I picked it up for $200 off ebay back in 2007 or so. I’ve always run it like this, with nylon strings, tuned as a uke.

z6ZNKWC.jpg
 
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