Brunswick, More Pineapples: Ukulele Window Shopping
August 28, 2009
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
August 21, 2009
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.
Mahalo Flying V Ukulele Review
May 20, 2009
I wasn’t going to write a review of the Mahalo Flying V. My brother got me one for Christmas. It was a nice thought and he wasn’t to know it’s the WORST UKULELE IN THE WORLD.
The Good Stuff
The Look: It does look good. Even close up. The way the neck attaches to the body is a little inelegant, but nevertheless.
… erm… The intonation isn’t too bad for the price.
The Bad Stuff
The Sound: The sound is awful. Weak and flat.
Playability: It’s very hard to play without buzzes and scratches. The neck feels nasty. It’s almost impossible to find a comfortable strumming or picking position. Which brings me on to…
The Shape: The shape makes it impossible to hold and strum comfortably.
When you’re sitting down it’s hard to avoid getting spiked in the groin. Which isn’t an experience I enjoy (and anyone who tells you I do enjoy it and that I regularly pay for exactly that experience is lying).
The only way I’ve found to play it standing up is to stick my arm through the middle of the V. Which makes strumming tricky, picking impossible and you look like a divot.
Tuning Pegs: Argh! Cheap friction pegs.
Tests
Strumming Test
Picking Test
Intonation Test
Overall
If you are thinking of getting a Mahalo Flying V as your first ukulele please, please, please don’t. I can’t think of a worse ukulele to learn on. If you must have a ukulele that looks like a guitar, get a Mahalo Les Paul instead. They’re a much better instrument.
If you have a decent uke or two already, get one for the novelty value. But buy one of these while you’re at it.
eBay Window Shopping: Mainland Ukuleles, Gibson Banjoleles
January 30, 2009
More of musicguymic’s finds from NAMM including this seriously sexy T’s ukulele from Shinji Takahashi and another Eleuke I don’t really like the look of.
MGM has also started selling hoosierhiver’s Mainland Ukuleles.
Alan ‘Uke’ Harris keeps a steady supply of lovely vintage ukuleles on eBay UK. Right now there’s a Gibson UB1 and UB2 up for grabs.
I haven’t seen them for sale in the UK, but eBay Australia has quite a few glittery Mahalo U2K ‘Sparkle’ ukuleles.
Does the new Hanalei ukulele look familiar to anyone?
This is an interesting lot. An Edison cylinder recording of On My Ukulele by Billy Jones and Ernest Hare.
Ukulele Dick keeps sailors entertained.
Ukulele Case & New Pineapple Flea
November 21, 2008
I’m not sure why it is, but the most popular design for hard ukulele cases seems to be a very Gentlemanly tweed. It’s a step up from the black box, but not as fun as this rising sun case. But the ultimate has to be this koa ukulele case – so long as you don’t mind people thinking you’re carrying round a baby coffin.
Pineapple Fleas used to look like this. now they look like this.
My favourite ukulele of the week is this Kumalae koa taropatch.
If you’re one of the people bidding crazy money for The Ukulele Orchestra of GB’s new album, stop right now. It’s only a tenner on their website. You are, however, free to bid as much as you like for Darren Hayman’s Ukulele Songs from the North Devon Coast because the cover is adorable.
A few weeks ago it was Lisa and Maggie, this time it’s Bart’s turn to be on a uke.
I wasn’t aware that Mahalo had made a Lyon and Healy Camp ukulele style uke, but on eBay Australia there’s this Mahalo UK290.
Speaking of camp ukulele, the ukulele kitsch of the week.
Swagerty Sum Fun and Akulele on eBay
October 3, 2008
Plenty of interesting and unusal ukuleles this week. And whenever the phrase ‘interesting and unusal ukuleles’ crops up, the word ‘Swagerty‘ isn’t going to be far behind. According to the description this Swagerty Sum Fun is a one of a kind made by and bought from Swagerty himself. That has to make it a serious collector’s item.
This Akulele was apparently made by Bolivian charango luthiers and it certainly looks like it. The uke back, sides and neck are all made out of one piece of wood like a charango (or at least those that aren’t made of armadillo shells).
Kala have added to their ‘arch tops with unusual sound holes’ range with slotted sound hole design.
The electric Mahalo Les Pauls and Telecasters have arrived on eBay UK (I should probably call them electro-acoustic to be exact). You can find them, and their acoustic brethren, here.
My favourite ukulele photo of the week is astonishingly unusual in that it features a girl playing the ukulele whilst wearing a top.
Is there such a thing as a vintage fridge magnet?
Mahalo Les Paul Ukulele Review
September 3, 2008
I felt like a Burmese monk that hadn’t been through Poy Sang Long, I really did. It’s a rite of passage for any UK uke player to own a Mahalo ukulele and I never did. Back in my day, there was no useful website to tell you which ukulele to buy, so I ended up with a real piece of junk.
But my Mahalo deficiency was set to change when I saw their Les Paul copies.
Mahalo don’t have a great track record when it comes to Gibson copies. Their version of the Flying V looks awful and sounds worse. But when I saw their Les Paul copies, I just couldn’t resist.
The Good Stuff
- The Look – The uke looks great. It’s available in tobacco sunburst, cherry and black (I went with the black – to match my heart). They all look great. From a distance at least. As you’d expect from a cheap, Chinese made uke, the attention to detail isn’t quite there. There are a couple of areas that are a little messy up close. But they’re nowhere near bad enough to spoil how it looks.
- The Price – Not as cheap as the cheapest Mahalos, but at £35 it’s irresistible.
- Plays Easy – The action is low and it feels right.
- Good sound – Even with the strings it comes fitted with, the uke sounds great for the price. These mp3s were recorded without any adjustments other than tuning up.
Strumming test:
Strum Test – Sister Kate (MP3)
Picking test:
Picking Test – Staten Island Slide (MP3) (written by Craig Robertson)
The Less Good Stuff
- Intonation The intonation leaves a bit to be desired. I don’t know why they’ve bothered with a compensated bridge if they’re not going to take care with setting up the intonation. Having said that, the problem doesn’t rear its head in the first seven frets. So it’s fine for basic chord strumming.
In this example, I’m playing a harmonic at the 12th fret then playing the note at 12th fret itself.
Overall
While there’s no danger of the Mahalo becoming my No. 1 uke, I’m very happy with it. It’s perfect little strummer to have lying around. And it looks like a Les Paul for chuffs sake.
More Mahalo reviews on buy a ukulele.
It’s obviously a very popular uke as it’s pretty tricky to find one right now. They’re few and far between on eBay and ‘Out of Stock’ signs are appearing on websites.
Search eBay Germany (as I write, they have an electric ukulele version of the Les Paul Mahalo which I haven’t seen anywhere else).
Search eBay Australia (oooh, their Mahalos have solid cases)
Also, for those who’ve asked about my tabbing software: Guitar Pro Review.
UPDATE: The little lick I throw into Sister Kate goes like this:
Leonardo Nunes, Ko’olau Electric – Wallet Tempters
August 29, 2008
I go one week without talking about ukuleles on eBay and look what happens. A Leonardo Nunes goes begging for $200. Granted, it’s fairly ugly for a Nunes, but still. Perhaps with everyone on their holibobs, it’s a good time to be watching the auctions. The uke has been listed again and already has a bid with a week left.
The budding Poirots amongst you may notice that this Nunes-styled vintage ukulele has had some serious attention from me already. I’ve officially banned myself from buying a new uke until my blues ebook is finished (it’s on it’s way and it’ll be worth the wait). I’ve already broken that rule once, but I’m still tempted.
Ko’olau have a pretty fearsome reputation for the exacting standards of their ukuleles (and a price tag to match) so it’s interesting to see their electric ukulele. They put me in mind of the Pete Howlett uklectics (another ukulele that is seriously threatening my uke embargo).
The Mahalo Les Paul copies have disappeared from eBay UK, but you can still find a boatload of them on eBay Germany. Not only that, they also have an electric Mahalo Les Paul for sale. It makes you wonder who won the war.
Mahalo and K Wave Telecasters, Bass Ukes on eBay
August 15, 2008
I caused a bit of a run on the Mahalo Les Paul copies when I mentioned them last week. eBay are now all sold out. You can listen to krabbers on his here. Obviously, I couldn’t resist. Mine arrived this morning and I’m very happy with it. It has some of the failings you’d expect from a cheap uke (the intonation is off further up the neck and the paint job is a bit shoddy in places) but the action is great and it plays very easily. I’ll have to get some Aquila strings on it and give it a real test.
Andy pointed out that Mahalo are also making Telecaster copies. I’m not so keen on them. Without the scratchplate on them, they look quite misshapen. But I am tempted by the Kiwaya K Wave Telecasters, and there’s this one currently for sale at £99. It’s a butterscotch (my favourite colour of telecaster) which, according to the Kiwaya website, is now discontinued.
Heather found this very nicely decorated Dresden Dolls themed uke.
MGM has a Bass ukulele up for sale at the moment – it’s the size of a baritone ukulele but, apparently, it’s in the range of a double bass. You can find out more and listen to it here.
I wish Weissenborn had made more ukes. There’s a nice early one here, but what the hell was that guy thinking with that description?
eBay UK Ukes, Mahalo Les Paul
August 8, 2008
There are quite a few interesting ukes for sale on eBay UK right now. Hank’s Guitar Shop has a bunch of interesting ukuleles including Martins, Kamakas, KoAlohas, Fleas and Flukes.
Mahalo have been making Gibson Flying V style ukes for a while and now they’ve moved on to Les Pauls. You can buy them in Cherry and Black .
Also on eBay UK is this Gibson which has been attacked with a drill, but might still be worth watching.
Still in the UK, but confusingly on ebay US, is this strange “Trad Jazz Special” plastic ukulele.
There seems to be even more photos of topless ukulele girls than usual this week, but the photo that really caught my attention was this photo of a German boy from 1866. As well as the distractions of the hat and thrown, that’s a very interesting instrument he has there.
