Thursday, February 14, 2013

Ook


The old, above; 
The new, below.


Couple-three years back, we were at a charity function, and put in a bid on a cheap ukulele and wound up with it. I was kinda curious, since that was the first instrument I had a chance to fool with, back in the 7th grade Music-Art-Speech cycle in junior high.

I piddled with the thing for a while, stuck in on a shelf, then went back to my guitar.

Recently, it came to me that I needed to have a second instrument with which I could get frustrated, so I picked up the uke again. There are guys who can make you cry they play these so well. If you haven't seen it, check out Jake Shimabukuro's rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," on YouTube. Or James Hill's "Billie Jean," in which he plays three different parts at the same time, lead, chords, and percussion. Jaw-droppers, both of these guys.

Mine doesn't sound awful with good strings, but let's face it, it's only one step up from a toy. If I plan to spend any time plucking away, I need something better.

And a tad bigger, too.

Ukuleles come in several configurations, the most common of which is the soprano, which I have, and which is the smallest. Short fretboard, mine only has a dozen frets, and itty-bitty spaces. My hands aren't huge, but when you are used to the two-and-a-quarter inch wide at the nut classical guitar fretboard, it makes for cramps going to something that tiny.

They make what they call a concert version, whose fretboard and bodies are a bit longer and wider. There is a tenor model, and a baritone, plus a bass thingee, too, and the boxes and boards get bigger still on those.

A good ukulele will set you back between and thousand and two thousand bucks. A really good one can run a whole lot more. The most expensive and best-known custom-made exotic-wood ukes come from Hawaii. The company who made Jake Shimabukuro's tenor put out a limited-run signature model for him a while back. A hundred instruments, fifty-five hundred dollars each, and they sold out fast. If you want one? Expect to pay close to twice that for it used, and more for a lower number.

Me, I don't have ten grand for a ukulele, but there are folks who pay that.

Most production ukes are made in China or Indonesia, many of them shipped to the U.S. where they are set-up and finished by local luthiers. There is one enterprising maker in Indiana who offers the slogan, "Not all great ukuleles are made in Hawaii." The company name is "Mainland," and you might be forgiven for assuming from that slogan that theirs are made in the U.S. Nope, though they are set-up and finished here. In this instance, "Mainland" seems to refer more to China, where they are produced.

Funny, although online research has it that this company makes a pretty good entry-level product.

You can get a decent production model entry-level uke for a couple-three hundred bucks, which isn't a patch on the custom jobs, but which is still waaay better than the one I have.

So I decided to upgrade ...

I've ordered a Mainland Concert model, no frills nor frippery, but which seems to have a good tone, and which gets reviewed well, even when compared to similar instruments costing several times as much. Solid mahogany (as opposed to plywood), slot-head with geared tuners, fourteen frets to the body, nineteen overall. Comes with Aquila strings, too.

At the very least, I can learn how to play basic blues on it, and maybe do some fingerpicking that's not too complex. Stay tuned. Pun intended ...

9 comments:

Kris said...

My girlfriend has hers in the shop right now, and she's gong nuts without it. Your timing couldn't have been better.

Steve Perry said...

What's the problem?

The Daring Novelist said...

Just wanted to say that, though I seldom comment on your music posts, I really enjoy them and always read them.

steve-vh said...

Our guitar player has several ukes including a Flying V!!.
His brother is quite accomplshed with an electric one and sits in when he's in town. Quite fun playing classic rock with the electric Uke.
i imagine they both picked it up when they were growing up for a while in hawaii.

venture220 said...

Couldn't find it on YouTube, but if you've never heard Martin Mull playing slide Uke with a baby bottle, well, then you've never HAD the blues

Steve Perry said...

I have heard Mull do blues on the Uke, been years and years. Several makers have come up with resonator ukes for blues players, the guy I took a few lessons from has one. Apparently there has been a big resurgence in the the instrument's popularity.

There are always some handmade ones at the instrument show at Marylhurst in the spring; gives me one more things to lust over when I go next time.

Kris said...

Oh, there's no problem, she's just getting a strap button put on (she's too thin to use her gut, like most jolly Hawaiian guys I see playing). I wasn't bringing my Dremel anywhere near it (let someone with insurance botch the job, not I)- as I am a known half-asser. $20 for the hardware and work didn't seem overly unreasonable, especially since the lessons, which she has been putting off, run $22.50 per half hour...

Dojo Rat said...

You should try replacing that little high G with a wound metal G.
You tune it the same and chords are the same but it is way, way better for blues...

DR

Steve Perry said...

Oh, yah, already got the low G on the soprano, and will do that with the new one, too.