Hamano U30 Soprano - REVIEW

bazmaz

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Thanks. Afraid not. We rarely if ever see them on these shores.
 
I think these are literally rebranded Mahalos.

Everything about it seems identical to a Mahalo U30..... they didn't even bother changing the model number.
Even the font/style of the headstock logo is exactly how Mahalo do their's.
 
I think these are literally rebranded Mahalos.

Everything about it seems identical to a Mahalo U30..... they didn't even bother changing the model number.
Even the font/style of the headstock logo is exactly how Mahalo do their's.

That’s pretty much what I thought too though my quite old U30 (friction tuners were still standard fit on it) has a 36mm nut and 28.5 mm over (Aquila) g to a. IMHO there’s a few others about too that look very much like the old (Mahalo) U30, I suspect that there’s someone churning these out in China and putting whatever name on the headstock that’s asked for - the narrower nut is (sadly) now standard too. As far as I know the old U30’s were never made by Mahalo, just their name on the headstock; and as far as I know the current Mahalo range are made by that company in their own factory which isn’t in China.

Maybe I’m completely wrong but my suspicion is that a lot of the made in China Ukes are clones with different names on their headstocks and maybe a bit of slightly different trim. I’ve no ‘real’ issue with that situation provided prices are similar but sometimes they can be very different; I don’t like being asked to pay what appears to be inflated prices for the ‘right’ name on the headstock. Of course YMMV and I could be completely mistaken.
 
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Hang on Baz, are you actually using a different jingle on the intro of the video depending on whether the uke is recommended/got a good score or not? :D
 
I appreciate your reviews, Baz, and I really hope that some beginners watch them before they buy. Most of them won't listen to me....or they come to me with their ill advised purchases and want me to make them sound better.
I pity the fools.
 
Almost certainly a re-badge - not least because so many of them are. Putting it another way, there are far more ukulele 'brands' in China than there are production lines!

And it's not just at the cheap end... Many of the Clearwater models (the bowlbacks) are re-badged Ohana instruments. What's interesting there (in view of Grahams comment on price differentials) is that the Clearwater versions (identical bar the logo) are about half the price of the Ohanas. But then, I've always thought Ohana ukuleles were over priced.
 
Hang on Baz, are you actually using a different jingle on the intro of the video depending on whether the uke is recommended/got a good score or not? :D

I actually always did - the original was either a major chord or a minor chord. Just made it more obvious now!
 
I actually always did - the original was either a major chord or a minor chord. Just made it more obvious now!

Cheeky, cheeky... I honestly didn't notice that with the old intro jingle at all. :D
 
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