New Martin ukes

The OXK concert should attract many. Those laminates are very good playing instruments and are nicely built
 
I've never seen the attraction of fake aging in a musical instrument. I see it with 'distressed' furniture all the time. Just buy old furniture - it will be cheaper and better made and still have the worn in look you are after! People seem to want brand new but it has to look old. I don't get it.
 
The OXK concert should attract many. Those laminates are very good playing instruments and are nicely built

Since it's an HPL, shouldn't the description not read "We hand-selected the finest Hawaiian koa ..." but rather "... the finest Hawaiian koa looking paper..." ?

I have two HPL ukes which I like (well, they're OK anyway) , but unless Martin has done something different, there's no wood other than the wood turned into paper.
 
I’ve played the Martin street master guitar that they make in Nazareth, it sounded great, but I couldn’t get over the stupid faux distressed look. The new hpl concert kinda has my interest though.
 
First, let me say to the original poster, Blank Williams, thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen any of the new stuff coming from Martin.

Secondly, let me say to the original poster, Blank Williams, dammit why did you post this! I wasn't planning to buy any more ukes this year! :)

All kidding aside, I do find the OXK concert very intriguing. I have an OXK soprano, and it is a great workhorse of an instrument. Plays nice, sounds great, and I don't have to worry about it at all.

Well looks like I know what I'm buying this year...
 
Haha sorry Cluze! I got excited even though I must admit I was hoping for something more like the c1k but mahogany, oh well.
 
Can‘t believe they went with the Graphtech tuners even on the higher end ukes. :rolleyes: Aside from that, the concerts look pretty decent.

I found this to be very surprising as well. On an otherwise premium instrument, I would not have expected budget tuners.
 
wonder what the street price will be. that hpl looks almost like cork to me, and that pale fretboards makes me sad. it's got friction tuners too

I bet these are close to the street prices. Looks like Martin dropped their website prices on existing models to the prices that major dealers were already selling them for. I don't see anyone selling the Martin C1K for less than the $499 price on the Martin website. When the Martin 0XK soprano was available, the retail price was usually more than $300.
 
I actually was aware of the Japanese C1 ukes, I was hoping they would start selling them to the western market. And you’re right they are way too expensive. I wish the mainland US was as into ukes as Japan.
 
Regarding the street master, I'd love to know if they actually apply the finish in an intentional design to mimic wear, or if it's just that the finish is very thin so there are random lighter spots. If it's an actual design I wouldn't be interested (too artificial), but if it's just thin finish I could see that looking more natural and I'd be interested.
 
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Intentional aging or "relic'ing" is a thing with (new) electric guitars now... hopefully it won't make its way to ukes
 
They're on Musicians Friend/Guitar Center sites (same company) right now...but not in stock. It's more of a pre-order...but you can see prices. They slightly dropped the prices on the koa models and the S1. Not my first choice for buying, since they don't even open the boxes before they ship an instrument to you usually.
I would think MIM (usually the seller I prefer) will be getting these new ones, since she's a Martin dealer now. I would guess Elderly Instruments will have them too...and maybe some more of the good dealers in the uke world.

Edit: I just noticed they're on Sweetwater too..These will be prices high enough they should get the setup there. Also same slight reduction in price on the koas from Mexico and S1...
 
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according to the site, it's "ultra-thin finish creates a beautifully weathered appearance". I'm not interested in the finish as much as I am in the mahogany wood. The finish doesn't look bad, but I would prefer a normal finish for mahogany instead of a faux aged look.

I always think that it is odd to make a faux old instrument. I think better choices are to buy an old instrument or buy a nice one and play the heck out of it until it looks like that! ;)
 
I always think that it is odd to make a faux old instrument. I think better choices are to buy an old instrument or buy a nice one and play the heck out of it until it looks like that! ;)

I remember the last time I went to a mall, back in the 90's. I was thinking of buying some denim pants. I went to the Levi's store and all they had were these items with rips and torn pockets and were purportedly carbon copies of an old pair of jeans that were found in a warehouse in San Francisco. I just left and never returned to a mall after that.

So I'm not a fan of distressed merchandise. Also, what's the point of a new Martin? I thought the goal was to get an old one with mojo and history. It is like all these young guys driving their 2020 Mustangs. If you're not driving a '63 mustang, why drive one at all?
 
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Going against the majority here, I like the distressed look of Martin’s Streetmasters. I like the vintage look without the vintage cost and potential issues of an older instrument. I guess it’s like having your cake and eating it too: a vintage instrument that’s new. But I know that’s not everybody’s cup of tea. Still, looking at Martin’s aged series (where they literally “age” guitars by wearing down new ones) there seems to be some demand for the torn jeans version of guitars, and at serious prices.

What annoys me about the Streetmaster ukulele are the plastic Graph Tech ratio tuners which defeat the purpose of making the ukulele look vintage. Why not just put in some decent friction tuners or even Pegheds? I was seriously contemplating picking up a T1 Streetmaster, thin neck width and all, until I saw the plastic tuners. If they’d just stuck on some Grovers like on their S1. And maybe gotten rid of their headstock sticker too.

The 0XK concert appeals to me also, but I find the choice to use koa wallpaper a bit odd. If you’re going for a purely aesthetic, artificial distressed look on one of your ukulele models, why not do it on the ukulele that is literally wallpapered? Martin’s current line up only has two other concerts, both koa. Why make your HPL koa as well? For the sake of variety, their 0X concert should have been offered in a mahogany pattern, distressed or plain.

Otherwise, I think Martin has been missing an opportunity to make their HPL ukes with more interesting, non-wood graphics. Hire a graphic designer and come up with a few interesting designs. They already pushed the envelope using HPL, why dress it up like wood?

For Mr. Chris Martin IV, who surely peruses these UU threads: 1) Regular friction tuners on the T1 Streetmaster. 2) Maybe multiple graphic options for the new HPL concert, with one plain (or distressed) mahogany option, since a third concert in koa is superfluous. The other designs could be something more visually interesting.
 
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