Pineapple Ukuleles? Why?

My take on the pineapple shape is the improved bass response for a soprano-sized instrument.
I have two soprano pineapples, a "generic" tuned low-G with Aquila "reds" and a Mahalo with a set of Aquila "5th's" strings, tuned like a mandolin, GDAE, so both have the same bass note and both have demonstrably improved bass response when compared to a generic soprano with the same strings fitted.
 
The pineapple shape may do all the things for euphonics as has been said but wasn't the shape adopted 100 years ago because nothing says Hawaii like pineapple (or noni or breadfruit). If ukuleles had been invented in North Carolina, they would have been shaped like cigarettes. Regardless, I don't like pineapple ukes merely because of how they feel.
 
Sam Kamaka Sr's original design was intended to create a fuller, warmer sound by having a larger soundboard by expanding the waist, and easier to build as it was more of an oval. A friend later commented that it looked like a pineapple, and painted a pineapple on one of them, so the name came later than the design. Details at Kamaka's website and elsewhere, but there's no question: it was intended to warm up the bright, sometimes tinny, sound of the traditional soprano (which of course many of us adore for that very characteristic), and it does!
 
TimWilson said:
but there's no question: it was intended to warm up the bright, sometimes tinny, sound of the traditional soprano (which of course many of us adore for that very characteristic), and it does!
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Yes, but the nice part is that while a slightly different flavor or tone color, it still sounds like a soprano.
 
ripock said:
The pineapple shape may do all the things for euphonics as has been said but wasn't the shape adopted 100 years ago because nothing says Hawaii like pineapple (or noni or breadfruit). If ukuleles had been invented in North Carolina, they would have been shaped like cigarettes. Regardless, I don't like pineapple ukes merely because of how they feel.
Click to expand...
…and Peanut ukes should have been invented in GA! Ah, but if that were the case, the poor instrument’s local nomenclature would have become “goober pea” which is unlikely to have enhanced its retail popularity.:ROFLMAO:
 
Oldscruggsfan said:
…and Peanut ukes should have been invented in GA! Ah, but if that were the case, the poor instrument’s local nomenclature would have become “goober pea” which is unlikely to have enhanced its retail popularity.:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Plus, Tim's historical explanation above of the pineapple explains it all. I have to admit that it doesn't sound true to me but I do not doubt Tim or his source, so I will just have to file this away as one of those things I never would have guessed, like reality TV or boy bands.
 
Oldscruggsfan said:
…and Peanut ukes should have been invented in GA! Ah, but if that were the case, the poor instrument’s local nomenclature would have become “goober pea” which is unlikely to have enhanced its retail popularity.:ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Gooberlele? :)
 
ripock said:
I do not doubt Tim or his source
Click to expand...

Feel free to doubt me! I don't know anything besides what I read, and my source is the Kamaka website. They call it their signature uke, which I honestly hadn't thought if it as, but I'm going to trust his family to have gotten the story straight. :)
 
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