Mike Pereira "MP Ukuleles" Tenor revisited

It has been a bit over a year since I bought this uke. Since that time, I have never thought of it as anything other than a keeper.

Given that the first photos I posted were from my phone and there have recently been some posts asking about Mike's work, I thought I might stick the MP out in the front garden and take a few shots from a real camera.

Cedar top, mango back and sides, koa binding and fret markers with ebony added to the binding. Stealth tuners, Martin 620 strings with a wound Aquila G.

Very light and responsive. Workmanship is exqusite. Sound is, too.









More photos to follow.

More photos







My thanks to Mike.

What a beauty! I thought for a minute it was for sale and I was scrambling to find the price. I absolutely love my soprano. The sound is amazing, it's got such a nice voice in the lower register which is really surprising for a soprano.

Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful uke!

Mike must have a sizable wait list. I see from his website that he is not currently taking orders.

I received my MP Custom last May 1st so I'm also celebrating an anniversary. My MP has a Redwood top and figured Walnut back and sides with the face of a hound dog on the back. I like how uniquely chunky the body is and that it's made out of wood native to California - especially nice when I lived in Kansas. I finally settled on D'Addario Pro Arte Tenor J71 strings in re-entrant tuning and I'm very happy with the sound I'm getting now.

My MP order was inspired by Fisherman's MP with the same wood combination as well as Ken Middleton's demonstration on You Tube of yet another Redwood/Walnut MP.

bborzell your MP is quite a beauty and I'm glad you are still proud to own it. Dealing with Mike Pereira was a real pleasure and I really like knowing he made my instrument just for me. This was my first custom tenor and I love it.

Best wishes always to Mike.

Don

Beautiful Uke! MP makes great ukuleles that sound as lovely as they look. I owned a soprano some years ago, but living in the Mojave Desert took it's toll and it developed some cracks. I traded it for a reso with a metal body. I miss that uke.

That's one of the prettiest ukes I've seen anywhere.

Someday... I have to be worthy first. lol. :iwant:

Congrats on finding your "keeper" and for posting those beautiful pics. Always love to see pics of great ukes.

And you too Don! I remember when Mike was building the "hound dog" for you. Seems like yesterday. Boy time flies

Wow, I don't think I've seen a uke with Koa binding - that is gorgeous!

John

For those who didn't see my original post following the Reno ukefest of 2013, I had gone to Reno (about 80 miles from my home in the California Sierra foothills) with a thought of getting a second uke with a somewhat warmer sound than that which came with my all acacia Pono Tenor. Figured I was willing to spend $800 or so for what I was looking for.

The Pono was my first uke having been picked up at a local dealer (The Strum Shop in Roseville) a couple of months earlier. That purchase had been prompted by attending a Jake S. concert on Maui while on vacation in March. I really liked the Pono sound (still do), and wanted to add something a bit different.

Mike Pereira was sitting at a table off to my right as I walked into the dealer display area. He had a very simple table set up with two MPs tenors and 2 National Resonators. To be honest, I was first attracted by seeing the reso cones on the Nationals (I have more than my share of reso guitars). But, by the time I got to the table and got a glimpse of the two MPs, my interest in the resos dropped off. I knew two tunes at the time so I exhausted my repertory rather quickly on the MP tenors and, after looking at the asking price decided that they were well out of my $800 max range. After all, I was willing to nearly double what I had paid for the Pono, but these were out of my range.

Over the next two hours, I wandered around and picked up every tenor I could find. Many did not impress me over my original Pono so I began focusing on some of the higher end ukes. Some were more expensive than the cedar/mango MP that I had decided was the mark to beat, but none played or sounded better than the MP.

I spent a ton of time talking to Mike who was both gracious and informative. Still, I had serious difficulty moving from the decision I had made at the outset to spend no more than $800 on another uke. But, this was clearly the only uke on the floor that I began to believe that I would regret leaving without so I made an offer and Mike accepted.

Glad I made the trip.

What Value a Used MP Tenor

Hi,
I have joyously owned a MP Tenor also but am considering selling it as I have just committed to two Mya-Moe Tenors (a 4 string venetian Koa cut-away and a 6 string Myrtle). My general rule of 'one in, one out', is causing me terrible angst but I know the MP must go but I don't know what I should be asking for it. I have attached some photos and was wondering if you would recommend an asking price via a PM. I am in no hurry to sell as I don't pick up the MM's until Sept/Oct this year when I will be vacationing in the USA from Australia.
The basic spec are; Sinker redwood top, California walnut back & sides with maple binding. It came with a Kamoa fibreglass case with hydrometer and I had a Mi-Si pu installed (but don't have a photo post installation).

I sent you a PM.

Very beautiful ukulele. I also like the story behind it.

Absolutely gorgeous uke and great photography. I'd appreciate any details of the photo work and any tips you might have.

Hey, just saw Mike made a major upgrade to his website. Not quite complete, but looking good
http://www.mpukuleles.com/home.html

Saw this beautiful electric steel string MP that I have never seen before.

bariukish said:

Absolutely gorgeous uke and great photography. I'd appreciate any details of the photo work and any tips you might have.

Click to expand...

I shot those photos with a Panasonic Lumix G5. All were set in auto program mode. When I get a chance I could look up exposure/ shutter speed, but I can't take credit for the settings. I simply focused and shot. Light was in my favor as I went into the front garden at about 2 PM and knew that this was the light I was looking for.

Thanks for the appreciative comments.

Thanks for the update. It's always fun to read what the opinion is after the honeymoon stage. We see so many examples of finding an awesome uke and selling it for whatever reason. I've been guilty of that as well