NUD: Cocobolo Ukuleles Concert Pineapple

Dohle

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Ok, I'll try to keep this one short because I really want the uke to do the talking but I'll do a quick preamble as per usual.

Late last year, I was lucky enough to get to buy a Cocobolo Long Neck Soprano (which I'm selling here BTW :) ). I love it but I still thought I maybe want a concert and also one with that nice sapwood which mine didn't have on the top. During the following few months, I only chose to participate in the Cocobolo lotteries I knew I really wanted rather than all of them. Early this month, they put a few concert pineapples for the lottery and I knew I just had to have one... and boy did I get lucky...

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I mean just look at that sapwood... it's absolutely stunning. Dare I say that the back might even be a bit overkill. :D
As mentioned, I'll mostly let the uke do the talking but I'll just mention that I love the few subtle pineapple features like the pointy headstock and the pineapple side sound port.

Here's a sound sample I quickly made: https://soundcloud.com/user-628658662/cocobolo-concert-pineapple/s-ycu6UCT7VVT
I really hope I was able to capture how magnificently resonant this thing is. There's a lovely shimmer on all levels of frequencies, although mostly in the mids to be fair. The sound is very balanced.

Playability is excellent, typical for all Cocobolos with that lovely radiused fretboard. Action was a bit too high for me but that's already been taken care of.

So yeah, go buy my Long Neck Soprano. I ain't letting this one go for sure.
 
I am so glad that someone here got one of the concert pineapples! I certainly don't need any more ukuleles, but the concert pinapple Cocobolo's have me sorely tempted.

A beautiful instrument and a lovely sound sample! Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
 
Sounds good! I was tempted by them, but I'm waiting for the right tenor. Then I'll sell my Cocobolo concert.
 
Thank you for sharing this tempting piece. I'm keen on getting one.
 
That is really nice. I already have a concert uke but I'd love that in soprano if I had the dosh
 
I'm jealous of your fretboard! I love the multicolors on it. I just picked up a Cocobolo concert pineapple as well and I'm glad to hear someone else thinks the action is too high. All I've ever heard is how playable they are so I was a little confused by mine; thought maybe I was just too much of a beginner to appreciate what "playable" means or something.
 
I'm jealous of your fretboard! I love the multicolors on it. I just picked up a Cocobolo concert pineapple as well and I'm glad to hear someone else thinks the action is too high. All I've ever heard is how playable they are so I was a little confused by mine; thought maybe I was just too much of a beginner to appreciate what "playable" means or something.

It is a bit weird that Cocobolo set their ukes up with such high action. Before the pineapple concert, I also bought a long neck soprano from them (which I've since sold) and that came with slightly lower action than the pineapple, although I still had to take it down just a bit. The action on the pineapple was so high that even fluorocarbon strings went out of tune at the first few frets. Not massively so, and I'd say it was still playable, but certainly not satisfactory for me.
 
I still have the stock strings, i.e., Worth Browns. Didn't feel any need to change them as they sound good and I use those on some of my other ukes already. Maybe I'll try something different when they wear out but I'll definitely stick to fluorocarbons.
 
Wow, it's a beauty!
Nothing else quite sounds like a Cocobolo Ukulele, does it?
 
I still have the stock strings, i.e., Worth Browns. Didn't feel any need to change them as they sound good and I use those on some of my other ukes already. Maybe I'll try something different when they wear out but I'll definitely stick to fluorocarbons.

Thanks! I've got the Worth Browns on mine as well; they sound great but I was curious if anybody had tried anything different.
 
Wow, it's a beauty!
Nothing else quite sounds like a Cocobolo Ukulele, does it?

Certainly true. It's a very unique sound, even if it's quite balanced and not so much in your face. The different sizes and shapes sound different enough but still recognizable.


Thanks! I've got the Worth Browns on mine as well; they sound great but I was curious if anybody had tried anything different.

Cocobolo used to ship their ukes with Aquila nylguts so if you check some older videos of them you can get sound samples with Aquilas on. I've never seen/heard anyone play one with nylon strings. Might be interesting but I'd probably have to widen the nut slots which I don't really want to do.
 
Looks and sounds great. Never heard of sapwood before.

It's not a species of wood, mind. It's just a portion of the wood where there's some coloration from the sap of the wood, usually paler in colour than the rest of the wood. Also, usually it's a much subtler stripe of sap in the middle of the uke or possibly elsewhere but on cocobolo it can look really distinct and quirky like it does here.
 
I'm quite smitten with the 5 string tenor I recently got. It's at its best fingerpicked, I think, and very unique in sound.
 
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