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| Mele Ukuleles? - General Ukulele - Ukulele - ezFolk Forums | |||||||||||||||
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saveanescapist Approved 
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I'm in the market for a new ukulele, and I'm trying to decide on a brand to get. I've been recommended Mele by a good freind of mine - actually, not a freind, but my favourite singer, Stephin Merritt. Haha. He's like Irving Berlin with manic depression, and he writes all his songs on his ukulele, initially, so I assume he's got some weight to his choice of uke. I've never actually played a Mele, but I'm making a trip out to visit the Old Town School of Folk in Chicago to see how it sounds and about prices and stuff. But I wanted the opinions of some others - what do you know about Mele ukes? Are they worth it? I'm planning to purchase a concert Koa from them. Will I regret it? On that note, this is my first post. I guess I should introduce myself - I'm Mike, and I'm really crazy about the uke. I've been strumming on my piece-of-crap-guitar-centre-off-brand uke for just under a year now. I also like to pick about my banjo ukulele. I'm really excited to join up around here, it seems like an excellent forum, and I've lurked here for answers to previous questions. But I hope to be a fairly active member of the Ukulele section henceforth. 
____________________ This little ukulele tells the truth. |
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debonnaire Approved
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I have a mele concert pineapple with a spruce top. I paid about $300 for it at their store on Maui. The uke sounds great. It projects really well and when I play with a group of ukers, it still breaks through - even up against some mahogany tenors. It looks good, too - though it's not very traditional looking. I sort of fell in love with the 2-tone mahogany on the headstock - it was the only one like it in their entire shop. The machineheads on it are awesome and the intonation is perfect so far as I can tell. On the down side, there are a few globs in the finish and the bottom seam isn't quite perfect - which makes me doubt their quality control a little. The instuments are assembled in the Phillipines and only finished off in Hawaii. Also, the tone is bright, but not sweet - if that makes any sense. Since I bought the uke, I've become a fan of Hawaii'an music so I prefer a bit of a different tone now. Bear in mind that I always have buyer's remorse about this sort of thing and my concerns about the sound probably come from the spruce top. The instrument you're considering will probably have a totally different tone. Just make sure to inspect the finish under a bright light. I know you're friend's recommendation is important to you, but don't buy the first one you pick up - especially if you've only played cheaper ukes before.
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saveanescapist Approved
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Hmm. Yeah, I sort of agree with you on the tone issue, actually. Although the all-koa is probably much better then the spruce-top, it wasn't the greatest of the lot I tried out at my local ukulele dealer. I much preferred the sound of the Koaloha. But the Koalohas are out of my price range for a bit. Should I just wait and afford that or a Kamaka, or should I just go for the Mele? Or is there another brand I should consider in the $400ish range? Last edited on Mon Apr 7th, 2008 04:57 am by saveanescapist ____________________ This little ukulele tells the truth. |
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GX9901 Approved 
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There is a guy who posts on a couple of other ukulele forums, but not this one, that has owned a few Meles. He says that Meles sounds great but every Mele he has owned and known about has had cracks that developed from dry weather. The problem was enough for the dealer that he buys from, ukulele4u on ebay, to stop carrying Mele ukes. So he does not recommend Mele ukes. For what it's worth, I tried a couple of Meles at a flea market in Oahu a few months ago and I was not impressed with the sound of those particular ones that I tried. What size of ukulele are you lookng for? $400 buys different things depends on what size you want. For instance, if you want a soprano, this Kanile'a is hard to beat for the price. If it's concert or tenor you want, Pono and Ohana are solid choices in the price range. If you can find Kelii concerts, they should fall within your budget and are probably the best choice since they are hand made in Hawaii as opposed to China or Indonesia. There is a real difference between Hawaiian made and Asian made stuff, at least in my experience so far. I just made a video review of my Kanile'a super-soprano and compared it with a couple of other ukes. It might give you a little bit of an idea of what a Kanile'a soprano might sound like. Good luck with your search.
____________________ Check out my uke blog: http://gx9901ukes.blogspot.com |
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lenf Approved
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saveanescapist wrote: Or is there another brand I should consider in the $400ish range? You might want to look at the Pono ukes. Basic assembly is done on Java, then QC and setup by Ko'olau on Oahu. Mostly Mahogany or Koa versions in standard sizes. I've been very happy with my tenor. You'll find quite a few folks reviews on various online forums, yet to read a bad one. Last edited on Mon Apr 7th, 2008 06:37 am by lenf |
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scrooner Approved
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You ought to stake out the FMM Marketplace. KoAlohas come up there once in a while, and if that's what you have in mind, you probably won't stop uke shopping 'til you get one. http://www.fleamarketmusic.com/marketplace/default.asp Someone recently sold a KoAloha concert for $425...
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saveanescapist Approved
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Hmmm. It seems then that the determination should be for the Pono, aye? A PKC 1 would be what I'm looking at. It certainly is beautiful, I love the deep tone of it, it sounds lovely from the samples I can find. I've seen some good reviews of them as I lurk about... seems enough for me! Another paycheck and I'll have it.  Thanks to everyone for your help in averting me from a potential disaster. :]
____________________ This little ukulele tells the truth. |
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UkeForever Approved 
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Pono is making great instruments right now, but "props" or whatever should be given to Mele--the first company to import instruments for a better price. Of course, before Bushman, the same Mele you can now get for $300 was closer to $500, but who's counting? Mele ukes were my first taste of a what a uke could feel like--thin neck, solid wood, etc. When I got into it (all the way back in 2004), the entry market was flooded with laminate ukes. Mele was the only real alternative in that market. Also, the owners of the shop over in Hawai'i are reputed to be wonderful folks, full of Aloha. I'm sure if anything went wrong with an instrument, they'd do their level best to make it right.
____________________ Don't let the door hit 'ya where the good Lord split 'ya. John Rockwell's Crazy Songs 
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debonnaire Approved
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It's true about the people at the Mele shop. They're really nice to deal with and I'm sure they stand behind their instruments. From what I hear, it's common for ukes from Hawaii to have problems with cracking. It's because most places have much lower humidity. Buy a humidifier and you shouldn't have a problem. At the store on Maui they insisted I buy one for the sake of the uke.
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saveanescapist Approved
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Thought I'd give you guys an update: I went with the Pono PKC and I just received it today. What a fantastic little instrument! It sounds great - just the kind of tone I was looking for, deep, bright, but still sort of raw and accoustic - it feels great, and it's beautiful to boot. I couldn't have asked for better advice then from you all, so thank you so much!
____________________ This little ukulele tells the truth. |
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PhilUSAFRet Approved
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Have a Mele Koa Tenor I received as a gift a few years ago. Tone ok, nothing to brag about. Has factory strings...haven't tried Aquilas yet. Haven't played it much. I know it was purchased for about half of what they want for one today....Guess I will try Aquilas, play it more, and hope it sounds better as time goes on
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ProfChris Approved
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I've owned a Mele mahogany soprano for a couple of months and am very happy with it. My choice was beween a Hamano mahogany, the Mele and a Pono curly mango (all sopranos). I quickly ruled out all the lamiates, as solid wood sounds dramatically better to me. The Mele won out on two fronts: 1. The "plunkiest" (jazzy) tone - I seem to be playing 1910s-30s jazz tunes, and it was far better for those to my ear. The Pono was quieter and less dynamic - to me it sounded more like a classical guitar than a uke, but I don't know how much of that was the mango wood. The Hamano seemed rather coarse in tone. 2. Wider fretboard, good for big fingers like mine. Possible minus points are the very flat neck front to back, which makes the transition from open chords to bar chords rather awkward for me, as my thumb doesn't want to slide round in the same way as on my first (cheap Mahalo) uke, but this is probably just poor technique on my part - I suspect my thumb shouldn't be neaarly wrapping round the neck in any case. Also the finish is not perfect, though pretty good overall. Plus points are the very light construction, which makes it a pleasure to hold and I think gives more volume, and the fact that it's plain but pretty. Here in the UK lack of humidity is not much of a problem, but I'll be heartbroken if it does crack. It came with HiLo strings, which are pretty good, but already the C string is sounding duller than it did so I'll probably change to Aquila or Worth in the near future. I'd recommend trying one, but it really is important to try before you buy if you can. I spent some time at the shop (Duke of Uke in London, recommended) on two occasions, and it helped very much to be able to try several side by side - changed my mind at least twice before finally deciding. If your only option is mail order and your credit card can stand it, I'd say buy both the leading candidates and choose between them at home before sending the loser back - a few (pounds/dollars) is pretty irrelevant if you'll be playing the instrument for years. Last edited on Sat Oct 4th, 2008 10:19 pm by ProfChris |
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Gaby Approved 
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Try Aquila for sure on this uke!
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| ezFolk Forums > Ukulele > General Ukulele > Mele Ukuleles? | |
