Fender Ukuleles
January 19, 2009
If you need any evidence of the increase in people buying ukuleles, just look at the number of new models of ukulele that have come out in the last year or two. And now the biggest name in the guitar world has entered the field and brought out their first ukes.
Today Fender are launching a range of three tenor ukuleles: the Pa’ina, Nohea and Hau’oli. I caught up with Mike Lewis from Fender to find out more.
Fender are the biggest name in guitars. Why move into ukuleles?
It all started around six years ago when we noticed the Uke’s growing popularity in Japan. When we asked about it, our friends there explained that because the Uke is tuned like the first four strings on the guitar, it was easy for guitar players to adapt to it. Being guitar players ourselves, we gave it a try and like everyone else, got hooked!
When people buy a Fender ukulele, what are they getting that they wouldn’t get with any other ukulele?
The Fender Ukes were in development for quite a long time and we experimented with a lot of different designs. What we were looking for was an instrument that sounds great, looks great, is easy to play, tune, and change strings- all at an affordable price. The Ukes also come with a padded carry bag.
One thing we wanted to avoid was for someone to buy their first Uke, take it home and then get discouraged because they didn’t know how to tune it, play some basic chords, or change a string. That’s why we include the instruction book with care, feeding and basic how-to-play info. Playing Ukulele should be fun, not frustrating!
There are many Fender-a-like ukuleles out there but – other than the distinctive Telecaster headstock – they’re a very traditional design. Why did you go in that direction?
The form followed the function really. We had specific sonic results in mind for the various price points so we experimented with numerous body shapes, bracing patterns, bridges, materials, etc. This is just how they ended up! The Telecaster® guitar headstock not only adds the distinctive Fender vibe, it’s quite functional in that it provides straight string pull over the nut and easy access to all four of the geared tuning machines.
Where are the ukuleles manufactured?
Crafted in Indonesia with oversight by our U.S. manufacturing and quality assurance operations.
There’s a big Hawaiian theme in the ukuleles. Do you see yourselves as part of the Hawaiian tradition of ukuleles rather than those made in the mainland US?
Even though the instrument was first introduced to the Hawaiians by Portuguese immigrants, it didn’t become a Ukulele until the Hawaiians named it that. During our research for this project, the Hawaiian connection was of course all pervasive. We even studied the Hawaiian language a bit, which is where the model names came from. Just seemed natural to stick with it!
Why did you go with all tenor ukuleles? Are there plans for other sizes in future?
Our customers are primarily guitar players. The Tenor being the largest “my dog has fleas” Uke, is a good option for the first-time guitarist turned “Uke-ist”.
Are there any plans for future models in the Fender ukulele range?
Let’s hope so!
Visit Fender ukuleles and friend them up on MySpace.
Hmm, interesting. I go for Concert Ukes myself, I find they’re small enough to hold but with bigger frets than the Soprano (I have large fingers).
Good article anyhow, I like this site more as each day passes.
Interesting stuff Al,
So are they suggesting that people should tune them like a Guitar? (or at least DGBE like Lyle Ritz)
For me, GCEA is more fun :)
James: I like concert ukes as well. Particularly for strumming. For picking, I prefer a tenor.
Andy: I don’t think so. I think they went with the tenor for the re-entrant, C-tuning. Otherwise they’d have gone for baritones.
ah! Heaven! (but without the stairway – this one has a fully automated escalator!)
:op
Nice, nice. They look good and Fender seem to know what they’re doing if they know you’re someone who they want to plug to, Al. Are they paying you?
You wouldn’t happen to know a good way to get these in the UK, would you?
Any pun intended there Jimmy? with plugs n all… any amps involved?
Olly: So long as there’s a bustle in the hedgerow.
Jimmy: Lordy, no! I actually asked them for the interview.
I don’t think they’re over here yet. Looks like Dolphin Music is all over them.
IMHO I don’t like these tenor fender ukes. They are too similar to a guitar. Looks like a guitar with 4 strings; srs.
Yeah but what do they sound like? Did you get to play one?
There’s a sample of what one of them sounds like on their myspace.
Sharpen: They do pass the first test of ‘is it just a small guitar’: they have the fret marker on the 10th rather than 9th fret. I wouldn’t have blamed them if they’d cashed in a just made their ukes in the shape of Teles and Strats. It does sound like they’ve done their homework on making a uke rather than a guitar.
+one: No, I didn’t.
McMolly: Thanks. The sound clip sounds pretty good – but it’s hard to tell from an MP3 exactly what they sound like in real life.
i’m looking forward to getting a chance to try these out, i as greatly amused when i found out fender were making ukes, but their acoustic guitars can leave you a bit wanting in a variety of areas so i’m curious how their ukes check out.
Them being all tenor doesnt make mch of a difference to me, i have huge fingers but play a soprano usually but can just as comfortably play concert or tenor
Yea, I think they really missed an opportunity to make little Baby Fenders. We can only hope and pray that Gretch fulfills my rockabilele wet dream.
cbf: Yeah, I’d give them a try. I suspect, like every other uke, I’ll want one but not want to part with the £££s.
It seems like tenors are where it’s at right now. Everyone wants to start on a tenor.
Jodi: I think the F-hole Kalas might be based on Gretsch. Stills needs a scratch-plate and one of those fancy bridges to complete the look.
Amen to a Gretch uke – but it would have to have the HUGE Bigsby Vibrato arm :D
Why is it that the Fender tenor ukuleles (among others) have a wound C string? Are they an octave lower than tenors which use the same sized strings as sopranos?
zym: I’m surprised no one – to my knowledge – has put a whammy bar on a uke.
phi: No, same octave. I don’t know why they do it. I think it makes the C string stand out too much.
Found a uke with a whammy bar. http://tinyurl.com/7llqfu
vialde: That has to be at the other end of the custom ukulele spectrum, surely? XD
“this is a home made ukulele”
No shit, Sherlock?
zym: it would have to be a huge wooden bigsby just to fit the colour scheme
@James, I’d just like to see how much bracing was needed to keep that tin from buckling when you hit the bar.
I tried the Fender tenor with the pickup in the shop (the P’aina or something…it means Party!).
It’s pretty good. Easy to fret, has a good acoustic sound, a little dark, I guess because it’s mahogany. The tuners look really solid, like what you’d find on a Gretsch guitar. I didn’t plug it in to see how good the pickup was. It’s passive with no controls on board so you’d need an amp that could do justice to a passive nylon string pickup.
FredNaught: Thanks for the review.
And thanks for adding one word to my knowledge of Hawaiian (thus doubling my vocabulary).
Thanks for the info, Fred. :)
I highly recommend the line of Fender ukuleles. I have used them in LIVE performance and in studio recording and they’re a great uke at a great price. Intonation is dead-on, excellent action, rich tone and easy to tune. Please feel free to check out my videos featuring Fender ukes in action.
Ray’s opinion is almost worthless – here’s mine:
I’m awaiting the delivery of my third Fender Pa’ina.
Cosmetically the first two have both had a number of minor flaws. The first had a loose end pin jack and a suspicious rattle, so was sent back. The second has a dead pickup and is awaiting replacement.
Fender need to try harder.
Having said that, I am having a replacement because it is a nice instrument to play and I like the look and sound.
The strings sound good but feel terrible and I hate the wound C. I’ll be trying some Worth strings when the replacement arrives.
I got mine for £220 and if the first instrument hadn’t been defective, I’d have been delighted.
Barry: Thanks for the review. Good to know.
Just got my Fender Pa’ina (from Elderly Instruments).
Background: My #1 instrument is a Martin T-1, so I’m not going to think much of anything lesser. But — I play in an amplified band with a guitar, a mandolin, and a Dobro, so I need an instrument that (a) has some volume (and of course mahogany Martins of any sort never do; (b) is amenable to amplification; (c) won’t give me a heart attack if a drunken bar patron dances into it.
For the last sixth months, I’ve been playing an amplified koa Fluke. That’s a nice instrument, but I never liked the plastic backs one bit — can’t stand Ovation guitars, for instance — and it has a very loud, almost brassy sound to it. When the dobro player says the ukulele is too loud, there might well be a problem.
First impression of the Fender:
The strings it came with, feh, put Aquilas on immediately, big improvement.
The instrument feels nice, and is amusing to look at. The Fender head on it gets giggles from people, so I guess that part is good. The sound is a lot rounder than the Fluke; there’s none of the plastic edge to it.
I’m a little worried about amplification, and I think I’ll have to put it through a DI box with an equalizer. The C string amplifies way louder than the other strings; I hope this doesn’t cause too much of a problem.
The tuners seem a bit cheap; I might want to replace them. Or not.
So far, it feels good for playing the folky/bluesy/bluegrass stuff our jam band does. I’m going to bring the Fender as well as the Fluke to our Friday gig, and give it a real test. Maybe the dobro player will love me again.
Thanks for the feedback, Josh. :)
Thanks for the review, Josh. Interesting stuff.
Here’s an update from me. I’ve now had to return my third Fender Pa’ina. I won’t be getting another.
I desperately wanted to like this instrument (and in truth I did) but the quality control from Fender is disgraceful.
The third instrument that I received had a buzz coming from the bridge. This got worse over time and was completely unacceptable when I replaced the standard strings with Worths.
If Fender can iron out the issues, this will be a great Ukulele for the price. If I could buy one in a local store, I’d consider buying another after CAREFUL inspection. But right now, I’m not going to risk another mail order fiasco.
D- for Fender. Must try harder.
Thanks for the update, Barry. Seems like the Fenders are a bit disappointing. Hopefully they’re just finding their feet.
I have the koa laminate Nohea model. I love the look, love the feel, and when I switched out the strings I loved the sound. But I just had to exchange it for another. The bridge was pulling up and there was a crack starting on the seam.
I’m going to give it another go, but they are definitely working out some kinks.
Tuscadero: Sorry to hear about that. It seems like the Fenders have some serious issues.
I just returned my first No’hea Koa Uke that I got thru Guitar Center
in Los Angeles and will see if they send a decent replacement.
In tune and looked great but the fingerboard was like a bad railroad track. I think they are just shipping another one and not making sure it is better than the first. Otherwise it is a good deal and does look cool. Peace.
Ukulele Wolf: Good luck with it. It looks like you’re going to need it!
I have a Fender Hau’Oli. Purchased in May, 2009. I have a couple of handfuls of other ukes so it’s easy for me to make some comparisons. For the price, Fender is a reliable instrument and with the stings and the set up that I have, it is one of the most accurately tuned instruments available in the under $600 price range. I have not replaced the strings. It has had no big problems with sound at this point. But it is the overall sound with the manufacturer’s strings that seems to be a little ‘light’ … brilliant, yes, but it lacks a little underbelly or something.
But I want to say something about the tuning. The Fender is SUPERB!
I use an electronic tuner. And what I have found is that the ‘registration’, I think ‘they’ call it that, is slightly ‘off’ in ALL ukuleles that I have tested. I electronically tune the uke – using the vibration mode on a clip-on – and then I move from open frets – where all the strings are in tune with my GCEA tuning – to each of the first five frets for each string in succession. I would expect a semi-tone for each fret but typically ukuleles of most manufacturers are substantially ‘off’ when I test with the tuner. To test the semi-tones … I merely go fret by fret up to the 6th fret … to see if I get an accurate semi-tone at each fret. Fender was pretty well SPOT ON! Every string. Every fret. A perfect semi-tone at each fret. This means that any chord I play, when the four strings are properly tuned, will be accurate. NONE of my 8 other ukes can make that claim.
I don’t know the science behind all of this but no WONDER people laugh at the uke! In MOST cases, the uke is really out of tune at anything other than an open string strum … and that is with each string perfectly in tune in the open position. Maybe that’s the charm – playing something that is inherently out of tune whenever ANY chord is played … but the musician ’soldiers’ on DESPITE the out of tune sound. The Fender that I have is totally accurate. No need to ’soldier’ on … no need to suffer from out of tune noises …
I am impressed by the Fender that I have … and I appreciate the clarity and precision of their sound engineering. I may try swapping out the strings because the overall sound is not as rich or full bodied like some of my other ukes, both more and less expensive. I just really like the Fender accuracy in their fret placement – or whatever it is that gave me accurate readings on my tuner at each fret for each string …
Too bad they have other problems that people are talking about here.
My Tenor Fluke uke, purchased in August, 2008, is a steady and stable uke that travels well and has a sweet soft sound – different than the sound described by one of the previous respondents here who also uses a Fluke. I have not swapped out the strings on the Fluke. My Fluke was more expensive than the Fender. I find the Fender sound is not as rich and full-bodied … but it IS competent and I enjoy the accuracy of the tuning at each fret. The Fluke has tuning accuracy, not as good as the Fender, but certainly really close – according to my testing.
I am glad that Fender has entered the market. I think we’ll see some interesting developments as a result.
Thomas: Thanks very much for the review. Glad you’re enjoying your new uke.
I bought a tenor ukulele-mid grade, about a month back. I think it looks wonderful, and was much brighter than my mahogany concert or koa soprano- I had bought it for the size and brighter sound. I have had no end of trouble with the action- figured in part it was my playing, but I did change to lighter strings and sanded down the bridge some- still not very happy with it. Fortunately for me the body wasn’t tore up as some have experienced. For the price- I guess I would have rather now gone with another make- as I figured I will have to have it professionally set up and see how much I can get out of it. In the long run, it is going to cost me more than if I’d paid upfront on another uke. Now I’m in though, and I do like the variant sound to use for some tunes. I hope they improve too. Guess it all comes back to personal taste and feel. Thanks for all your comments folks.
pegged
I tried out a Fender Tenor Pai’na this afternoon for about half an hour and I have to say I was extremely disappointed with almost everything about it.
I had no issue with the Fender headstock but I thought for the money it was a very lack luster instrument. Not very loud (although the stock strings did not help) not finished very well, and frankly I have played less expensive Tenor ukes that were streets ahead of this instrument.
I was quite excited about finding one in a Dublin music shop becaue there isn’t a great selection of ukes available in shops here but this Fender did nothing to lift my spirits.
I know only too well that judging instruments is an extremely personal and subjective experience but on almost every level, I was extremely disappointed.
It sells in Ireland at 349euros and in my humble opinion it is not in that league.
Sorry to be so negative, its not my normal mode! but I have to be honest, I would not recommend this uke to anyone.
pegged: Thanks for the review
Tony: Thanks for that. Looks like your experience is in line with that of a lot of people who’ve tried one.
Since we had the opportunity to try these ukes at ukulele.fr, I might add that I agree with the overall opinion regarding the Pa’ina : not worth its price. The sound is pretty deceiving, sounds well when plugged but that doesn’t explain the price, and the one fender lend us had an awful buzz apparently caused by the electronic wires.
The laminated koa model is pretty nice though, so it’s a good shower, and it actually sound as well not to say better than the solid mahogany.
I quickly tried the laminated mahogany, which is a lot cheaper and sounds just as right as the solid mahogany, so if you need a fender and don’t need the shiny koa model, choose the laminated. If you need a tenor uke, there are better and cheaper brands out there (kala trael and ohana come to my mind, both for a better price and a much better sound).
That said, they all were pleasant to play, comfortable, and I feel a bit like Ukulele Barry, wanting to like them more. I personnally wouldn’t mind having one at home because I enjoyed playing it by myself.
Thanks for the write-up Bertrand.