Uke that can be heard over guitar

jcarlos said:

Hey folks,I been playing with a guitar player for a couple of weeks now and its almost impossible to hear the uke while playing melodies over the guitar. Can anyone recommend a uke that can be heard over a loud guitar rhythm, it will be mainly for picking not strumming. We want to stay acoustic as well.

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If you won't amplify hour uke then I recommend buying a koaloha sceptre.

Another idea is to get the guitar player to play muted when you are doing your thing.

wickedwahine11 said:

Barring the obvious answer of an amplifier (presuming you don't want one or don't have one), KoAloha ukes are the loudest I have ever heard.

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What she said. Add Aquila strings. The Aquilas are clutch for volume. And if you are not going to use an amplifier, do not hedge with installing an active pickup or anything that would add content to the inside of the body. I have a Fishman Matrix Infinity in my Tenor Sceptre. The instrument was very loud acoustically pre-installation, but in the thin-body the especially space-consuming three-piece pickup worked to muffle the acoustic sound--perhaps good to avoid feedback, but bad for playing as loudly without an amp.

experimentjon said:

What she said. Add Aquila strings. The Aquilas are clutch for volume. And if you are not going to use an amplifier, do not hedge with installing an active pickup or anything that would add content to the inside of the body. I have a Fishman Matrix Infinity in my Tenor Sceptre. The instrument was very loud acoustically pre-installation, but in the thin-body the especially space-consuming three-piece pickup worked to muffle the acoustic sound--perhaps good to avoid feedback, but bad for playing as loudly without an amp.

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Since my Ko'olau came from the factory with the LR Baggs system installed, I don't have before and after comparisons for acoustic sound qualities and volume. But I had the UST installed in my Kamaka and it sounds pretty much the same before and after and certainly did not lose any acoustic volume. So I would suggest being careful in one's selection of pickup system. I am sure there are pros and cons to each solution, so it is probably a matter of picking those pros and cons you can live with, rather than that there is only one solution that is generally better than the others.

Tony

Bill1 said:

Both players learn how to play softly when required. Unless you want to have a reso or banjo sound. One of the qualities of a well built guitar and ukulele it to be able to be played softly and sound good.

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This. It's a basic rule to playing well with others.

tbeltrans said:

I really don't get this seeming cultural desire to have everything so LOUD. Instead of attacking our collective ear drums, solo acoustic instruments (to me) should be soothing and relaxing in an otherwise busy world - a respite from all the noise and hurry. Instead, we seem to want to make everything in our world loud and fast.

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I understand it 100%. Can't tell you how many times I've paid big money to see a show, only to be audibly attacked by people sitting behind either chewing on a piece of smelly gum like a cow, stuffing their face full of food, or talking out loud during the performance.

Another one to look for is the Lanikai solid spruce topped tenor (KA-S-T?) strung with Aquila Nylguts, but with an Aquila red for the Low G. That sucker can even overpower my Martin soprano, which is a loud uke. I used to use it with the folk band I'm with on a couple of songs, and it held it's own with a 12-string guitar, bass and a fiddle or mandolin (depending on which one my sister would play).

As great as that instrument sounded, I ended up giving it to my mom since the thin neck made my carpal tunnel hands go numb after just a few songs. Now when a uke is called for, I just use my banjo uke. Not the same sound, but it can be heard.

Dan

The traditional way to do it is simply to use a smaller Ukulele with a high tuning - one that will naturally separate it's notes from those of the guitar. Here's one example:



While that's Machete tuning with a guitarra de amor (Romantic era guitar), if you move your tuning up enough to separate the range you can get much the same effect with a more modern tuning against a bigger more modern guitar.

southcoastukes said:

The traditional way to do it is simply to use a smaller Ukulele with a high tuning - one that will naturally separate it's notes from those of the guitar. Here's one example:


While that's Machete tuning with a guitarra de amor (Romantic era guitar), if you move your tuning up enough to separate the range you can get much the same effect with a more modern tuning against a bigger more modern guitar.

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very nice, but he is playing the guitar delicately, which certainly helps. that's what I try to do too, I play "up the neck' and try to get away from the notes the guitar is playing, but that only works if he/she is not playing up the neck too.