Ibanez Maple Concert Ukulele UEW10QM
The quilted maple on the Ibanez UEW10QM is a real eye-catcher. I’m guessing by the fact they don’t say it’s solid means that it’s laminated – but I couldn’t confirm that – which is a little disappointing as you can pick up solid wood ukuleles by the likes of Ohana for around the same price.
Specifications
Size: Concert
Construction: Quilted maple (laminated)
Fretboard: Rosewood
Bridge: Rosewood
Neck: Mahogany
Tuners: Open, geared, chrome.
Finish: Natural high gloss.
Buy it on Musician’s Friend Price: $149.99
4 Comments
Now, I’m no Doctor of Ukulele but I just upgraded to this model from some toy Hilo and I must say this is quite a fine instrument. It has just the rich, bright tone I’ve been looking for. Wonderful action and playability. She certainly ain’t bad looking either.
Ordered one of the Ibanez quilted maple ukes (concert).
Good points:
* Very pretty, and quite unique.
* Excellent fretted tuning
Bad points:
* Extremely low volume – it might be marginally acceptable if you use a pick
* Very thin tone. It sounds like a uke half the size.
* Ibanez quality control fail – see below.
We also have an Ohana CK-20S ($140) with a solid mahogany top, which is easily twice as loud and has a much richer, fuller sound, compared to the Ibanez ($160)
The low volume and lack of richness isn’t surprising, since they DRENCHED it in a thick, high-gloss finish. This works well for solid body electrics and does look stunning, but acoustics vibrate better with a thinner finish.
Another problem with some Ibanez ukes (including ours) is neck back-bow. There is a significant crown in the fretboard around where the neck meets the body. This causes an annoying buzz on most of the frets, perhaps 3/4 of the way up the neck. A very well-respected repair shop told us it could probably be fixed with some fret work, but at that point, why not put the $40 to use getting a better uke in the first place?
Most of the good points I’ve read from others are with the plug-in versions. The thin sound just doesn’t matter if you can turn the amp up and go swimming in a sea of reverb, but this pure-acoustic version just won’t cut it volume-wise against an Ohana of any size or even a Kala of half the price.
I can say that the fretted notes, buzzy though they may be on this example, are very well in-tune. Many other ukes in this price range have lackluster fretted tuning.
We also have a Kala KA-TEM (tenor) and KA-B (baritone), both of which are tremendously louder and less expensive than the Ibanez.
We will actually try one more time to order a good one, simply because it’s so unique and pretty, but this example is practically unplayable without the fret work.
Bottom line – if you get one without a bowed neck, and you can live with the low volume and thin tone, then it’s a really pretty uke!
If you are reviewing it with factory strings, sound rating is nearly irrelevant. With Aquila strings, it’s a “different Instrument.”
I have just had this UKULELE re-stung with MARTIN STRINGS wow what a difference it sound much louder and sweeter. I also have a PONO Soprano strung that with MARTIN strings now very little difference
Bought my strings from ” Southern UKULELE in Bournmouth UK
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