To Buy: Ukulele Shopping List

1. KoAloha Sceptre – I’ve been lusting after one of these since they first came out two years ago. And listening to Jason Arimoto, Terry Kinakin and Alvin Okami’s mythologising just exacerbated it.

2. Le Domino – Surely the coolest ukulele ever made.

3. National Resonator – So I can play as loud as a banjolele without having to play a banjolele.

4. G-String James Hill Custom – Because if I get one then I’ll definitely be able to play like James Hill.

5. Martin Style 3 – They appeal to me more than the 5K. Don’t have quite the same air of conspicuous consumption.

6. Pono Mango Pineapple – In the past I’ve been less than enthusiastic about spalted mango and pineapple ukuleles. But I still want one of these.

7. Kala Archtop – Because I want to be just like Christofer Drew Ingle. hes like so totally dreamy lolz

8. Brunswick Telecaster – I’m too cheap to get a K-Wave, so this will do nicely.

9. Obama with uke dashboard doll – The phrase ‘Only in America’ was invented for items like this. I don’t think there are many people buying Gordon-Brown-plays-the-bassoon hood ornaments.

What’s on your shopping list?

Splated vs. Curly Mango: Ukulele Window Shopping

Mango seems to be the wood-du-jour. Most of the big uke makers now have a range of mango ukes. Perhaps as a reaction to koa being increasingly difficult to get hold of. The curly mango ukes (such as Kala’s curly mango) certainly offer a similarly beautiful look. For some particularly good examples of curly wood take a look here – you would swear some of those weren’t flat.

But the big eye-catchers are the spalted mango ukuleles – such as the Lanikai spalted mango and Pono’s mango ukuleles – with their dark, wavy figure. This effect is created by fungus in the wood (I had to look it up). Personally, I think I prefer the more subdued and elegant look of the curly mango.

Can anyone give me a definition of flamed wood? On the site I with the curly wood pictures they say, “Terms such as “feather” and “flame” should not be relied on if you haven’t actually seen the wood, as they are used VERY freely. I’ve seen one gun-stock maker who states on his web site that he always calls all crotches flame crotches because ‘it sounds more impressive’. ” Which is what I suspected.

Lots of good photos this week:

- Dour girl next door.
- The belter.
- Ukulele/accordion duo.
- Seaweed swimsuit.
- Teen boy and girl.

Brunswick, More Pineapples: Ukulele Window Shopping

Brunswick have jumped onto the ukuleles-that-look-like-guitars bandwagon with a couple of electric/acoustic ukuleles. It’s probably not a coincidence that they’ve gone for exactly the same models as Mahalo have: the Les Paul and a the Telecaster. Visually, they’re an improvement on the Mahalos. And the Southern Ukulele Store says they’re, “These are a step up in quality and playability from the Mahalo LP and Tele style ukes.” Must say, I’m very tempted by the Telecasters (although this is one of those rare occasions where I’d go for a blonde over a brunette).

I used to be a bit of a pineapple h8r but the quality of the models coming out now is turning me round. I creamed myself over a few last week. And this week the Pono Mango Pineapple and the Ko’olau SP-1 have caught my attention.

Some rather fine photos: ukulele girl pyramid, Poncie Ponce, flapper sailor girl.

I think everyone remembers where they were the day the Cheesecake Factory opened. Now you can have this wonderful souvenier of the day. A slice of history.

Pineapple Ukes, Ukulele Amp: eBay Window Shopping

I don’t remember seeing a baritone pineapple ukulele before. And I definitely haven’t seen a 5 string baritone pineapple ukulele with the fifth tuning peg being bang in the middle of the headstock. Kamaka, being the originators of the pineapple, are keeping it more old school with the HP-1 soprano pineapple. Classiest of all is this Mike DaSilva pineapple.

These Aloha ‘Oe tube amps look fabulous. Ideal for a uker. But they do have a hefty price tag of $1,500 (mostly, I would guess, to cover the cost of bikini models). However, they do make an interesting proposition: “If you use the amp in a short video and post it on YouTube we’ll refund your Paypal account $300.” Seems like a great way to spread the word about your product – and I would expect a lot of ukulele companies would get plenty of takers for much less than a $300 refund.

Wallet busting uke of the week: Ludwig Crown banjo ukulele only £4,500 (or about $7,500 in funny money). But if I could choose any uke around, I’d go with this Kahiko ‘Concert Flyer’. Check out the koa on that one.

As if Kala’s slimline ukulele wasn’t gimmicky enough already, they’ve now put a compass in the headstock.

Mahalo are synonymous with cheap, basher ukuleles, so it’s always disconcerting when they come out with something posher like the solid cedar ULTD3.

Stagg Electric Uke, Tahitian Ukuleles: Window Shopping

A couple of Tahitian ukuleles up this week. The most impressive is this one carved into the shape of a bird. There’s also this soprano Tahitian ukulele – which you don’t see very often.

The Stagg Electric ukuleles I mentioned a while back are up for sale. Intended as Strat and Les Paul copies. They don’t quite pull it off.

The recession must really be hitting the uke collectors. Every week there seem to be more Martins up for sale. This Martin 2K obviously isn’t from a collector, but it’s very nice.

Two great photos I wish I knew the story behind:

- “Can you guide me in?” “Sure I’ll just put down my uke.”
- I don’t know what those girls are doing to that poor guy, but I want to hang out with them anyway.

It was only a matter of time: Obama ukulele dashboard figurine.

Rogaine: Makes dogs hump your leg.

Kala Acacia, Northern: Ukulele Window Shopping

After getting my hands on a Kala soprano, I’m now a complete Kala convert. So I’ve now got two Kalas on my shopping list: [Read more]

Ukulele Window Shopping

‘Window shopping’ isn’t accurate this week. I promised myself a new uke once the ukulele strumming ebook was finished. So I bought myself a Kala Lacewood soprano from the Southern Ukulele Store guys. No doubt I’ll be letting you know my opinion before too long.

If money had been no object, I might have gone for this Custom Kamaka instead.

With all the unusual shapes and looks of the ukes around at the moment, I’m amazed no one has resurrected the skinny waist look of the Kumalae like this one. I just love that shape.

My favourite photo this week: Hawaiian Pin-up Girl. Usually when there’s a photo of a Hawaiian girl and a ukulele it also includes all the cliches: grass skirts, lei, a palm tree. But this girl is way too hip for that. Check her out doing her Whitesnake pose.

All cliches present and correct in this cartoon (which doesn’t entirely make sense).

World War II era ukulele badge.

Southern Ukulele Store: Window Shopping

I, and many UK ukers, have been at a bit of a loss since the demise of The Ukulele Shop. But it looks like the Southern Ukulele Store is stocking up nicely with ukuleles from Kala, Ohana, Eleuke and Lanikai. Although the high end, Hawaiian makers obviously still don’t our funny foreign money. They don’t have much of an eBay feedback rating yet so I may have to test purchase a new ukulele. Damn! The Spruce top Kala looks quite tempting.

1920’s Martin 5K? Yes please.

Looks like eBay might be cracking down on annoying sellers who use ‘Martin 5K’ to attract eyeballs. This O.M. Tibbs ukulele, despite being a long way removed from a Martin 5K and having ‘L@@@@K’ in the title, is still worth a glance.

An Aaron Keim made Beansprout ukulele made from a salvaged train trestle and cast-off bits of porch.

This is how I should be spending my summer.

The photographer called her the ‘Hawaiian Butterfly’. The eBay seller was less kind.

Martin, National: Ukulele Window Shopping

Quite a number of Martin ukuleles on eBay this week. Particularly catching my attention are this Style 3 Taropatch, this 1926 Tiple and this Daisy 5M.

I’m going to have to buy a Le Domino one of these days.

This week, shame on me, I’ve a g**tar catch my eye. A 1930s Slingerland Songster from Jake Wildwood.

National are the resonator makers. So it’d be interested to hear what their bottom of the range resophonic ukulele sounds like. That one looks like it’s been used to hammer nails into a barn door. But people seem to be bidding on it enthusiastically.

Brand names that don’t suit the ukulele #1: Conqueror. Save it for your range of condoms.

It’s July. Where are people selling ukulele Christmas ornaments?

Devine, Spalted Mango: Ukulele Window Shopping

Nice bit of floral soundhole work on this Divine ukulele. And the listing refers to both Eddie Vedder and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam playing Divine ukuleles. I wasn’t aware that McCready was a uker. If anyone knows of any video or photo of him ukeing – I’d love to know.

Spalted mango seems to be the crazy grain of choice for ukes at the moment with Lanikai’s SM range. Seems a bit hit and miss to me. Sometimes looks great, sometimes looks a complete mess.

Gorgeous taropatch, horrible listing. Pick a colour (I hear black has worked pretty well for the last few hundred years) and stick with it.

Also some layout and font issues on this listing. But it’s worth the effort because the story of the Duncan Sisters is fascinating (quick tip: after, “performers can only dream of” read the press cutting).

I’m not a fan of picks on ukes but picks this sexy could defintely change my mind.

Ukulele kitsch of the week: Orca whale, ukulele playing, ship’s captain.

Either I’m hopelessly naive or the person who listed this photo has an over-active imagination because I can’t work out why a girl playing a ukulele on her own would be of particular interest to lesbians.

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