Anyone here play the ukuele?

[SantoneA]

Just wondering if anyone here on B&B plays the ukulele? I've been playing for 2 years. I'm a member of the String Along Ukulele club in Dundas Ontario. I currently have a 1940's soprano banjolele, a solid concert Ohana with burled myrtle sides and back with a redwood top very beautiful uke. what are you guys playing?
-Alex

 

[galopede]

I can play the ukulele but, being a gentleman, I don't! Oh, hang on, that was said about accordions which I do play!

I have a basic Ohana concert model, can't remember which, that I bought to play now and then to make a change from the mandolin. To be honest, I still prefer the mandolin with its greater range for tune playing. The Uke does go to pub sessions now and then but most people expect me to lead the tunes on my melodeon, which is my main instrument.

The Uke is great fun though and mine is sat on the other side of the room staring at me reprovingly as I haven't played it for a while now! Going to a pub session tonight so think I might take it along!

Gareth

 

[mikelz777]

Hey Alex-

I was just playing on my own last night for about an hour and a half. I've been playing the ukulele for about a year now and I'm still playing on my concert-sized starter uke, a Lanikai LU-21C. It sounds like you may have the very same ukulele that I hope to buy some time this summer. Do you have the Ohana CK-80RW with solid figured myrtle on the back and sides and a solid redwood top?

 

[SantoneA]

I can play the ukulele but, being a gentleman, I don't! Oh, hang on, that was said about accordions which I do play!

I have a basic Ohana concert model, can't remember which, that I bought to play now and then to make a change from the mandolin. To be honest, I still prefer the mandolin with its greater range for tune playing. The Uke does go to pub sessions now and then but most people expect me to lead the tunes on my melodeon, which is my main instrument.

The Uke is great fun though and mine is sat on the other side of the room staring at me reprovingly as I haven't played it for a while now! Going to a pub session tonight so think I might take it along!

Gareth

Cant go wrong with the UKE!!! make it part of your rotation lol!

 

[SantoneA]

Hey Alex-

I was just playing on my own last night for about an hour and a half. I've been playing the ukulele for about a year now and I'm still playing on my concert-sized starter uke, a Lanikai LU-21C. It sounds like you may have the very same ukulele that I hope to buy some time this summer. Do you have the Ohana CK-80RW with solid figured myrtle on the back and sides and a solid redwood top?

it is the CK-80RW just with burled myrtle instead of the figured. here are some pics beside my starter Kala tenor.

 

[mikelz777]

We're calling the myrtle two different things (I was calling the grain "swirly toffee" for a while.) but that's the exact model I've got my eye on. It's a beauty! I really like the unique look and the interesting grain pattern of the myrtle.

What are your thoughts on the CK-80RW? Does it have a nice sound? (Loud/soft, bright/mellow, etc.?) Does it seem to have a nice quality build? I don't have a lot of money to spend on getting a bunch of different ukes so I'm hoping the Ohana would be a high quality instrument that would keep me happy playing it for years. The dealer I've been communicating with indicated that he may have this Ohana available some time this summer so it gives me a little time to save for it.

Could I see a picture of the grain pattern on the back and a rear view of the tuners?

 

[jrward2]

I have a Lanikai tenor, not sure the model number. Its an entry level uke that I picked up during a trip to Hawaii. I've been playing it for I guess about 4 years now. However during the past year other things have sparked my interest (B&B) and it really hasn't gotten played much. I seemed to reach a plateau with my playing. I knew all the chords and could thumb around on it for a while. Perhaps I should find a good instructional book or dvd. I would love to start playing my instruments again, I just find that i'm so swamped on time that I can never find time for it. Also, I think the biggest thing I wish I could do is find a group of people like you have, and play with them. Playing alone can only be so entertaining.

 

[Kilroy6644]

I don't really play. I know a few chords and can strum a little melody, but I don't know any real songs. I have a $30 Kohala that I picked up on Black Friday as a reward to myself for not killing anybody (I worked at a shopping mall ).

 

[mikelz777]

I think the biggest thing I wish I could do is find a group of people like you have, and play with them. Playing alone can only be so entertaining.

I'd recommend going to forums on Ukulele Underground and indicate that you'd be interested in meeting up with group of ukulele players in your part of the state. You might be able to find a group or some individuals who are already meeting or who'd be interested in meeting.

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/forum.php

 

[SantoneA]

if you want to learn songs check out ukulele mike's youtube pages he has awesome stuff! if you throw some aquila strings on your cheapie uke it'll sound 1000x better than with the plastic strings. its a sort of a bright sounding uke. being a solid you need to make sure you take care of the humidity levels or it will crack. i have a little humidifier inside the sound hole that i have to fill with distilled water every week. but also being a soild wood uke you get that beauiful sound. it almost has the same sound as a cedar or spruce top. ill try and get a video of me playing it so you can get a better idea of the sound. I do need to send it in to get the string action adjusted the g string lol is vibrating causing a ugly sound. Ohana make nice ukes. I have a kala tenor laminate mahogany and although a good beginner uke i think ohana has a better product. this uke here is a b-stock meaning it has a couple "flaws" that don't hinder its playability its just cosmetic i found a couple but it was hard to spot one is the gloss finish built up a bit on the maple binding and caused it to be a golden colour rather than clear.

 

[SantoneA]

here are some more pics. you can see the maple binding where it meets the neck isnt centered and it has a black mark sorry ill get a pic of the back of the neck tomorrow its open geared grover tuners.

 

[fast14riot]

I have always wanted to take guitar and or uke lessons. I was a woodwind specialist all through school and never really picked up a guitar or any other stringed instrument. Its on my "midlife crisis list" lol! I remember my grandfather having a uke sitting on his shelf along side all his other instruments he bought in Hawai'i back in the 50's, I wish I knew what happened to it. I got his trumpet, and his guitar was sold, but don't know about that.

Btw, I love watching Sungha Jung on youtube play his renditions of popular songs on uke or even harp/ukulele.


-Xander

 

[mikelz777]

@SantoneA

Thanks for the additional pictures. Nice case! The grain pattern of the myrtle is beautiful! Just by looking at the pictures, I wouldn't have guessed that your uke was a b-stock. The things you pointed out looked pretty minor. That probably says a lot about Ohana's quality control if they are that picky. Is there a pretty noticeable difference in sound quality between your Ohana and your laminate?

If you haven't already, I don't need a picture of the tuners since you said that they were grover open-geared tuners. That tells me what I need to know. When I looked up this model on the Ohana site they picture it with gold, huge-boxed gear tuners with white buttons which would have been strikes 1, 2 and 3 for me. The silver, open-geared tuners look infinitely better. Maybe the uke pictured on their web site was a prototype.

My starter Lanikai is a laminate so I haven't had to worry about humidifying it but I know it's going to be different with a solid wood uke. Is that humidifier that hangs inside the uke a hassle to put in and take out? When researching humidifiers, I was still trying to decide between that one or getting the one that sits outside the uke and humidifies the case. I like the idea of the one that goes inside the uke because it puts the humidity where it's needed most but the downside is that you have to fiddle around with it when you want to play it and put it away. Does it really stretch the strings out trying to get it in the uke? The case humidifier would be nice because you can play the uke and put it away without the fuss but I'm not sure it would be as effective.

 

[Ru4scuba?]

I'm not gonna hijack your guys thread....but with twin three year olds who love the Wiggles, I gotta say this....

"UKELELE BABY!!"

Ok I'm done

 

[SantoneA]

You'll notice a difference in sound between any solid wood ukes between the laminate ones. It sound fuller and feel different. I was told i was 1 of 2 or 3 in Canada with this uke, there's two myrtles the figured which is the standard myrtle grain and the burled which i have which is curly its like a disease the tree gets our something. as for the humidifier the only pain is to fill it with water. it lasts about 2 weeks. its an oasis humidifier. Its nothing to put it in and take it out of the sound hole. doesn't throw it out of tune or anything. Here's a link to the club i'm with they have a store too and should be able to answer any questions you have. i'm pretty sure they ship as well. http://www.stringalongukulele.ca/ this is a great discussion I'm glad there are fellow uke enthusiast here!
lol wiggles!!!

 

[syzygy]

I've been playing for a few years and currently have a Kanilea K1 tenor. It's 100% Koa which sounds incredible and different than the other woods and worth checking out. I also have an Ohana CK300g which is also all Koa, sounds fantastic, and didn't really cost that much. Koa is the tallow of ukuleles! That said, I did have the chance the other day to play a Breedlove tenor with a cedar top that kind of blew my mind.

 

[SantoneA]

yea +1 on the Koa. any serious uke player wants or owns a koa. anything by Mya-Moe is beautiful. Some of their master grades of wood are unreal! i was looking at the bushmen Koa its got a reasonable price.

 

[mikelz777]

@ SantoneA

I'd still be interested in hearing a sound sample of your Ohana redwood if you were still willing to put up a video. I've been in touch with the dealer about their CK-80RWs and he isn't expecting them until some time this summer so I'm saving, waiting and anticipating until then.

 

[SantoneA]

Once i get the string action fixed and back from the luthier, i'll put up a video. Right now it has this bad hum.

 

[mikelz777]

I'm still "just a strummer" but I'm enjoying and having a lot of fun with it. What did other players here do or what resources did you use to move onto other things like finger picking and such?