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ezFolk Forums > Ukulele > Beginner Questions - Ukulele > fast, cheap, good uke & express setup advice for an absolute beginner |
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| fast, cheap, good uke & express setup advice for an absolute beginner | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Thu May 28th, 2009 01:13 pm |
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1st Post |
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silvermeat Approved
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So, things being what they are, i managed to contract a fierce itch for some uku-learning just this week, and found out today that the NY Uke Fest (nyukefest.com) is THIS WEEKEND! Which, things being what they are, means that i now need to scour this city for the best and most affordable instrument, and scour the interforums for the best and most brightest advice on how to get the thing set up and under control. All in time to inflict myself on a beginner ukulele workshop at the festival friday noon. Now, things still being what they are, i have a severe budget limitation: $100 for the thing itself -- at $100 and 28 hours to go, buying online doesn't seem like an option -- so this is what the Lanikai LU-21T costs at Sam Ash here. Guitar Center doesn't even list anything in this range on their site, and I don't know other music stores in the city which may have good/cheap stuff. So at this price point, is there a better instrument (or local dealer) to consider? Being a substantially larger than average guy, I am primarily considering a Tenor, but am willing to be swayed by the right Concert in person. Discussions on this forum seem to confirm my general feeling on this. I have a rusty old guitar background, and an unpolished new bass foreground. I have briefly handled a Soprano ukulele, and i was indeed a little afraid i might inhale it... But i have never actually held either T or C ukes, so if there are any special considerations prior threads might not have stressed enough, please share them with me. I would like to preserve the gCEA tuning, as I will be muddling along with a lot of other people, and do not need to stick out or worry about sounding wrong. I understand this is possible on the Tenor, but is it a bad idea on a cheap truss-rod-less tenor? What should I be looking for in strings I buy for this purpose? In general, what strings would you recommend I get, that may be available locally and just MAYBE have some magical property to brighten perhaps the most contentious issue I must lay at your feet: What should I, can I do to a store-bought brand new ukulele & strings in the space of a day to make them be on the best possible behavior? Any help at all will be appreciated. Last edited on Thu May 28th, 2009 01:19 pm by silvermeat |
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| Posted: Thu May 28th, 2009 03:41 pm |
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2nd Post |
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DaveVisi Approved 
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Wow, tough call! If you had just a few days more I'd suggest "musicguymic" from eBay. He got my tenor Uke to me in about 3 days all the way from Hawaii, complete with setup and a nut/saddle change. I wouldn't be in a hurry to buy one ahead of time. There will be vendors there, including Music Guy Mike. I'm sure just about anything you find onsite will beat the Sam Ash offering. Worst case you could possibly borrow a loaner for the weekend from another player. Last edited on Thu May 28th, 2009 03:44 pm by DaveVisi |
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| Posted: Thu May 28th, 2009 03:57 pm |
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3rd Post |
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silvermeat Approved
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Ha! His ebay store is on hold while he's here in town! But i bet with only the good stuff from his stock... I feel like vendors will likely not be bringing big piles of saleable gear - just some real trinkety ones and some real real nice show pieces which I would not be able to afford anyway... (But maybe I can get some good strings) Sam Ash do not carry Lanikai in store, manny's is sold out, and Guitar Center are not yet open.... so my options so far are looking like: an Oscar Schmidt OU5 (Concert), an OU2E (Concert, ac/electric), *maybe* an OU2T or OU4T (Tenors) from SA *if* they happened to receive some in today's pile, or possibly a "Fender Hau'oli" Tenor... Anyone know anything at all about this Fender? I have gathered only that it costs $150, comes with a gig bag and has a hideous headstock.
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| Posted: Thu May 28th, 2009 04:40 pm |
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4th Post |
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DaveVisi Approved
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Even his good stuff is pretty reasonable. I'd still wait and see what you can find there. I've heard mixed reports (mostly here) about the Fenders. Some love them, but apparently the QC has changed, so there are some really good ones out there, and some really bad ones. For me, I think that headstock is pretty hideous too.
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| Posted: Thu May 28th, 2009 04:54 pm |
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5th Post |
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silvermeat Approved
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so, i just found a small shop that has, while it breaks my personal bank, a Vineyard TK-150 for $170... I have read an overwhelmingly positive thread about this thing here: http://www.ezfolk.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=1545&forum_id=19&highlight=vineyard+tk-150 (despite the eventual kerrack outcome in that particular case) ... i think this is what's going to happen -- right now it's that or a terrifying fender monster for $150, and it really seems like the quality difference is substantial Last edited on Thu May 28th, 2009 05:00 pm by silvermeat |
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| Posted: Thu May 28th, 2009 05:01 pm |
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6th Post |
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DaveVisi Approved
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That Vinyard looks pretty nice. Just stay away from the dealers room, it might just ruin your day. Let us know how it goes, and how the festival goes. One of these days I hope to make it to one of them.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 02:56 pm |
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7th Post |
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silvermeat Approved
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so that vineyard had geared tuners, very nice stuff, was glad i went for that instead of waiting to go to uke fest vendor pile and spending 2x as much. there were some very very nice things from music man mike there, but nothing that for a beginner such as myself would press a rethinking of the initial buy. i strummed one or two very expensive pieces, and was just not that moved by the difference. (also hard to be really impressed by the sound of anything in a racquetball court with 100 other people plinking away) turned out to be a great moment to jump into a uke in new york -- went to 4 beginner workshops, notably one with (jumpin) jim beloff, who really is an inspiring teacher. also heard hours and hours of great performances and played along at one of the after hours jams.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 04:03 pm |
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8th Post |
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TomHB Approved 
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If the OU5 is made in Indonesia, it could be decent (for the price). If it's China-made, probably not too good. BTW, the headstock is really all I DO like about the Fender ukes -- being a Telecaster-fanatic ;o) Still haven't bought one, and probably won't, since no one will stock them locally.
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| Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 06:52 pm |
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9th Post |
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silvermeat Approved
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it's not the headstock shape as such but the implementation - it looks great on fender guitars and especially, imo, on their jazz basses, but on these ukes, it just felt vulgar and bulbous ... and the body and hs combo rings weird. not so, for example, here: http://www.earnestinstruments.com/tululele.html heh i never got to check out the OU5s because i found that tenor vineyard (which is china made, but pleases me)
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| Posted: Mon Jun 1st, 2009 07:03 pm |
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10th Post |
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TomHB Approved
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I prefer the traditional uke shape (except for Flukes). My ideal Fender uke would be a traditional soprano body with 15 1/2 scale neck and the Tele headstock (appropriately-sized for the body) -- maybe even with a maple body, neck and fretboard. Many China ukes are very good. Just been my experience with Chinese OU5s is that they're way over & sloppily built, compared to Indonesian OU5s, which are consistently much better, and lighter in construction.
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