Topic: Re: Ukulele purchase

[cmr]

Sandy's advice was to find? an old vintage Martin Ukulele (1950-1960s).? I realized that it would take some time finding one.? ?Since something is better than nothing, I purchased a new Martin? S-0 Soprano Ukulele.? I can always selll it later, but at least I have something for now.? Its sooo small, compared to my guitar. Charlie R.

[thumbstyle]

Bernunzio (www.bernunzio.com) has a pretty good selection of ukes, including some vintage Martins (and check out the Lyon and Healys too). They seem to have the best selection of the places I checked online (Elderly, Mando Bros, Gryphon).

Dave

[uncle bud]

Bernunzio has some nice stuff. The one you have on hold there, Dave, looks nice. I notice someone has gone for the pearwood camp uke as well. Some tempting ukes there. The Martins are a bit pricey though for starters, I'd think.

[Slack]

If you are new to Ukes, you might also want to try some at a music store.... if only for the scale length.  Soprano scale lengths are about 13.5-14.0 and Concert ukes are about 14.5-15.0  - this seemingly small difference made a big difference to me in playability.

[uncle bud]

Slack, the playability difference was what exactly? Fingers had more room on the fretboard?

[Slack]

Slack, the playability difference was what exactly? Fingers had more room on the fretboard?

Exactly.  Sopranos were OK for me in first postion -- but up the neck it got tough for me to cram my fingers into the right places.

[ukulady]

Favilla is another good maker of vintage ukes.  I'm so glad you guys aren't getting Flukes!!

I'm going to post some info I sent to Chris and Dave re: learning the uke in the Jam Session board.  ~sandy

[NotRevGDavis]

Gryphon sometimes has vintage ukulele's if anyone see's anything there that they are interested in I can go check it out for you. Vintage ukulele (and ukulele's in general) seem to go a bit high on eBay. Although I have the utmost respect for Flea Market Music, Flukes and Fleas don't have the sound I like. If you would like to try a ukulele without a large investment the Bushman Jenny's and the Lanikai (Hohner) brands are good starter ukulele's. I started with a Tangi because my first encounter with a ukukele was in Honolulu.
I have tenors a Tangi 4 and Kamaka 8 string 17"scale. Someone gave me a Hilo Soprano 13 3/4" scale but my fingers don't fit well on it.

If anyone is interested in ukulele stuff I have found over the years PM me.

[cmr]

OK everyone.  After I  purchased the new Martin uke, I found a 1940s (?) Uke for sale.  The price was within $50 of a new one.  Ugh...

The seller collects ukes.  Del Rey mentioned that I stop by and visit the collector, but I  forgot about it until  I arrived back in town.   The seller is not sure about the year, but based on the condition and color, he thinks that its a pre-1960 Uke.  What should I do?  I can not return my new one, even though I just purchased it yesterday.  Suggestions... Charlie R.

[uncle bud]

Buy it and send your other one to me... 

You could try it, if you love it, buy it, then sell your new one. If people say eBay is commanding high uke prices perhaps you'd do well there.

[Slack]

I agree with UB, if the Uke sounds good to you(not every old Martin Uke is a winner) - buy it -- you can always sell the S-O on ebay.

[cmr]

I am convinced.  The vintage uke sounds very good, actually better than the new one.  So, I will throw caution to the wind and purchase the vintage instrument.  What am I getting into here?  Soon I will have as many instruments as other weenies.  Ugh...  Charlie

[thumbstyle]

? Soon I will have as many instruments as other weenies.

You say that like it's a bad thing. 

[cmr]

Thumbstyle: My comment is based more on my guitar playing ability versus number of intruments.  Charlie

[thumbstyle]

Hey All,

Thought I'd report on the 1920's Lyon & Healy uke I received yesterday from Bernunzio.  So far I'm lovin' it!  It arrived in fine condition (and no surprises wrt to its advertised condition), and after some fiddling to get the strings up to tension and in tune, I found it to sound and play great -- it's surprisingly loud.  It sounds (to my untrained ear) comparable to Sandy's 50's Martin I tried at PT.

I will say that it is very small. I'm not so much having trouble making my fingers fit (but I can see what Slack means about trying a larger instrument), but without a strap it is a challenge to find a way to hold it and play properly.  I imagine it's just a matter of getting used to it. 

Anyway, I'm pretty jazzed about this little axe (hatchet?).  And uke tuning takes you to new places -- since the 4th string and the 1st are only a whole step apart, you can get into some interesting cross-picked stuff alternating between them.

Cheers,
Dave