Time for a look back at 2015 through the eyes of Got A Ukulele. This is a feature I try to run at the end of each year, but missed it for the end of 2014 as you may recall I was stuck in a hospital bed! Been looking forward to getting back to normality though!
So 2015 started relatively slowly, but has been a great year for the website. It has now had over 8.9 million page views and the backbone of the site, (the reviews) have gone from strength to strength I think.
Let's look back at some of the highlights!
JANUARY
As I say, a slow start, but I had to start with a delayed review of one of my favourite CD's of the year, from Mr Phil Doleman - Old Is The New New. Also on the review bench was a look at one of the most marvellous instruments I have had.. and one that was delivered to me in a hospital waiting room by the Luthier in question - the Tinguitar solid tenor ukulele...
As a blog that likes to cover ukulele offerings for all price points February saw reviews of a couple of bargain ukuleles. The first one was an absolute stinker in the form of the Stagg US10 Soprano, and the second was a far better offering In the form of the Alic soprano.
In May I reviewed my first ever Baritone ukulele on the site in the form of the Pono MB-e. I also wrote a piece on ukulele humidity and how there is a lot of bad advice in this area.
I also caused quite a stir with my post about using Fishing Line as ukulele strings and the month ended with the rather fabulous Grand Northern Ukulele Festival, featuring the likes of Aaron Keim, The Mersey Belles, Manitoba Hal, Chee Maisel and Mike Hind.
A quiet month ( a man needs a holiday!) but I did get to review a tenor instrument from PSI ukuleles and also give you a round up of ukulele albums that had been on rotation in my CD player.
AUGUST
A mix of review - from the sublime soprano from DJ Morgan Ukuleles to the most controversial review I have ever done - the Epiphone Les Paul Ukulele. That latter one led to more comments and complaints than any other I have done, ranging from telling me I was just plain wrong to saying it was a nice sounding instrument. On reflection - no, my view is unchanged. It's absolutely terrible.
I also returned to the rants with my confusion with why people claim the ukulele is magical, and I finally got around to featuring a ukulele player I have wanted on the blog for ages - Ukulele Russ. Ending the month was a look at the Luna Tattoo Concert.
NOVEMBER
From the ridiculous to the sublime in November. The Vintage VUK20 was one of the worst instruments I have ever tested, and the Beltona Tenor resonator was one of the very best. Oh, and the pUKEs released a new single which is always a good day!
DECEMBER
Always a busy month in life generally, but we ended the year with yet more reviews. The Mahalo 2500 Kahiko, the Kala Travel Concert, and finally one of the fastest read review posts I have ever put up for the oh so pretty Cocobolo tenor.. A smashing instrument. The end of the year soured slightly by some trolls thinking that one mans ukulele reviews are akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis... but... ah well.. the ups and downs of a public website I suppose!
2015... 88 posts... 2.6 million page views this year.... over 8.9 million in total....
Those were the highlights of my year. My thanks once again to readers and supporters of the site and brands who have kindly loaned me instruments to write about. It really is rewarding, and the site it has been a lot of fun this year. I have plenty more ideas in the pipeline for 2016 and instruments already stacking up on the review bench from the likes of Deering, Cordoba, Mahalo and Aiersi already.. All is left is for me to wish YOU all the very very best for the coming year in whatever you do. Hope the site remains of interest!
Regular Got A Ukulele readers will know that I don't flood this site with videos, and really only tend to share them when they stand out to me. James Hill videos normally do that for me.
But I am sharing this for reasons other than the technical standard on display (which, for me, is rather wonderful).
You see, I like James because he pushes some boundaries with what the ukulele can do. Some may not like the music (I'm a Hendrix fan, so I like it just fine - even if James has mis-spelled the name of the track he is covering). Some will say 'you shouldn't play that on a ukulele... And that is really one of the main reasons I am sharing it. You see, I am a strong believer that no matter what the instrument, taking it out of the comfort zone of most people is a HEALTHY thing to do with it. It shows others that the instrument is not so limited, and that has to be a good thing.
The ukulele does, in my view, suffer from being typecast, of people assuming it is a one trick pony, of people assuming that it is 'only' for happy Hawaiian stuff. I say not. I say watch and listen to James Hill.
If you don't like the tune, admire the skill of his playing. If you don't think this should be played on a ukulele... well... it's a musical instrument - they don't come with rule books.
(And if you are interested, James is playing a Mya Moe ukulele)
Well what a year, time now to relax with the family and loved ones. Maybe play a ukulele or two!
With readers around the world and from many different cultures, it's probably unwise to try to cover them all, so if you have a celebration I missed, please add it in the comments below.
Regardless of your background, have a great fun break and me nice to each other.
Ukulele review time! Next up, a brand that has created quite a buzz on ukulele social media. A musical instrument all the way to me on test from Nicaragua, take a look at the Cocobolo Tenor ukulele.
Taking its name from the wood all their instruments are made from the Cocobolo brand is a hand made offering and brainchild of US graduate Kevin Keith who set up the new Cocobolo instrument business in Nicaragua. Just the way they look has generated a lot of interest, so I was delighted to borrow one to take a look.
This tenor model is one of a range of instruments from Cocobolo, from soprano to baritone, 6 strings and custom order options, and arrived with me in standard spec to give you an idea of what you automatically get. Lots of elements can be changed, but this is what you get if you click buy on the standard tenor model. It retails at $399 US too which is a great price I think.
So lets take a look. We have a traditional double bout shaped instrument hand made from all solid Nicaraguan cocobolo wood. cocobolo is a tropical hardwood renowned for its striking colour and grain patterns. And those grains are used to great effect by Cocobolo.
It is finished in satin (thumbs up from me) and is indeed striking. The swirl in the wood on the top and sides makes it look like it has been painted. When your realise that it is actually the wood, you realise what a nice material it is. It kind of glows red / orange in the light with black and yellow swirls. Quite beautiful really.
The sides follow this pattern, and are particularly swirly on this model at the base.
The back is slightly arched and trimmed down the middle join with some lighter coloured wood strips. It's a nice touch that sets it off.
At the base we have a similar trim strip on the butt and it comes fitted with a silver strap button as standard. Nice.
One thing I would mention at this point is that this example is not book matched. That is to say the two pieces of wood that join on the top (and on the back) are not mirrors of each other as you normally find. I think it was done like this on my example to exaggerate the huge swirls on the front, but a look on the Cocobolo website seems to show that a majority of their instruments are book matched, with some using the striking lighter sap woods to great effect. Purely personal choice but if I was buying one of these, I would specify a book matched model myself. That is not a criticism, just personal taste.
Saying all that, the swirls on this are hard not to like.
A look inside shows a reasonably tidy build. The kerfing is notched and the bracing is nice and minimal. The interior bracing is made of Honduran mahogany. There are glue spots however if that sort of thing bothers you. Otherwise the body of the instrument is extremely nicely put together with no finish flaws, gaps or odd bows or buckles. I'd also just point out that it has a wonderful wood shop smell!
The bridge is made of cocobolo also and is a fairly standard designed tie bar affair with a solid bone saddle. The saddle is slightly arched to match the fingerboard (a feature I will come on to!).
The neck wood is Honduran mahogany and made of three pieces, with a joint at the heel and in the headstock. The heel of the neck is capped with more cocobolo.
Topping the neck is a fingerboard also made of cocobolo. I've not seen a fingerboard made of this wood before, but it does work with the body. Like the body, it too is a deep red and full of swirly grains. Some of the grains and knots in the fingerboard do have a slightly rough finish to them though. Nothing major, but I know some people are particular that their fingerboards are as smooth as glass.
One thing that did please me was to see that the fingerboard has a radius. That is to say it is not dead flat like most ukuleles but is very slightly curved. It's a 12" radius and I do like those on instruments as I find they feel incredibly natural in the fretting hand. Nice to see and it explains that arched top to the saddle I mentioned earlier!
The frets are steel and we have 17 in total with 13 to the body. That's an unusual join point but Cocobolo explain that they find this gives the ukulele a sweet balance. We shall see. One thing that did surprise me a little was that the frets are bar style without domed crowns. That is an extremely traditional fret wire style seen on the oldest Hawaiian ukuleles, but personally I find them uncomfortable on sliding up and down the neck as they jar on the fingers a little. I would personally spec more standard crowned frets myself. Incidentally the fret edges are smooth as you would wish and the fretboard edges are unbound.
I am also told that inside the mahogany neck, they employ a strip of cocobolo wood to add to the strength of the neck. Kind of a non adjustable truss rod. Whether that is really necessary I cannot say (I don't tend to think ukuleles need truss rods) but I am not complaining. The whole of the neck, like the body is finished in the same satin coat.
We have fret markers in mother of pearl dots at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th and 12th fret spaces and thankfully these are repeated on the side too.
The nut, like the saddle, is bone and sits below a crown shaped headstock. The headstock is faced with a cocobolo piece complete with a central trim to match the back. There is no makers logo on the headstock and I think the ukulele suits not having one. In fact I think it would spoil it. Unusually the back of the headstock is also faced in the same cocobolo wood. I have never seen a facing on the back of the headstock before, but I think it looks great and adds an unusual touch to the instrument.
Tuning is provided by the ever reliable and top quality open geared Grover brand tuners with silver buttons. No complaints from me here, as these are my tenor tuners of choice.
Completing the $399 deal is a set of Aquila strings. What else?
So I will say this before we get into the real nitty gritty. This is certainly one of the most unusually pretty instruments I have had the pleasure of reviewing on this site. I really mean that. Yes, I would prefer a book matched top, but know they offer that for the same price. But irrespective of that, I just adore the red glow and swirls that adorn almost all of the instrument. I kind of find myself staring at it.
To hold it is nicely balanced, and not overly heavy, in fact just about right for a tenor. Comfort is assisted by that nice satin finish and the rather wonderful fretboard radius which makes fretting so natural. I suppose the only thing I would change to compliment that radius would be to make the nut a little wider, but I have big hands so that is more a personal view.
But pretty woods and comfort mean nothing at all if the instrument is a dead duck to play. I tend to partly judge instruments based on my reaction when I first hit a chord on them. With nice instruments I tend to smile. With really nice instruments I often say 'wow!". I can honestly say that I did both with this Cocobolo.
The first thing that grabbed me was the sustain. It rings and rings and rings and you can feel the vibrations transferring through to your ribcage from the back of the body (always a good sign). In fact I can feel the vibrations in the crook of my fretting hand. It feels like the instrument is alive! Couple this with decent volume too and you are off to a good start.
But aside from those elements, it has a really interesting clarity of mixed tones. It's a warm sound, but each string stands out and doesn't sound confused or muddy. It really took me aback to be honest as I freely admit I wasn't sure what to expect. Fingerpicked and it turns bell like with the high A really cutting through and giving it a shimmer. It's all good really and a joy to play.
Certainly not a case of style over substance, this Cocobolo has a lovely substantial tone that is hard to dislike. Couple that with striking pretty looks and a good build quality and I think this is a winner. And that price - really, that is a great deal for what you are getting I think. I'd need to change those bar frets though..
I've had experience of the Kala 'Travel' series of musical instruments for quite some years now, but only recently managed to get my hands on one to feature on the Got A Ukulele reviews page. Say hello to the Kala KA-SSTU-C Travel Concert.
Time for another ukulele review in the form of a new entry level model from Mahalo. The 2500 'Kahiko' model soprano.
Now I have not had the best experiences with the Mahalo brand and have been quite vocal about them (see my review of the Flying V Ukulele here) and that is mainly because I think their quality control has been poor. Whilst some people get good ones, I have come across far too many bad ones with fatal build flaws and I am not a fan of playing 'Russian Roulette' when buying musical instruments. But let's not pre-judge this one and take a look at it.
The 2500 Kahiko range is a new development for Mahalo in 2015 and represents what they call the 'best value ukulele in the world today'. Kahiko is a Hawaiian word for a Hula Dance, so it would appear that still, ukulele brands, even those made in China (as this one is) cannot quite let go of that Hawaii thing... Best value in the world? Read on.
The Kahiko series is made in the far east, and comes in a range of translucent colours (red, blue, white and brown), with this review model being the brown variety. The instrument is made from laminate Sengon which is an Indonesian soft wood. Being a soft wood, I am certainly glad it is made from plywood Sengon! The finish is translucent and is satin to the touch. Being thin and translucent does show off the grain of the outer wood veneer and I think it works quite well actually. It's not going to win any prizes for flamed wood grains, but for me it is far nicer than the flat thick coatings seen on so many other entry level ukuleles at this sort of price - it actually looks like wood! I like the open pore look to instrument and am not a fan of satin finishes that look artificial. It should however be said that the open grain is a feature of the outer Sengon veneer as it is not a wood with a tight grain. No matter - it looks better than most at this price!
The body is traditional double bout in shape, and I do rather like the curved base rather than the more traditional flattened off shape on so many other ukuleles. There is no other decoration on the body and I actually like it for that fact as I think the cheap addition of a screen printed sound hole rosette would only end up looking cheap. The laminate wood is on the thick side, but it is neatly finished all over. The front and back are made of single pieces and the back is completely flat. All in all, I was pleasantly surprised by the body.
The bridge is an unspecified orange hard wood and is a slotted variety which is a boon for beginners as they avoid the tie bar bridge knots. It is glued and screwed in place and is fitted with a straight and non-compensated plastic saddle.
A look inside the instrument shows a very tidy finish for the price. Being made of thick laminate, it is not braced, but equally it is not plagued by wood shavings and glue splurges. The kerfing is not notched but otherwise there is not much more to write about the inside!
Up to the neck and Mahalo specify this as Sengon wood as well. Really? A soft wood for a neck? Oh well. It is made of three pieces with a joint at the heel and one nearer the headstock.
On top of the neck is laid a hardwood fingerboard, very reminiscent of the Vintage model ukulele I reviewed recently. It feels harder than the Vintage though and seems to have some sort of rubbed finish on it whereas the Vintage is bare wood. It's complete with 12 brass frets which is fairly standard for an entry level soprano. There are no outward facing position markers, but it does come with side markers. That is a first for me! No complaints though as they have included the markers that matter.
The edges of the fingerboard are not bound but rather painted in black. I think it looks rather stark against the paler wood of the rest of the instrument and would have preferred they left that off. Not a huge complaint though and some people might like it.
Past the moulded plastic nut we have a fairly generic shaped headstock with the Mahalo logo applied in screen print. I don't much like the Mahalo logo actually and I think it looks cheap. Of course, this instrument IS cheap, but I just think it is time Mahalo re-branded. I think it detracts from the instrument and kind of makes it look like a toy. Just me?
Tuning is provided by open geared tuners that are stamped 'Mahalo'. They are certainly cheap but better than many I have seen at this price point and work well enough. Being a soprano I would rather have seen friction pegs, but at the lower price end of the market, cheap ukuleles mean cheap friction pegs and there is nothing worse. As such, this was probably the sensible choice for Mahalo and the beginners that this instrument is undoubtedly aimed at. The peg buttons are overly large for my liking but I have seen much worse.
Completing the deal are a set of clear nylon strings which are frankly horrible and a cloth gig bag / cover branded 'Mahalo' which offers little to no protection other than keeping dust off it. Strangely, I have seen even worse bags than this one, but still, you do wonder why they bother! Price wise, I have seen these vary quite a bit anywhere between around £23 to £28. Real bargain basement stuff. The 'best value in the world today' as Mahalo claim? Well.. one of the cheapest, certainly. But I don't measure 'value' purely on how cheap an item is. It needs to deliver.
So it's a cheap laminate ukulele but actually I can't find any build flaws, scratches or issues that usually plague instruments at this price point. Yes, it's plain, but it looks like a wooden ukulele to me. I like the shape and I like the finish. But how is it as an instrument?
To hold it is comfortable enough and extremely light. Something that often plagues cheap end instrument is they are overly heavy. I think the Sengon laminate is helping here. It feels nice in the hands and doesn't feel 'cheap' like many others do.
Set up out of the box needs work. Both the nut and saddle are too high, and whilst the nut height is not massively throwing out notes at the lower frets and intonation is generally 'OK', beginners will find the height of the strings uncomfortable to learn on. Bear that in mind if you are thinking of picking one of these up.
Sound wise, I was not expecting great things, and, frankly, didn't get them. The strings are the real let down on this instrument giving it minimal volume, and a real plinky plonk sound with little sustain. A string change would certainly help here. Now people may say, 'well you can apply that thinking to the Vintage you reviewed badly' and of course you can. The difference there though was that the Vintage was plagued with plenty of other build issues that I am not seeing on this one. But I don't sense that underneath that it is a wonder instrument. That choice of Sengon may well make it light, but I am not convinced it will make the most resonant laminate either.
It's hard for me to say much more really. Watch the video below. It's certainly not the worst sounding instrument I have played, but it's definitely not the best either.
For an absolute beginner you can choose better than this one I think, but strings may close the gap a little. I quite like the look of it and the finish is pretty good actually. It still doesnt beat the likes of Makala Dolphin or an Octopus as my favourite bargain priced instruments but compared to entry level Mahalo instruments of old, this is a huge improvement!
Mixed views I guess, but there is 'something' about it that I quite liked actually!
Always puts a smile on my face when there is a new pUKEs release and what better than a ukulele band with a Charity Chrismas Single?
The pUKEs - credit Mark Richards
Another self penned track from the band with a superbly produced video (see below). What I love about the pUKES is that whilst they are ukulele driven band, when you listen to them they sound like a 'band', and a good one at that. They use the ukuleles as what they are meant for - to make music. The music THEY like, with not a Hawaiian twee derivative thing in sight!
Great tune, great driving rhythm, great vocals.
The single is available for pre-order on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/exmas-single/id1055100584 and the money raised is going to the Rock N Roll Rescue charity in Camden. Rock N Roll Rescue is a volunteer run music shop that directs it's money to a range of local charities including local food banks, homeless, kids and the like. It was set up by Knox of punk band The Vibrators and has been supported by the pUKEs for some time.
Have a pre listen and watch the video - not least as you get to see old mate and pUKE Paul Redfern dressed up as an old lady..
The single gets a launch party too - 6th December at the Dublin Castle pub in Camden.
And in other pUKEs news - they have a mini tour this December supporting none other than Bad Manners!
12 December NORWICH Epic (with Bad Manners)
13 December LONDON Under The Bridge (with Bad Manners)
18 December LONDON Under The Bridge (with Bad Manners)
20 December BRIGHTON Concorde 2 (with Bad Manners)
Be sure to grab the single - its a cracker and all for a great cause.
Something I am seeing a lot of these days is ukulele manufacturers being economical or misleading with their product descriptions.
The use of terms like 'all mahogany' as a means to give the impression that an instrument is made from solid wood annoys be greatly - so how can you check what you have?
I am rather excited to have this one in my hands, as it really does hold a special place in the range of ukuleles out there. It's also a ukulele I have wanted to own for quite some time. Hello to the tenor scale resonator ukulele made in the UK by Beltona musical instruments.
I am often accused of only reviewing 'expensive' ukuleles. I clearly don't (just go to the Reviews section and see...) so here we go with another one at the low price end. Say hello to the Vintage VUK20N Soprano.
I actually owned one of these years ago when I started the blog and it featured in my video comparing the sound of lots of instruments. It was pretty dreadful to be honest. Sadly, that was before I started writing up regular instrument reviews, and I had since given it away (along with a bunch of other ukuleles) to a charity. More recently though I have been keeping an eye on ukuleles on Amazon and picking out those that have unusually and consistently high user review scores. In fact this model regularly hits the billing as "number 1 best seller" on Amazon UK. So this one certainly fits the bill on that score, yet could I have been wrong about it all those years ago? Let's take a look.
The Vintage VUK20 is billed on Amazon as the 'Vintage Ukulele Outfit' (meaning it comes with a gig bag, a plectrum and a pitch pipe) although it is available in very similar forms called the VUK15 also. To my eyes, they all look very similar and are the same price too.. I was actually intrigued by the Vintage brand as I actually owned a guitar of theirs which was pretty damn good. In fact, their guitars have built a fairly solid reputation as good value and quality in both the acoustic and electric markets. Clearly they chose to dip a toe into the ukulele world. But did they take that decision seriously?
First up, let's take a look at some of the product wording from Amazon for this one. It is billed as being made of mahogany. Err, no, no it isn't. It's made of laminate plywood with a mahogany coloured outer that is spray painted. In fact it doesn't even look like wood as there very little grain showing at all. Pedants may suggest the plywood is made of mahogany pieces, but for me that does not make it a mahogany ukulele. The product descriptions also says it is 'wonderfully finished' and being 'for beginners wanting to spend that little bit more for superior quality'. We shall see. I'm not entirely what this is 'spending more' than, considering it costs just over £20 but there you go. Are people actually spending less than £20??
To be fair, the Vintage website is not quite so gushing, but describes the body as Sapeli Ply. It is certainly ply, but that is far as it goes... But that product description on Amazon must have come from somewhere, and considering it wasn't a third party seller, I'd wager it came from Vintage... For those interested, Sapele (note the correct spelling) is a cheap african wood reminiscent of mahogany and often mistakenly called 'African Mahogany'. So isn't actually mahogany in the first place, but not even laminate with a mahogany outer. It's Sapele... plywood. I would also note that on the UK Amazon store this has a massively high user rating and very few negative comments. Sounds too good to be true?
So as I say, a laminate body ukulele in a kind of spray painted satin gloss finish in a rather dreadful shade of brown. Mahogany does NOT look like this in any way and for that matter, neither does Sapele.. It's in a soprano scale and standard in shape with a double bout. It's made in China (where else?) and can be bought for about £23 in the UK. At first glance it actually doesn't look too bad on the construction front. Cheap certainly and rather bland to look at, but all seems to be in one piece.
It comes boxed with a suitably Hawaiian look to the packaging and arrived with me with one of the worst setups I have ever seen on an instrument. More on that later, but trust me, if you are a beginner, you will not be able to realistically play this from the get go if it arrives like this one did.
The laminate is extremely, in fact MASSIVELY thick and it feels overly heavy for what it is. As I say, generally speaking the body finish is ok, but there are a few scuffs and scratches in the finish here and there which isn't right for a brand new instrument of any price. The issue appears to be a mix of that soft plywood construction coupled with a thin finish with no resilience to everyday knocks. There is no body binding or decoration save for a simple white screen printed double circle around the sound hole. As simple as that decoration is, it is also applied slightly off centre. Annoying. The top and back are made from single pieces of laminate and the back has no curve to it. A pretty basic standard cheap soprano then.
The bridge is a slotted type made from what Amazon claim to be rosewood. At first I thought it may well be, although looking closer, the strings are starting to split and gouge the wood. That would be very unlikely with a good rosewood leading me to think it is either not rosewood at all, or a very cheap piece of it. It is finished ok though I suppose, very simple and held in place by screws covered by a couple of pearloid cover plates. But the impact those strings are having on the slots worries me. On cheaper ukuleles those slots can split to be too wide for the knots rendering them useless and pretty much unfixable. I suspect that is what is going to happen to this one.
The saddle is plastic, straight and uncompensated. One of those cheap saddles that you know has not been shaped in any way whatsoever as you can still see the ridge from the plastic moulding machine running along the top.
A look inside shows it to be very plain. It is neat enough I suppose, but at the end of the day it's a laminate box. The edge kerfing is flat and on one side seems to be splitting with a chunk of wood kind of peeling away from the inside. What surprised me is that there appears to be no bracing at all. I know laminate is stronger than solid wood, but you usually see at least 'some' bracing to give some strength to the thin laminate pieces. But hey, when your laminate is this thick - Vintage clearly don't think you need it.. It genuinely is just a hefty plywood box then. I suspect the strength on the top under the bridge area is achieved by some extra sheets of plywood in that area. Exactly where you want resonance and vibration... Not good.
The neck is a fairly generic Chinese factory soprano profile and width. It's coated in the same finish as the body so it's hard to see how it is constructed in full, but I think it is made from three pieces with a joint at the heel and one at the headstock.Vintage claim it is made from Linden wood. Lime or 'basswood' in other words. You know, just because a brand uses the species name of a tree, doesn't mean it's any good for a musical instrument. And basswood is super cheap.
The fingerboard is made of......hang on, what on earth is that made of?? Amazon claim it's rosewood but it certainly isn't. I think it's a cheap slab of mahogany, possibly laminate that looks cheap, rough and unfinished. It's got an orangey colour and has an open grain that I don't like on a fingerboard. It looks like a piece of wood taken out of my garden fence. Looking at it more closely and there are quite a few indentations and gouges in the wood in various fret spaces. Taking a fingernail to the wood and pressing it leaves a mark. You see, there is a reason why denser and harder woods are used for fingerboards and Vintage seem to have ignored that completely. In short I think after a night of playing this, the fingerboard is only going to look worse. The softness, open grain and light colour also are likely to make it a magnet for oils and dirt from fingers and I suspect this will look dirty quite quickly. Quite honestly - horrible.
Set into the fingerboard are brass frets with a fairly standard 12 to the body. The edges are finished ok but the frets themselves look like they have seen better days (bearing in mind this is a new instrument). Most of them are caked in a fairly gunky looking rusty corrosion which is not really to my tastes at all. And surely I am not being fussy there? This is a BRAND NEW INSTRUMENT! "Would you like your ukulele frets corroded or non corroded sir?"
Position markers are provided at the 5th, 7th and 10th spaces in the way of inlaid pearly plastic dots. There are no side markers and the edges of the fingerboard are unbound.
Past the moulded plastic nut (in which we have something I would not describe as 'slots' more 'slight depressions' for the strings) we have a generic crown shaped headstock finished in the same brown as the rest of the instrument. Screen printed on is the Vintage logo in gold (and screen printed quite roughly at that with a fuzzy edge to the print like the transfer came from a bad photocopier).
Tuning is provided by open geared chrome tuners that are of the ultra cheap variety and move in the brackets when you turn them. The buttons are cream coloured plastic and way, way to large for an instrument of this size (unless you like your sopranos to look like it has ears like Prince Charles). They are each held in place by two small screws, but Vintage clearly thought that was overkill, so on one of the tuners, a screw has been missed. This means the whole tuner shifts on the mounting not just the peg. I'm sure it is probably in the packaging somewhere and probably didn't leave the factory like this but the inside of the screw hole looks sheared. No wonder it came out.. A fiddly thing to fix that will involve plugging the screw hole and resetting.. if you can be bothered.
Completing the deal is a black 'gig bag' (of which I have seen bin liners that are thicker), a pletctrum, a pitch pipe and a set of black nylon strings that you REALLY want to swap out (unless you like the feel of strumming rubber bands).
So.. dare I go on? How does it 'play' (I use that word with caution)? Well in the simplest sense it feels like a soprano ukulele I guess. It's overly heavy for what it is, and certainly over built. The feel of the body is not the nicest in the world and the fretboard, as well as being marked and scratched as I say above, actually feels rough under the fingers. The corroded frets are also noticeable against the fingertips. Some people talk about the smell from the sound hole in instruments in their reviews. I never have, but I did not need to get my nose anywhere near the sound hole to know what it smells like. A kind of synthetic, glue /chemical odour. Not enjoyable.
Action at the saddle is unacceptably high although that can be easily adjusted I suppose if you know what you are doing. Action at the nut though is one of the highest I have ever seen which means the notes throw sharp when fretted at the lower spaces on account of the string stretching required to make the strings engage with the frets. That isn't quite so straightforward for a beginner to fix. We are talking MASSIVELY high here. Bearing in mind this is aimed at beginners, and beginners spend most of their time playing chord shapes in the first positions (i.e. near the nut) - well you can see that this sort of setup doesn't make for a good experience. Sure enough, even simple first position chords sound out of tune when the ukulele is actually in tune played open. Classic high nut issue.
Taking a ruler to the neck I noted that the bridge is slightly out of place as well. Not by much, but enough to affect intonation and one of those things I put down to being more in the 'fatal' category of flaws in that it's much much harder to fix. So when it comes to the things that affect action the most - nut height, saddle height and bridge position, all three are flawed. One is easily fixed, one is a more difficult fix and one.... well, honestly, it just wouldn't be worth the bother..
There is something odd going on with the string spacing at the saddle as well. The C and E strings are further apart from each other than they are from the G and A strings. I don't think that is fatal, just odd and badly made. It's more normal at the nut end, so I think the slots in the bridge are cut incorrectly.
Sound wise, the instrument is suitably boxy and one dimensional on account of that excess of thick laminate. It's got poor volume / projection and very little sustain. You can really tell it is not projecting well both with your ears (it is quiet) but in feedback through the body. Lively sopranos vibrate into your chest when you play them. This one feels dead. Hey, I know this is a cheap ukulele, but read my other reviews. You can get sopranos at this sort of price that sound MUCH better. It can be done.
And sure, those strings are truly awful and you WOULD want to change them, but you are not going to get much more life out of this thing regardless of what you string it with. In reviews of other instruments I have been less than impressed with, I quite often receive comments along the lines of 'but if you re-strung it, it would sing!'. Please don't assume that this ukulele is a killer instrument let down by the strings alone. It really just sums up what some people call a 'ukulele shaped object'. Sure you could also call it a 'wall hanger' (i.e. a ukulele for decoration only), but really - with this putrid shade of brown - I'd at least go for something prettier! You could spray paint it I suppose...
This one is heavy, over built, badly built and terribly set up.
Just a final point on ukuleles that get my bad reviews like this one. I know full well that some of the elements I have mentioned on this can relatively easily be fixed. Yes, the strings are bad, but they can be changed. Yes, the action is high but it can be lowered. Heck - you could even swap out the tuners, and some wire wool may work wonders with the frets. I accept all of that but bear in mind the sort of person who is likely to buy one of these. A beginner? A parent buying one for a child? Why should they go through the trouble of having to deal with these things, potentially at further cost in order to make the thing sound even slightly decent. Ukuleles in this state should never reach the customer (and probably wouldn't if you bought one from a good dealer) In fact ukuleles like this should never leave the factory in my view.. So why are these not in the hands of the places I consider to be 'good dealers'? Well probably because far too many of them arrive from China in this sort of state that they are just not worth the hassle!
And those, of course, are just the things that can be adjusted. The thick laminate woods, the boxy sound, the mis placed bridge, the terrible tone - those cannot be fixed very easily.
Some people are bound to say, 'but I got a good one Barry!'. Perhaps you did - that is entirely possible but I have seen enough at this price to know that the quality control is like playing Russian Roulette. You might have had a good one, but how many got a bad one? And there lies the problem I have with them. Why take the chance when there are better alternatives for similar money?
They are the preserve of Amazon and eBay stores, usually accompanied by 'user reviews' by people who have only ever played this one instrument and think they are 'great'. This Vintage is NOT great and I don't care how many five star reviews you will find. It's just a perfect example of everything I don't like about most instruments at this price point. For the record Amazon, I also don't see anything in it that is 'wonderfully finished' or of 'superior quality' as you state.
Yes - of course you could just 'send it back', but my advice would be to not put yourself through the waste of time in the first place.
And finally, reviews such as this also tend to cause some people to claim the 'snob' card and suggest that I only like expensive instruments. Regular readers of Got A Ukulele will know that is not the case. I just don't like 'cheap' being used as an excuse to make something that is awful and doesn't fulfil the basic requirements of a musical instrument. More importantly, it need not be this way. I understand that for many people money is extremely tight and this may be as much as they can justify on a ukulele. There are good options though. Take my advice - if this is your maximum budget level, get a Makala Dolphin, Makala Shark or an Octopus brand... The Stagg is not a ukulele you should trouble yourself with.
Not really any I can think of - I suppose it is 'ukulele shaped', and cool if you like the colour 'dysentry beige'
UKULELE CONS
Scuffed body finish and misleading product description
Horrible soft fingerboard
Corroded frets
Cheap tuners that are not screwed on properly
Bridge misplaced, and slots mis cut
Woeful setup out of the box at both bridge and nut
Terrible strings
Pointless gig bag
Depressing spray painted colour
UKULELE SCORES
Looks - 3.5 out of 10
Fit and finish - 3 out of 10
Sound - 3.5 out of 10
Value for money - 5 out of 10
Ah, the ukulele boom. Certainly still in full swing around the country and the world. But do you ever find the events are getting a little samey? Festivals large and small, club nights in most towns on any night of the week. And so on. Then something catches your eye that is just that bit different. Ukulele Speed Dating is certainly that!
Brainchild of Lorraine Bow of Learn to Uke fame I thought this was a really neat idea. Lorraine is known to many people and us a ukulele teacher in London. She started the Learn To Uke ukulele classes, Ukulele Wednesdays and KaraUke and figured that as ukulele playing is such a social pastime, and that many people are single - why not put the two together?
Lorraine Bow
Speed dating is nothing new I guess - but with a ukulele? A new one on me!
Ukulele Speed Dating is starting out on 1 December in the Goldsmith Bar and Kitchen in London SE1. It's going to start with a 45 minute speed dating session followed by a strum along until 9pm to meet more people.
Importantly, this is not just about dating. Whilst you may find the love of your life you may actually use it to find new ukulele friends. At that can't be a bad thing can it?
Lorraine is someone with a real knack for ukulele events so I am sure this one will go from strength to strength. I look forward to news of the first Ukulele Speed Dating wedding!
Been a while since I ran a promotion on my ukulele ebooks so by way of a pre-Christmas promotion, all of the Got A Ukulele beginners ebooks are on half price promotion in the Kindle Stores worldwide!
That means that the two original books (What Ukulele Players Really Want To Know and More What Ukulele Players Really Want To Know) can now be grabbed in Kindle format for only $1.99 (or £1.29 in the UK). The Chords book has also been price dropped.
The Omnibus edition (the collection of the first two books in one volume) is now only $2.99 (or £1.99)
These offers are a short term thing, so now may be the time to grab a bargain.
Think of them as costing ¼ of a pack of strings (or other such comparisons!)
You can grab each of the Barry Maz books on Amazon Kindle on the links below!
And its also available on the Amazon Kindle stores in Germany, Canada, Australia, Japan, Italy, France, Spain, Mexico too! Hurry - the price drop won't last forever!
One subject that you will see mentioned a lot is that of ukulele 'setup'. This means the adjustment of certain parts of the ukulele to adjust playability and tuning accuracy. In the main most people go no further on the point than 'leaving that to the dealer' and may never adjust anything on their instrument again. Why not?
Some time ago I put this video together on YouTube talking about adjusting action / intonation on the ukulele but thought I would expand on that on the blog. And why? Well because I think with many many people they still seem afraid to adjust anything. A fear that they may break something at best or that the universe will end at worst.. But, it's designed to be adjusted!
In the simplest sense I have seen beginners stress about changing strings on their ukulele and even in a couple of cases taking them in to stores to have the shop do it for them. I find that quite incredible because the reality is that changing strings on a ukulele is super simple. Sure, it's a job none of us really enjoy, but complicated it is not. I always that strings are like tyres / tires on a car. If you own a car you SHOULD know how to change a wheel in case you get a flat. Tyres are designed to be changed and they don't last forever. It's the same with strings - they wear and break. They will need changing. Sadly there is no magic ukulele fairy out there who can do these while you sleep (although the way some people get evangelical about the uke, you would think there would be...). It's something that I would encourage all ukulele beginners to do quite early on in their ownership of the uke. Sure, you may get it wrong first time, so just whip them off and start again! Go too far and snap one? Then get another set. Strings are not expensive (well unless you think that $15 for a ukulele is expensive and then strings would represent a big chunk of that... but lets not go there...). The thing is, you WILL be changing strings at some point. You WILL snap a string at some point. Do you really want to be in a situation, perhaps half way through a busk / gig / club night and have to change strings having never done it before? Surely far better to have done it once or twice before in the calm of your own home. Here is my take on changing ukulele strings.
But it goes beyond strings too. The next most adjustable part of the ukulele is the bridge saddle. Now unless you have something exotic with a fixed moulded bridge, the little white strip in your bridge is designed to be removable and adjusted. This can adjust a range of things and is something that is MEANT to be looked at. Adjusting your action can change the playability of the ukulele (the feel on the fretting fingers) but also the projection and response. The saddle changes the action of the ukulele over most of the fretboard and reducing a high action can often deal with intonation issues (the accuracy of the fretted notes up and down the neck). Last but not least, removing a saddle allows the fitting of an under saddle pickup, and fitting one of those WILL require you to lower the saddle to compensate for the height the pickup is adding. For me, an acceptable action would be one that sees the strings at about 3mm above the crown of the 12th fret but this can vary and it really is personal preference. Much higher though and the mathematics of the neck to string angle throws the tuning out on some of the frets. Adjusting a saddle downwards is simply a case of removing it and sanding the base down keeping it perfectly flat. No need to touch the top edge at all. Go too far and you can get buzzing or loss of projection and tone, but you can shim it back up with card or a sliver of wood veneer. If you go slowly replacing and checking the height every so often you should not have that problem. Try it - measure your action height at the 12th and if its way higher - why not give it a go!
Fret edges sharp? Get a file to them! Whilst I mention fret edges in all my reviews, and a ukulele sent by a dealer with sharp edges is unacceptable, what people don't realise is that humidity, environmental factors and time can affect fret edges through the slight shrinkage of the fingerboard. It's perfectly normal to have a ukulele that was nice and smooth on the neck suddenly develop sharp edges. Do you really want to pay someone to smooth them off when its just a short job with a small file? Again, just go easy and if you are concerned about the finish, masking tape is your friend!
This leaves the nut which is a more difficult one to deal with as it requires some special filing equipment to take high nut slots down. The trouble with the nut is that it is not quite that simple. It's about taking them down AND leaving the correct break point at which the string runs off in tension down the neck. Get that wrong and you can throw out intonation as well. And of course, if you go too low its a much bigger job to take them back up. For me, I check nut height by holding a string at the third fret and seeing that the string should then only just kiss the top of the first fret. If you have loads of daylight when you do that, you have a high nut and likely to have intonation issues at the lower frets. Be very careful though in taking them down and use the right tools for the job. That said, I'd encourage you to try if you are confident.
But this isn't meant to be a 'how to guide'. It's here to make the point that getting to know your instrument, and getting used to adjusting things is a normal part of instrument ownership. Not only can such adjustments improve the performance of a ukulele they get you totally in touch with the instrument and give you a better understanding of how the ukulele actually works. At the end of the day a ukulele relies on some accuracy in mathematical measuring to make it play the way it supposed to. It's one of the curses of cheap ukuleles as things like whilst action can be adjusted and often improve such ukuleles, things like mis placed bridges and frets can prove fatal in a pursuit of accurate tuning. But learning to see how these things work will help you recognise whether you do have a major problem or not, and in most cases give you the skills to improve tuning issues. (How many times have I read of beginners saying 'yeah it was cheap and it goes out of tune up the neck, but I will live with it'? Why live with it??
Of course I am also not saying that certain build flaws are acceptable just because you can fix them yourself. I remain if the view that ukuleles should be sourced from good dealers who will give things like the frets and saddle a once over before shipping, but you are permitted to have a fettle yourself. If you are not happy it is your right to send it back. Nor am I saying that you should all be talented luthiers willing to take ukuleles to pieces (although I am sure some of you would have that in you if you put your minds to it). It's just that I think players need some encouragement to try things out with their instruments. If you go carefully and read guides / watch example videos, so long as you don't go crazy it's unlikely you will do anything fatal.
I actually find it quite sad when I read that people are afraid to meddle with anything on the uke. It's really not all that hard and will get you in touch with the instrument. No dealer can give you the perfect setup that you find the most comfortable as we all have different preferences. I have owned a LOT of ukuleles and have adjusted the bridge of most of them since they arrived. That is not to say the dealers got it wrong (they don't because I choose good dealers who send things within acceptable limits) but I find that the fine tuning is down to me! And at risk of repeating myself - these things are SUPPOSED to be adjusted.
Over the years of writing this website I get a lot of mail and messages, as you can imagine. I'm always keen to help new ukulele players, but it struck me that there are a range of common questions that crop up more often than any others.
Questions are normal and it is good to ask rather than plough on blindly. I think though that most of them can be plagued by questionable responses from people who really should know better. Thought it would be interesting to collate them here, together with the answers I usually give! Did I miss any?
1. What are the best strings I should get?
There is no 'best' string, only the string brand YOU like best. That's my usual answer and at first glance it may sound unhelpful. The thing is though, strings for ukuleles are personal things and I don't like many strings that other people swear by. Different strings can also suit different instruments. My advice is always the same - try a few sets and trust your own ears. Your decision will not be 'wrong' despite what others may tell you. Also remember that whilst Aquila brand strings appear on new ukuleles perhaps more than any other, that does not make them the best. And no string will make you a better player!
2. What is the best ukulele you can recommend me for price X?
This is also an impossible one to answer. I can give you some suggestions, and point you in the direction of my ukulele reviews to help you out, but there really is a dizzying array of instruments on the market. When I started playing the choices were pretty slim, now there a huge numbers available. All I would say is try a few if you can, and if you can't and have to rely on mail order, read as many impartial reviews as you can.
3. What is the best wood for a ukulele?
Another totally subjective question (spotting pattern here?). Wood choice boils down to a couple of things - tone and looks. The tone is the most important and they do differ, but I appreciate that looks can be important to people. Try not to be swayed by ultra fancy finishes that are really just plywood underneath (most ukuleles at the lower price end). Nothing wrong with laminates, but I see a lot of people recommending them based purely on looks when in reality most cheap laminates are the same stuff with just a different outer veneer. For me, I probably own more ukuleles made of mahogany than anything else. I am not saying that makes the best ukuleles but it is a good traditional choice with a balanced tone and good projection. Hawaiian Koa seems to be considered to be the holy grail for ukuleles and I agree that in a high end instrument it has a wonderful tone. Beware the cheaper far eastern Acacia Koa though - really not the same as Hawaiian stuff and if you are buying an instrument purely because it has the word 'Koa' in the product description then you really need to consider who you are trying to impress.. Beyond those woods there is a lot of choice out there - none of it is 'wrong' and 'best' is down to personal choice.
4. What is the best place to buy a ukulele?
There are lots of good ukulele specialist on the planet but sadly not as many as I would like there to be. Note the word 'specialist' here. Lots of general music stores have cottoned on to the fact that ukuleles sell well and have filled their walls with the instruments. Sadly I have had first hand experience with some of these big name stores and the assistants in them know very little about the instrument. If a dealer doesn't know the first thing about a ukulele, would you trust them? A good specialist dealer will not only select their range carefully, but will weed out sub standard models and ensure that the setup is checked before shipping. Big brand music stores are unlikely to do this and Amazon certainly will not. Looking to save $5 on the purchase price of a ukulele only to find you either have to work at the setup (or worse, pay someone to set it up) seems counter productive to me. My recommended ukulele stores are these
5. I'm a beginner / have small hands -would a larger ukulele be better for me?
No no no and no. What I mean is there is no correlation between ease of play and hand size or ability. In fact for a beginner a larger scale ukulele may be more cumbersome to hold and have longer stretches on some chords. All ukuleles have their place and none is any better than the other, they are just 'different' in resonance. Think about it - the soprano is the standard shape and the most common around the world. When I started most ukuleles on the market were soprano scale and that didn't stop people learning on them. Play a few, pick a scale that feels comfortable to you. You won't make a 'wrong choice'. And please, don't consider larger ukuleles a 'step up' for better abilities. Complete nonsense.
6. I only have £20 what ukulele should I get?
A touchy subject. I totally understand that many people don't have access to much money and that things are tight. I don't mean this to sound snobby, but there is no automatic right for something to be cheap just because you want it to be. Ukuleles are technical musical instruments and they require a certain level of care in their construction to play well. At the ultra low price points that can be very hard if not impossible to achieve. For that reason the ultra bargain end of the ukulele ranges are plagued with dead sounding instruments with fatal build flaws that are only ever going to work against you. Why would you buy an instrument that costs less than a ukulele lesson? Being less negative, there ARE some choices out there at the ultra cheap end, but they are few and far between. Go carefully if that is all you are prepared to spend, and if you can, try and save up a bit longer and get something a little more serious. I think an entry level spend of £50-£60 will improve things for you.
8. I have been playing for a couple of weeks and my fingers hurt / I can't form this chord - what am I doing wrong?
Most likely you are doing nothing wrong. The ukulele has been cursed by the media enjoying giving it the tagline of 'being easy'. The result of that is people assume that they can be playing all chords in a matter of days. The word 'easy' is relative though. It's easier than many instruments but it still requires all important practice. Sore fingers and inability to reach certain chords are perfectly normal issues facing most new players. Your hands are trying to reach positions that they are not used to and they will ache or seem impossible at first. Stick with it and I promise you that in time you will look back and wonder what the fuss was all about. Assuming you practice of course. Rome wasn't built in a day and please please please, don't immediately go for cheat chords or avoid certain chords because they are too difficult. Those difficult ones are the ones you should focus more practice on!
9. Can you recommend some good tuition videos?
YouTube is a pretty marvellous thing and there are lots of ukulele resources on there. They are though more aids to practice than true teaching tools. And like anything open to the public there are lots of people on there who call themselves teachers but really are not. Personally if you are set on tuition I would recommend going to a decent teacher (a list of ukulele teachers can be found here). If you must rely on internet videos, choose carefully and watch many. If a 'teacher' is merely showing you the chords to some songs, I would argue that is not a 'teacher'.
10. I am finding it hard to hold my ukulele. Is it ok to use a strap?
Of course it is. The last time I checked there was no law in any country stating that such a thing was unlawful. It's your ukulele, do what YOU need to do for it to be comfortable. Why struggle against something that can be improved so simply? And no, they don't affect the tone.
If you are a more seasoned player - do any of these questions resonate with you from when you were starting out?
If you enjoy this blog, donations are welcomed to allow me to invest more time in bringing you ukulele articles. Aside from the Google ads, I don't get paid to write this blog and for reasons of impartiality a not sponsored by brands or stores. Your donations all go back into the site to allow me to keep bringing you reviews, and in the end the ukuleles acquired are given to local schools and charities.
