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I figure this thread might be a good place to pass this story along since most people I know won't care: My step-dad's mother passed away a few weeks ago. While he and his sisters were sorting through her stuff they were trying to Last Thursday it gets delivered to me (along with a few other unplanned inherited knick-knacks). I pull it out and discover it is a (as best as I can tell) late 70's Kamaka standard. It is white label but not date-stamped. It also had a piece of tape inside with my step-dad's brother's name and address in it, and he died in the early 80's so it is at least that old. I immediately called my local uke shop to see about getting the bridge fixed, and he points me to a local luthier (I didn't even know we had one of these) who happens to be about four blocks from my house. Long story short, $143 in repairs later (including re-leveling some frets and new strings), I now have a very nice (literally heirloom) uke that my daughter is going nowhere near for the foreseeable future!
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# ¿ Nov 1, 2013 17:54 |
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# ¿ Apr 17, 2024 19:23 |
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Faltion posted:How can you hold out on us with a story like that and no pictures? Because I just thought to post it while at work and I don't have any pictures of it . I'll try to remember to take some when I get home today.
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# ¿ Nov 1, 2013 19:04 |
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Just a small plug for PHD brand strings, since I do not think they are widely sold or known about. When I got my first uke, I took it in to Smiley Kai at Ukulele Source in San Jose, and he recommended that brand and put them on for me. I like them a lot - they are lively, easy on the fingers, and have a very bright sound. When I took my new soprano in to the luthier for repairs, he put on Aquila strings. I didn't like them as much because they felt too stiff and clumsy to me, and were harder to tune properly because of the stiffness (combined with 30-40 year old tuning pegs of course). It's all based on my personal preference and what I am used to, so everyone will have a different opinion on them I am sure. I just put PHD strings on my soprano, and like them much better. For $10 it might be worth trying out though.
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# ¿ Nov 8, 2013 22:52 |
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furushotakeru posted:I figure this thread might be a good place to pass this story along since most people I know won't care: Finally remembered to a) take some pictures of the uke, and b) post them: The discoloration on the label is from the piece of masking tape that had the previous owner's name and contact info. He's dead, so although I would have liked to leave the tape there out of respect, I can't have someone potentially trying to return the instrument to him if I misplace it - thus I had to remove it. Whole instrument in one shot Old school tuning pegs The infamous "KK" logo that first tipped me off as to what I was looking at (since the aforementioned tape covered the Kamaka Ukulele logo on the white label inside the sound hole) You can see a little bit of scarring from where the bridge tore off and was later re-glued by the luthier. I just view that as part of the instrument's character, especially since I can't really sell it even if I wanted to since it is now an heirloom.
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# ¿ Dec 4, 2013 00:19 |
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I'm having the same problem. I am eyeballing a mahogany Nalu tenor for about $350 that sounded pretty nice but part of me thinks I should keep saving for a while longer and get a nice $1200 Kamaka or KoAloha. I would love me some instant gratification but have a feeling I'll eventually end up buying a high end one either way so why not just buy one uke instead of two, you know?
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2014 07:19 |
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Picked up a Kanile'a custom super tenor (like a regular tenor but with junk in the trunk) last night. I haven't taken any pics of it yet so I just have the ones from the online ad: I got back late last night so I only got to play with it for about 30 minutes, but I think I'm in love :3
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# ¿ Feb 5, 2014 00:26 |
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Apparently one of the perks of living in San Jose is that the local ukulele store's owners are tight with Herb Ohta Jr., so I get to attend his workshop this evening for only $45. He will supposedly be teaching us how to play Maluhia from his "Pure Ukulele" album (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2By_0PrTfqU) and some other general techniques. I'm just excited to go noodle around with other uke people for 90 minutes, everything else is just a bonus as far as I am concerned
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# ¿ May 28, 2014 19:48 |
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Just be aware that "good quality strings" is almost universally code for Aquila, and you might or might not agree. I personally don't care for Aquila strings because I find them to be clunky and too thick, but tons of other players love them. I like fluorocarbon strings better because I find them to have a brighter and more lively sound, but again that is a matter of personal preference. You'll need to try them out for yourself and see what you like. Right now I am testing a set of D'Addario titanium strings (just the model name, not literally made from titanium) and I find them to be a bit louder than other strings I've used. Overall I like them. Before his I was using a set of Worth stings, and before that a set of PHD strings. These were all fine and I didn't notice a whole lot of difference between them. The one thing you can count on though is that Aquila strings or whichever ones the seller puts on will be vastly better than whatever comes on a low end uke.
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# ¿ Jul 4, 2014 18:26 |
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Faltion posted:Can someone recommend me strings other than Aquila for my Outdoor Uke Soprano? I love the Aquilas on my Makala but they don't sound good on the already hollow noise of the outdoor uke, so I'd like to try something else. You might like the D'addario Titanium strings, assuming you don't mind fluorocarbon strings. furushotakeru fucked around with this message at 15:39 on Jul 25, 2014 |
# ¿ Jul 25, 2014 15:36 |
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Faltion posted:I tried these strings and they make the Outdoor Uke sound much better, thanks for the recommendation! Glad to hear it. I think I like the D'addario J71 strings best so far, but I have used so many kinds of strings in the last few months that I think it is time to circle around and try the ones that the local uke store recommends one more time, just to make sure. The great thing about trying lots of different strings for your uke is that a set only costs like $5-7 furushotakeru fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Aug 12, 2014 |
# ¿ Aug 12, 2014 22:45 |
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TetsuoTW posted:So I just bought a ukulele a couple of weeks ago, and I'm having one particular problem I can't figure out. I can't bloody strum the thing without the g string buzzing half the time, regardless whether it's open or not. I know it must be something to do with how I'm hitting it on the down strum, but that's as far as I can figure. Thumb, index finger, whatever, it's the same problem. Anyone got a recommendation for a guide to actually strumming this thing right? Have you checked to make sure that the string is seated properly up by the tuning pegs (the nut)?
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# ¿ Sep 10, 2014 17:57 |
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I came across this earlier today, and thought it was pretty cute (except for the fact that it is not performed on a uke ). I'm getting a ukulele for Christmas
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# ¿ Dec 3, 2014 23:34 |
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I'm kicking around the idea of picking up an eleuke so I can practice with headphones on. The MP3 line in is nice too, for video lessons/practice tracks, etc. Does anyone here have one, and how do you like it? I figure for $200-300 it won't be incredible sounding, but I have a nice uke if I want to sound good, this is just going to be for noodling around when I need or want it to be quieter. Does the 9V battery powering the headphone jack last a while or are you having to swap it out constantly? Anyone have a better suggestion for a solid body uke with an internal preamp/headphone jack? Thanks!
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2015 18:49 |
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Thanks. I'll mull it over some more. And yeah that last one looks like a toy for some reason. I think it's because it looks like untreated pine.
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# ¿ Jan 28, 2015 23:24 |
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Ended up picking up a Teton uke. Eleukes are supposed to be great, but I couldn't find anyone that was actually selling them. Their own website lists about a dozen online retailers - ten of them are dead links and the other two don't have any eleukes in stock. The Teton has the features I'm looking for (tenor size, solid body, headphone jack, and MP3 line in) and looks sharp. I'll post again once it gets here and I've had a chance to play it.
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# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 05:53 |
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Sounds awesome! Looking forward to hearing your opinions. Do you already have some effects pedals (distortion, flanger, etc) you can jack into it? I don't own an amp or any pedals, nor do I have any plans to purchase any as of right now. Just looking for something to practice quietly on at home. I have a nice Kanile'a for when I want to be heard
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# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 19:49 |
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:Should you end up needing an amp, they can often be found *quite* cheap on Craigslist because they're kind of a pain to move/ship. Even small practice amps of good quality you can get for like $25 used because they weigh like 20lb and are hard to ship without breaking it or adding two feet of padding on all sides. Good to know, thanks. It gets here on Wed, I'm excited to try it out.
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# ¿ Feb 3, 2015 09:18 |
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TapTheForwardAssist posted:No worries; looking forward to your report. My brother sets up concert venues for a living, so I'm sure he could hook me up with a spare something or other if and when the desire strikes me More likely I will look into the iPhone/iPad route first though, it hadn't occurred to me yet that there might be a cable to plug it into my phone.
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# ¿ Feb 3, 2015 19:29 |
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# ¿ Apr 17, 2024 19:23 |
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I'm at work so I can't spend a lot of time noodling on it at the moment (even though I work for myself, I still have poo poo to get done!) but initial impressions are favorable. I tuned it up and plugged in some headphones to try it out for a few minutes and it seems like exactly what I was looking for. The build quality feels and looks very good. I will need to change the strings since I am not a fan of Aquilas but overall I am very pleased.
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# ¿ Feb 4, 2015 22:06 |