angusdegraosta
Well-known member
I had my eyes on a Mainland for months and am grateful to have gotten one. I've had it a week. This is a Mango Concert, matte finish with silver gears and amber buttons. It looks fantastic. Action and intonation are AOK.
I changed the strings to Martin M600 flourocarbons the day after I got it. I thought I'd wait longer, but I was itching. The instrument sounds remarkable with these strings - harp-like, with a balanced mid-range. The only MacGyver I had to pull was to cut a microscopic piece of eyeglass felt and lay it along the bottom of the nut groove under the G string because the thinness of the new string pinged when I wobbled it left and right. Now there's no ping (or wobble); the felt isn't visible and is thin enough so it has no adverse effect on sound.
The flourocarbons stabilize quickly, so tuning is an easy task. I got a Snark clip-on - more accurate than using the AP Tuner on my laptop or the gStrings app on Android.
I also got the Max uke case. It zips shut for travel, but the Velcro flap is nifty for day-to-day use. I'll zip it in the cold dry months and use a case humidifier.
What else? Well, let me say what everyone else who got a Mainland has said: the rope binding is A+ up close. The mango wood is equally beautiful - very natural looking. Mine has the characteristic waves in the grain and some neat little irregularities to give it character. I'm thinking because this is not highly figured or spalted, the relative straightness of the grain should make for a good strong instrument.
I'm planning to make a video in the next few weeks, but not with my crappy webcam. Meanwhile, here's an almost halfway decent photo:
I changed the strings to Martin M600 flourocarbons the day after I got it. I thought I'd wait longer, but I was itching. The instrument sounds remarkable with these strings - harp-like, with a balanced mid-range. The only MacGyver I had to pull was to cut a microscopic piece of eyeglass felt and lay it along the bottom of the nut groove under the G string because the thinness of the new string pinged when I wobbled it left and right. Now there's no ping (or wobble); the felt isn't visible and is thin enough so it has no adverse effect on sound.
The flourocarbons stabilize quickly, so tuning is an easy task. I got a Snark clip-on - more accurate than using the AP Tuner on my laptop or the gStrings app on Android.
I also got the Max uke case. It zips shut for travel, but the Velcro flap is nifty for day-to-day use. I'll zip it in the cold dry months and use a case humidifier.
What else? Well, let me say what everyone else who got a Mainland has said: the rope binding is A+ up close. The mango wood is equally beautiful - very natural looking. Mine has the characteristic waves in the grain and some neat little irregularities to give it character. I'm thinking because this is not highly figured or spalted, the relative straightness of the grain should make for a good strong instrument.
I'm planning to make a video in the next few weeks, but not with my crappy webcam. Meanwhile, here's an almost halfway decent photo:
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