Ohana uke?

nikolo727

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Well ladies and germs I have NOT come to a decision(what is new) on what kind of ukulele I would like.

I previously wanted a Pono ukulele and then I started hearing some bad reviews about them.:eek:

So I watched some things on teh youtube. like ken middleton's review of his Ohana which is right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3SxA1D6Odk.

anyway I am now leaning toward an Ohana ukulele.

I looked at MGM's sight (dur. hes the best)


and found a huge page of ukuleles that I just dont know what to choose from.

heres the rules Ive laid down so far. It needs to be(or have):

SOLID mahogany
medium to high gloss finish
deep rich sound(usually found with solid mahogany)
preferabley a concert sized.(I could rocka tenor though)


if anyone can find one of these or knows where I can get a uke like that anywhere even if its not by MGM(though i will be dissapointed. i love his service and ukes) i will be happy to buy it...eventually.


any thoughts?
 
I have a soprano Ohana (SK-35), solid mahogany, and while I don't have a lot to compare it to, it has a nice sound, and I think it's good value for the price. The only comparison that I had was an Epiphone solid mahogany at a local music store. I tried that but it was $400. I liked the sound, but thought it was way overpriced. But because I liked the solid mahogany sound, I ended up buying a solid mahogany Ohana on eBay at less than half the price, and the sound is very similar. No ukes at my local music stores though, so as I said, not much to compare it to. I did see Ken's review before I bought mine though, and that made up my mind for me :)
 
Nikolo,
I have an Ohana Concert CK-35G and I LOVE it exactly like the one in the link you posted (just in a Concert size). Its solid Mahogany and came with Aquila strings. I picked it up at Island Bazaar in Huntington Beach on impulse since they have them on sale right now for $199.00. I think its a screaming deal and so do a few others as I have been told that they have been selling a lot of them.

Here is their website:
http://www.ukuleleparadise.com
 
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Ok, I just watched the review of the Tenor from the link above and I have 2 things to comment on:

1. The reviewer mentioned that he felt that the action was too high and I agree with that too. In fact, its the first thing I noticed when I started playing with it. Its not bad though -- still, I might end up having that adjusted to make it a little easier to play.

2. The tenor that was being reviewed had geared tuners. Mine did not come with geared tuners -- only friction tuners. I checked the Ohana website and other sites that sells this model and found that those come with friction tuners also. With that said, I'm not sure why his had geared tuners... maybe the tenors come with geared tuners or maybe he upgraded his.

In any case, if you prefer geared tuners then the upgrade will obviously end up costing you more for the parts and/or labor. I ended up opting to upgrade the tuners and bought the Gotoh sealed gear tuners from Hana Lima. Thing is, the tuner holes need to be enlarged at the headstock!

Ok -- thats it I think. If you end up getting it I'm pretty sure you'll like it. Like I mentioned in my post above I think its an awesome value.
 
2. The tenor that was being reviewed had geared tuners. Mine did not come with geared tuners -- only friction tuners. I checked the Ohana website and other sites that sells this model and found that those come with friction tuners also. With that said, I'm not sure why his had geared tuners... maybe the tenors come with geared tuners or maybe he upgraded his.

Mine came with friction tuners too, so yeah, maybe he upgraded his.
 
I have the Ohana TK-35 and it came with geared tuners.
I think that it's a nice instrument. I'd say that the action on mine is just slightly high and could be lowered, but it's not bad at all.
 
Thank you guys sooooo much for all your help!


I really really appreciate it!


But, if you guys have any more info on this I would love to hear it!


Once again thanks!
 
You can narrow down what it shows on MGM's page by doing a "store search" on Ohana. The store search thing is on the left a little ways down the page.

I just did that and there's only 20 items to look at (one page). There are several concerts there as well as tenors, sopranos and a couple of the sopraninos.

The mahogany concerts are right around $240. They're not very high gloss but if they sound half as good (or are nearly as loud) as the little sopranino I have you'll be happy (and the neighbors will be scared). :)
 
Tk 35g

My Ohana, the one I reviewed, is amazing and I would not change it for any other Ohana. For me, its geared tuners make a real difference (I don't know whether the concert model still has friction ones). Manufacturers seem to be moving away from friction tuners and, in my opinion, that can only be a good thing (I know that purists will disagree).

The gloss finish on the TK35g looks really great and the quality of the woods is very high. The sound is rich when picked but amazing for strumming. The sound quality on some of my videos may not demonstrate this well, but, believe me, it is.

I tend to use this uke all the time, even though I have several more expensive ukes. It is a great all-rounder.

My advice is to get the TK 35G. If the action is too high, lower it (carefully) like I did.

KEN:)
 
It was very high at the saddle and also the nut. This is what I did.

1. Slacken all the strings so that the saddle can be removed.
2. Remove the saddle carefully.
3. Mark the bottom of the saddle with a pencil the maximum that can safely be removed.
4. Sand it down evenly from the bottom. Keep the saddle upright to make sure it is level.
5. Put it back and tighten the strings until they are in tune.
6. Check the hight of the saddle by fretting (important) the string you are checking. Do it with an open string. Remember that the nut is still too high.
7. Repeat until it is right. Don't take it down too much or you will lose tone.
8. Slacken strings again and remove the nut. It may be glued, but should come out easily.
9. Mark it as you did the saddle.
10. Sand down from underneath. Remember to keep it level.
11. Tighten strings and repeat until it is right.
12.Don't take it too low. Keep it higher than the string height when fretting at the first fret.
13. Lightly glue it back in place with a drop of superglue. Just enough to hold it. Make sure that the fit is exact.
14. Put new strings on. Don't pull the strings too much as it will make them stretch unevenly and you will get intonation problems.

Hope this helps

KEN
 
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WOW I did not know you have an ukuleleunderground account Ken!


your my hero. plain and simple. You have some of the greatest reviews!

Thanks for all your help. That goes for everyone!
 
Thanks for the step-by-step Ken. That sounds like something I don't have the courage to do myself. Maybe I'll get a quote from a local luthier! The action on mine is not too bad -- although dropping the strings just a tad would make it much easier to play.

BTW, I too enjoy your YouTube posts as well. Keep them coming! :)
 
ok so ive taken what all of you had to say, into consideration.

I have come to this thought(not decision because im stupid that way)

this ukulele:


http://cgi.ebay.com/OHANA-CK-35G-SO...16224QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262


correct me if im wrong Ken, but is this the same ukulele that you have except that this one is a concert instead of a tenor and that it has friction tuners instead of geared tuners?

im pretty sure it is the same thing but im not sure.

because this ukulele has friction tuners is there anyway to change them to geared tuners.

I dont want to do it myself because im a clutz but could I ask MGM?
 
The concert uke on eBay is the same as mine but in concert size and with friction tuners.

I really don't like friction tuners. I would not swap these for geared ones as it may upset the balance of the instrument. On my Kanile'a concert, for instance, they have taken the weight of the geared tuners into account and the instrument is perfectly balanced.

A better idea would be to buy the tenor, which definitely has geared tuners. Here it is on the Ohana website.

http://www.ohanaukuleles.co.uk/tenor_ukuleles.htm

Hope this helps

KEN
 
Thanks guys I will probubly go with the Ohana Tk-35G then.

So excited!

just wondering though. What is the big difference between friction tuners and geared tuners?

just wondering.


Ebay or the ukuleleshop.co.uk doesnt have any in stock. bummer.
 
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Imagine a screwdriver with a thin handle. Its hard to turn. A screwdriver with a big handle is easier to turn. This is the difference between friction and geared tuners. You can turn geared tuners over a large distance and the string only tightens by a small amount. They are more precise and easier to use.

KEN
 
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