Oh I am so sorry to hear and wish you a speedy recovery. I just walked through the door from a vigorous bike ride as I am just getting my seasonal bike legs back. Good lesson to keep riding carefully.
Oh Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, man.
Me, too. Overly happy music irritates me.
This is where used ukuleles come in.I don’t like High G so I’m going to need one UkeThe problem I have is not that I wouldn’t buy an expensive Uke but where I live there is no option to try them.
If I could walk into a shop and sample a bunch of Ukes and find my soul mate I’d hand over the cash in a second.. it’s just a difficult ask to throw a $1000+ on something you may potentially not get on with..
that's where the fun begins for me. The ukulele repertoire has more cheese than Wales and Wisconsin combined. The challenge is squeezing something with a little more gravitas from an instrument that is so inexorably connected with chirpiness.
I definitely agree. When you get beyond a grand the increase in quality is often very minimal or possibly even non-existent. There are exceptions of course - within and between certain brands and builders - but it's a very good general rule in my opinion. You can even find some incredibly good ukes way under a grand that will rival the quality of the more popular brands whose basic models start at a grand or above. I can certainly attest to that myself. Some of the lesser-known Asian brands particularly offer quite ridiculous value for money these days. The only reason I now pay those big bucks for a uke is if I want some specific custom model from a brand or builder.
Which of the lesser-known Asian brands ?I definitely agree. When you get beyond a grand the increase in quality is often very minimal or possibly even non-existent. There are exceptions of course - within and between certain brands and builders - but it's a very good general rule in my opinion. You can even find some incredibly good ukes way under a grand that will rival the quality of the more popular brands whose basic models start at a grand or above. I can certainly attest to that myself. Some of the lesser-known Asian brands particularly offer quite ridiculous value for money these days. The only reason I now pay those big bucks for a uke is if I want some specific custom model from a brand or builder.
New hot take:
The difference in tone between spruce and cedar is much smaller than people usually think.
And lastly, massive well wishes to Petey! That bicycle accident sounded dramatic. Hope you get better soon!
Regarding spruce vs cedar, my thought is that it depends... on the size and design of the instrument. For a while, I lived with the assumption that I liked a cedar top better because I favor "warmer" tones. Sure, cedar doesn't disappoint to my ears, but... my favorite tone wood combination to date (tied with koa) is a spruce top and rosewood back/sides. Sometimes I think the decision varies based on body size. Though like many other factors, other times I think the preference just comes down to the particular model and individual instrument.I definitely agree. When you get beyond a grand the increase in quality is often very minimal or possibly even non-existent. There are exceptions of course - within and between certain brands and builders - but it's a very good general rule in my opinion. You can even find some incredibly good ukes way under a grand that will rival the quality of the more popular brands whose basic models start at a grand or above. I can certainly attest to that myself. Some of the lesser-known Asian brands particularly offer quite ridiculous value for money these days. The only reason I now pay those big bucks for a uke is if I want some specific custom model from a brand or builder.
New hot take:
The difference in tone between spruce and cedar is much smaller than people usually think.
And lastly, massive well wishes to Petey! That bicycle accident sounded dramatic. Hope you get better soon!
Absolutely. There's been quite a lot of discussion regarding the fact that the build itself will affect tone more than the actual type of wood. My comment was more a generalization, hence the hot take.
Millar and L. Luthier come to mind first. I think those two offer such nice quality ukes, sometimes for literally half the price or less compared to the competition (for example K brands or some of the more established Asian brands). Another one would be Uma. Fantastic ukes for the same price or less than some of the more ubiquitous Chinese-made brands. Quite ridiculous value really. Maybe five years ago I would've put aNueNue on that list as well but they're definitely one of those more established brands now. Still, they have those excellent mid-range ukes everyone keeps raving about, like the AMM2 and AMM3.
These are spot on!
I was just looking at the Uma UK-30SC EVO Solid Koa online .
Hmm... shame to see Uma do this. Lots of other Asian brands do the same. I always wonder if it's some kind of translation issue but it's a tad upsetting nonetheless. The uke is definitely acacia, not koa. Still a cracking uke.I was just looking at the Uma UK-30SC EVO Solid Koa online .
It's listed on their website as Solid Acacia Koa , which is Hawaiian Koa .
SUS lists it as just Solid Acacia .
Anyway , it's listed at SUS for Ex-Vat 250 British Pounds .
Millar , Uma ,and AnueNue , all Taiwanese brands , though some models made in mainland China I think .
I don't think it's a translation issue .
By the way , I'm not a Hawaiian Koa snob .
