Tell me about Bruko

Bazmaz, I enjoyed your Bruko review.

Perhaps they are less frequent in the USA, but here they are sort of a catch. I'm not saying they're Collings. I'm just saying they are fairly uncommon, and as Mr Covington states, I've not seen a China made uke even in the same ballpark as Bruko for build quality.
 
I would say Mr. Covington is my dad, but then he would say that Mr. Covington is HIS dad. So really Mr. Covington has been dead since 1978. :)
 
I would say Mr. Covington is my dad, but then he would say that Mr. Covington is HIS dad. So really Mr. Covington has been dead since 1978. :)
Thank you, Christopher. Lol

Hey, man, I notice two Brukos in your signature. I'm getting a no. 6, should be here any day. I avoided the black one just bc of the lack of fret dots. Did you paint some on, or do you just have a cat-like sense of spatial relations? Honestly, I love that look but, I'd die without dots. I die with dots, though, too, now that I think of it.
 
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I love the black flat Bruko. It has a great sound, being all maple. I use it as a strumming ukulele. I don't do much finger picking with it because of the dots (or lack there of). I might pick some songs where I keep my hands on the first few frets. It isn't bad there. If I go beyond the 5th fret though I'm in trouble. I don't see why you can't paint some on or even have a luthier install some. If I want to finger pick with a Bruko I just use the 6 though. I can't wait to see a review of your new No. 6!
 
"the catch"

I've figured out the "catch" to Bruko and it is not a big one.

One of the best maxims I've ever heard is that nothing can be fast, cheap and good, and if something is two of those things, it can't be the third.

In Bruko's case, they are cheap and good and as a result they are not fast. It takes them a while to make the ukes and it takes them a while to respond to your emails. But if they're also cheap and good... can you really complain?
 
I'm happy to see any Bruko thread revived.

They sound different, for sure, but I still think they're the best value out there. My flat maple is good, but my spruce/walnut is great. It probably sees the most playing time of any of my ukes.
 
Same here Connor. I was fortunate enough to grab a lovely little cherry soprano when it came up for sale last week.

Superbly built ukes with a unique voice and at a price that is such great value. I love em to bits. They had some absolutely stunning special models up last week, most have gone but there are a few rippers still there.

If I could change one thing about Brukos, and it's a minor thing, then I would ask them to make some small adjustments to the action on their set-ups; it's always a little high for me at the 12th fret....but nothing that can't be adjusted relatively easily.
 
I own four soprano Brükos, a number 6, a maple flat, a custom maple/walnut fingerboard, custom cherry/solid maple fingerboard. The latter sopranos both have arched backs. The sound from all these ukuleles is pleasing to me all charactericterized by a slight variation on the Brüko "old timey" sound. Each instrument is a solid little gem with flawless craftsmanship at an unbelievable price point. But I have spent considerable time tweaking the action on these ukuleles- especially the maple/walnut to get them playable and improve the intonation. On both custom ukuleles I had to sand down the bridge itself so as to be able to lower the nut to achieve the action I desired - not sanding down the bridge would have resulted in the nut nearly disappearing in the bridge slot. I proceeded with great caution and my time consuming approach paid off with vastly improved action and intonation. I consider the stock action too high for myself but how many customers are willing to take the steps I took to get the playability where it is truly comfortable ? As a side note - Living Water strings sound fabulous on the maple/walnut !
 
I've owned three Brükos over the years. I have two left. They are very nice instruments. Their sound can be "brittle" as Ken says, and finding a more suited set of strings helps to soften the sound from the original Pyramid strings. The ukes are super well made. I've had a few string buzzing problems. Their uke necks are thicker than one might be used to.

Here's my video review of the flat black model.
http://youtu.be/OqovIUFVSZw

Petey
 
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