A couple more new ukes from NAMM 2010:
– Ohana resonator here’s ,resonator specialist, Bob Brozman testing it out.
– Uke-blog tributing Ukulelia ukulele.
If you can’t wait for the Ohana resonator to turn up, this nickel-plated bell brass Recording King Resonator seems like a sweet deal. But it’s still the National resonator that makes me go all gooey in the knees.
Keli’i are turning out some curly koa ukes at a reasonable price.
Picture of the week: Ukulele side-hugs.
$169 for a plastic uke? At that price, you’d think we’d (Ukulelia) get a slice of it. But, alas.
my ashbury resonator uke is absolutely less than good, i have to say it really put me off resonator ukes
byjimini: I don’t know if I should allow such sacrilege on the site.
Gary: It does seem a bit steep. No wonder no one bought it.
cbf: I wouldn’t let that put you off all resonators.
It really shouldn’t but I’ve had it in for repair a good two or three times, fortunately the shop i bought it from did them all for free!
although stringing them is also a bit of a schlep.
I have Republic resonator ukulele from Republic Guitars of Texas. I like it quite well but I was curious about Nationals. I finally got to play one. It costs five times what I paid for my Republic and did not play or sound significantly better. I’ll admit that fit and finish on the Republic is pretty sloppy. The National is absolutely perfect in appearance. If money was no issue, I’d go with the National, but money is an object and I like my Republic just fine.
Jon: Thanks for letting us know. Interesting to hear.
I just purchased a new resonator ukulele (Republic) and I want to get some extra sets of strings before it arrives.
Being new to the resonator uke, what stings are a good quality and will make my experince a good one ( anything thing but Martin!)
Thanks Randy
Hi Randy,
I have a Republic Resonator for a couple of years and after an initial setup by a local guitar techie and a set of Concert Aquilas it makes a lovely sound
Republic are about to launch a new line of Wooden Resonator Ukes and recently sold the prototype on eBay. I’ll let you know what its like when it arrives :-)
Tony
Thanks Tony for your help and insite on the Ukulele ! I can’t wait to get it to try it out!
As far as National guitars (slide, resonator, guitar or anything else they make you are basically only paying for the name.
If you think a National guitar plays the best in the world, well it’s because you paid way more than it was worth.
If you take off the name it would be worth far less and this is the same for any instument that has had a long history.
I gave my National Lap Top to a friend who is in a band about a year ago because he wanted to learn to play one. Not because of the name, just to learn with.
If you bought a National, Gretch or a Martin just to say “I have one”,
or “because it’s the best”, you are a Salesmans dream !!
Thanks
Randy
I’ve owned my Recording King reso-uke for about a month now. Sure, I’d rather have a National, but the price is way out there. I tried to find a Johnson with an engraved body but apparently these are no longer available. I was looking for a uke with a good blusey sound and vibe. IMHO, the Recording King fits the requirements for a very reasonable price. Mine is well made with no quality issues. I did change to Aquilla strings which were an improvement over the stock ones. I also switched to friction tunners with colored buttons. The stock tunners were fine, but I wanted a customized look. The uke also comes with a very nice case. And if you shop around a bit, you can do better than the $299 listed price.
Steve: Thanks very much for the write-up.
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I still like my Ashbury Resonator; the National looks too plain, whereas the Ashbury is engraved on all sides, same with the Ohana – too plain!