Comments for Ukulele Review

Comment on Kiwaya KTS-7 Ukulele Review by Jonty Jonson

Jonty Jonson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:56:35 +0000

The ukulele pictured here in this review is the ukulele i own. i stumbled upon by chance being sold on ebay. I am luckily enough to live near the Southern ukulele store in southbourne bournemouth where i purchased my first kiwaya uke a ks1 it was the volume and build quality that impressed me and made me buy it. A few months later i played a KtS4 in teh S.U.S it was awesome andi just had to have it.. months later this kiwaya KTS7 appeared on ebay and i won it at a real bargain price. it is the finest instrument that i could ever wish to own. Owning it now it is irreplaceable and would easily of payed 10 times the amount i payed, knowing now of the ukuleles quality and sound, it really is “the Ukulele of dreams’ . Better than any martin new or vintage i have played … i challenge anyone to find a better uke anywhere. I have been spoilt Living so close to the southern ukulele store as they have, in stock, the finest instruments from all over the world..to try out and play. My Kiwaya KTS7 is the best ukulele in the world in my honest opinion. Every ukulele i play now i judge by this ukulele and none have come close. I am devoted to my Kiwaya KTS7 and will have it for ever…if you are a serious player of ukulele and haven’t tried or played a kiwaya soprano uke try one today.
Having tried Kiwayas other size ukuleles, concerts and tenors, i can say they do not compare to their sopranos. Whatever it is Kiwaya knows and builds into its soprano ukuleles is perfection.
Peace x

Comment on The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end by Kevin Wolfe

Kevin Wolfe — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 12:51:07 +0000

Craig: Could be they’re pricing it for when acacia gets more expensive, and it will since its being used so much right now.

Comment on Flea Ukulele Review by Joanney

Joanney — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:49:46 +0000

The flea has been in my life for many years now. I saw these while randomly window shopping at a music shop in Perth. Picked it up and loved the tone so much and the look is funky too. I travelled with my flea all around Australia playing gigs and events and caught everybody’s eye.
Easy to cart around, handy, beautiful and it certainly is an instrument to have if a uke fan like myself and I shall keep playing my flea for as long as I can.

Comment on The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end by craig

craig — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:40:51 +0000

Thanks mate. The actual Acacia model is more expensive than the mahogany model. So from what your saying, it seems silly to pay the extra money for the acacia model unless buying for the looks.

Comment on The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end by Kevin Wolfe

Kevin Wolfe — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:31:37 +0000

Generally Acacia (in the smiley as Koa) has a nice warm tone plus some brightness. Mahogany is warm and mellow, closer to cedar. That said, I doubt you’ll hear much if any difference plugged in. The old standby Mahogany was probably chosen initially for sturdiness and Acacia was probably chosen for look. Mahogany wood is getting more expensive, so Acacia will also keep the cost of the UBass down.

Comment on The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end by craig

craig — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:18:13 +0000

Could you tell me what the sound difference is between the Mahogany vs Acacia model?

Comment on RISA Uke-Solid Ukulele Review by Julie

Julie — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:49:14 +0000

@Emma it’s Love me Tender from Elvis. You can find the tab here: http://home.arcor.de/crazydawg/ukulele/love_me_tender_v2.txt

Comment on RISA Uke-Solid Ukulele Review by Emma

Emma — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:38:40 +0000

hey,
can you possibly direct me to where I can find the tabs for the song you played for the demo for this? It sounds fun to play…
Cheers

Comment on Mainland Ukuleles – A New Shop in Nashville, Indiana by Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:09:22 +0000

I got a Mainland mahogany (matte) tenor uke from my kids (adult guitar players) for Xmas and am very pleased with the mellow and for uke, rich tone. It’s a beautiful uke and my audio engineer son chose it having compared it to many (I live in uke country, in our little county we have 5 stores that carry ukes and the biggest uke club in the US -2,000 members) other ukes. He tuned (the music stores love him) each uke and would play and compare, even compared with some very expensive ukes. He settled on the Mainland. He just got my granddaughter, a cellist and guitar player as well as uke, a Mainland soprano — beautiful tone. Living on the coast in California, Hawaiian koa, etc. are very popular, but frankly my uke has a wonderful tone compared to these.

Comment on Mainland Ukuleles – A New Shop in Nashville, Indiana by Mike in Portland

Mike in Portland — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:46:23 +0000

Everyone dreams of a handmade in America Ukulele for under $500, or at least under $1000. The tag Line, “Not all great ukuleles….. etc.” combined with the name of the uke “Mainland”, immediately spoke to this widespread desire.
It was enough of a hook to pull me into researching the purchase of a Mainland ukulele. Maybe nothing is implied, yet I did “feel” mislead and disappointed EVEN WHILE I APPRECIATED THAT THESE ARE PROBABLY VERY NICE UKES.

Other name brands and tag lines I’m jadedly/ jokingly thinking about to help me cope with the global economic/ labor situation, at least they aren’t misleading!

Home Grown ukuleles “Some Chinese ukuleles are darn good!”
Beijing ukues “Not all Hawaiian Ukuleles are made in Hawaii”

Comment on The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end by website

website — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:41:10 +0000

2 ice

Comment on Ukulele Christmas videos on YouTube by Lucas P. Gravell

Lucas P. Gravell — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:13:23 +0000

Check out my CD. I finger pick the ukulele and I’m playing carols much like a classical guitar player might do.

Thanks,
Lucas P.

Comment on Mainland Ukuleles – A New Shop in Nashville, Indiana by Paul Helbert

Paul Helbert — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:38:01 +0000

Just ran across this discussion and got a good laugh. Nothing is implied as to the origin of the instruments other than that they are NOT made in Hawaii (and that these are good instruments).

I, too, would like to see pictures of the workers and learn about them and their skills. I’d also like to see more detail about these ‘ukes. For example: Is the binding a decal, painted on or an inlay?

Comment on KoAloha KCM-00 Review by The Man of Tomorrow

The Man of Tomorrow — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:35:32 +0000

Have to agree with the customer service comment of Slippahs. Why bother posting contact information if you’re not going to respond?

I like their uke a lot, but I wouldn’t have bought it from them if I knew they couldn’t be bothered to spend 1 minute responding to a simple query about how to deal with a flaw in the finish of the instrument I bought from them.

This is a recent experience, but I won’t bother with continued efforts trying to contact them given what I have read here. Hopefully the negativity doesn’t spill over to the uke.

Comment on Flea Ukulele Review by Jay

Jay — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 04:20:08 +0000

I have played a Flea for several years. Three things I don’t like: First, the rounded plastic body is slippery and I can lose control of the instrument. I compensate by using my forearm to hold it tighter to my body, but this causes the edges of the uke body to dig into my forearm too much. When wearing a Tee shirt it can be rather painful, especially when playing for a long amount of time, and I get welts and inflamed skin. Long sleeves help but it is still necessary to hold the uke’s rounded plastic body very tightly to keep it under control. Second, the plastic frets and fretboard are, like the body, too slippery. The nylon strings slip every so often against the board and the frets, sometimes causing inaccurate fingering. Annoying. And third, one day the bridge popped off and flew across the room! The bridge is also made of plastic, and is two pieces: the top piece is held by snapping it into place on the base piece, which is glued to the top of the uke. When mine popped off, one of the snap thingies broke so I couldn’t simply snap it back together. Contacting Fluke, they recommended crazy-gluing it back together. I did so, and it worked. All that said, I still enjoy playing it for the looks, the good loud tone, and the moderate price.

Comment on Which style ukulele tuners do you prefer? by Beth

Beth — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 09:54:09 +0000

Jonathan- I think Waverly are probably the best money can buy- http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tuners/Ukulele_tuners/Waverly_Ukulele_Tuners.html?tab=Pictures#details

I’m shopping for some new tuners myself and I think that’s what I’ll end up with…

Comment on How the heck do you pronounce ukulele? by 808Guy

808Guy — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:56:59 +0000

Alright well, here’s the thing. Yes, the english language has a tendency of altering pronounciation, but it’s usually because that’s the way it’s spelled (from what i can think of anyway). French words’ “s” is pronounced when they shouldnt and stuff like that. In this case, ukulele is pronouced how it’s spelled, so how the hell did it become “yu-ka-lay-lee?” Furthermore, it’s less for the benefit of all you haoles up there that don’t really care, but you’ll be taken more seriously as a player by true ukulele players, and by everyone here. However, i never really was bothered by shortening it to “uke” (pronouced y-ook)cuz, well idk, but it isnt as strange to the ears as yukalaylee. Anyway, I’d recommend you say it to the correct way instead of the accepted way.

Comment on How the heck do you pronounce ukulele? by Hawaii Girl

Hawaii Girl — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 06:51:28 +0000

LOL. I was born in Hawaii so I say ooh-kooh-lay-lay and I always have. Whenever I hear someone saying yoo-ka-lay-lee or whatever, I want to laugh. It just sounds dumb to me.

Comment on Flea Ukulele Review by Oliver González

Oliver González — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:17:20 +0000

I have recently ordered a Flea Concert, and I´m willing to have in my hands.
Thanks for all the good detailed photos, and the review.

Comment on KoAloha KCM-00 Review by Rubbah Slippahs

Rubbah Slippahs — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 03:08:39 +0000

There’s a reason that the previous poster (Mike) encountered preference for Martin’s in Hawaii . . . its because most classic Hawaiian uke tunes were done using Martin soprano and tenor instruments including Somewhere Over The Rainbow and almost everything else that Hawaii’s revered native son Bruddah Iz ever recorded! Martin’s are and were the bomb, period!

And as far as Koaloha goes, I own a KoAloha (received it as a gift), and yes, its nice in terms of tone, but frankly, in my opinion, its nothing “exceptional”. More importantly, their Customer Service is TERRIBLE (!), and I don’t say that based on one or two experiences.

Over the past ten years, I’ve called KoAloha more times than I can count (all hours of the day), to ask a simple question or to just order something minor and I don’t think ANYONE has EVER answered the phone there directly, save once perhaps!
Similarly, you can leave voice mail messages and e-mail messages – they simply don’t even respond!

That’s amazing given the competition they’re facing there from Kamaka and Kanile’a and a legion of other Hawaii-based luthiers. You’d think they’d straighten out their act, but nope, its been going on this way now for over ten years!!!!

KoAloha? Nah!! Bruddah-wise-up!

Comment on RISA Uke-Solid Ukulele Review by C.P. Hendrix

C.P. Hendrix — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:36:08 +0000

I keep coming to this site for about two years. I’m a beginning strummer and won’t have any use for this RISA until I can do my scales and some melody picking. It may be a while, meanwhile the price keeps going up. Or, maybe a Kala UBass (also rising – I first observed $399, and now lowest is $414 up to $600.) Keep ukin’ everyone!

Comment on Flea Ukulele Review by Ukulele Dad

Ukulele Dad — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:36:46 +0000

I bought a Tenor sized Fluke for myself and I’m just about to buy my son a Flea for his Xmas present (I know I’m early). We tried it out in the music store and he loved it. I like the design of both the Fluke and the Flea and being able to stand it on a table means that my Fluke gets a lot of use in my home office.

Comment on The Kala U Bass is a high-end low end by auto transporters

auto transporters — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:27:27 +0000

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Comment on Korg DT-4 Chromatic Tuner Review by Tony Uke

Tony Uke — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:26:26 +0000

I just bought a Gogo clip on TIKI Uke tuner at Sam Ash and I love it. Accurate and fast!! Gogo tuners makes great products.

Comment on Mainland Ukuleles – A New Shop in Nashville, Indiana by Brian72

Brian72 — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 19:51:52 +0000

I live in the UK where there is only one Mainland stockist ( the importers), which is 90 miles North of me.

I recently bought a Mainland baritone , mahogany with matte finish.
There is no doubt that the finish and sound is of a high quality.
The tuning is pretty stable. I will probably buy a concert or tenor from the same company.

The discussion regarding where they are made is pretty pointless -isn’t just about everything made in China these days – think Apple !
This is likely to continue for a considerable time because the Chinese currency is locked – artificially low- to the US dollar.
Good luck to the Nashville ukulele store.