A Case Study, Part 1

Having a bunch of 'ukuleles could only mean one thing: also having a lot of cases! I just took delivery of a custom ordered tenor Ameritage case (thank God the Koa Works fits in it) and thought I'd do a review of all the different types of cases I've accumulated so far. I mean, it seems to be a fun topic right? So without further ado, I'm going to jump right in to the various cases in my possession. (This is going to be quite a long post so I'm probably going to divide it into 2 or 3 parts)

Lanikai canvas covered foam case:

This is probably the most commonly used 'ukulele case around. It is made from hard foam that's covered with a black canvas type fabric. There are many reasons why these are popular. They are light, they have a lot of storage compartments inside and out, they have a spacious interior that fits most of the ukes in the marketplace, and they are inexpensive. It also comes with 2 straps that you can use to either carry the case on your shoulder or on your back.

There are really only a couple of negatives for this case. The first is that because its large interior, many ukes fit loosely in there. It does have a Velcro tie to secure the neck, but it's kind of a pain in the butt to fasten and unfasten each time you move your uke in and out of the case. The other negative is that the case has suspect longevity. I had one where the screw that secures the handle bar started to strip out and felt like it was only a matter time before the handle is pulled apart from the case.

This is a good travel case because it is light and does a pretty good job of protecting the uke. I took my Pineapple Sunday to Hawaii this past January in a concert sized Lanikai case and it worked out really well. This case usually sells for about $40-45 shipped, which isn't too bad. Below are some pictures of this type of case.

Outside of the Lanikai case. Note the large zippered compartment.


Inside of the concert Lanikai case with 'ukulele.


Inside compartment of the Lanikai case.


Note the "D" rings on the side and bottom for the straps.



It probably doesn't take a lot of force to strip out these screws, making the durability suspect.

Guardian canvas covered case:

The Guardian canvas covered case is pretty similar to the Lanikai case, but I think it is overall a little bit better designed. It is also a canvas covered foam case. The main difference is that the handles on this case are stitched on the outer cover instead of screwed into the foam inside. I think this design should be much more durable in the long run. It too has 2 straps and the case can be carried on the shoulder or backpack style, which can be pretty handy if you need more maneuverability for your arms while carrying this case.

This case is only available in soprano and baritone sizes as far as I know. In addition, the soprano case is way too big for a normal soprano and not quite big enough for a concert, making the soprano version kind of odd. The baritone case is well sized and fits my Bushman Cedartone perfectly. Another negative would be the zipper length. The zipper runs almost all the way around the outside of the case, meaning that it takes more time to zip and unzip. Yes, that's maybe 0.5 seconds longer, but it just seem kind of excessive.

I like the baritone version of this case better than the soprano version due to the size issue mentioned earlier. It is pretty well made and at $36 shipped, very inexpensive at Musician's Friend. It is a very good choice for a budget 'ukulele case.

Note the carrying handles are stitched onto the case.

With Bushman Cedertone baritone inside.

Interior of the Guardian case.

Note that it has some "feet" on the side to set down on.

No name generic case from ebay:

When I got my Kanile'a super soprano, it came with a Lanikai soprano case. That case had the aforementioned screw stripping issue mentioned previously, so I went looking for a case that would fit the super soprano. I came across a black soprano case on ebay that had enough interior room for the Kanile'a. It cost about $30 shipped so I picked it up. The Kanile'a indeed fits comfortably inside this case. It has some simulated leather exterior that covers what feels like chipboard. The chrome hardware are kind of cheap but does the job. It also has a decent amount of room inside for some humidifiers, strings, and hygrometer. It doesn't have the storage capacity that the Lanikai and Guardian cases have, but it's sufficient. While the chrome latches are kind of cheap, I much prefer them over the zippers of the canvas covered cases. It just opens and closes so much quicker.

For the money I paid for this case, I don't have too many complaints. I already mentioned the cheap hardware, but they work just fine. The case did have an industrial sort of stench that wasn't very good. But it seem to have subsided mostly and wasn't overpowering. I think the case probably won't be all that durable in the long run, since the exterior covering is kind of weak and soft feeling, but so far it has been perfectly fine, so I don't know for sure.

Overall, I like the case, especially for the Kanile'a super soprano.

Exterior view of the case. It only has 2 latches instead of the usual 3 latches.

The Kanile'a super soprano is a perfect fit inside.

Interior compartment is small, but there's room around the headstock area for various things.

It has "feet" on the side and back.

Well, that's quite a long post. I'll cover the rest of the cases in a few days. It'll probably take 2 more posts to cover everything. If you're interested in seeing the custom color Ameritage case, stay tuned!

Big Ukes

I've resisted getting a baritone 'ukulele since I started over a year ago. I figured that it will be enough of a challenge to learn the C tuning 'ukuleles without trying to also learn the baritone's G tuning. Also, it just seemed too big to be a 'ukulele. Well, as you can see from the picture here, I have caved in and pulled the trigger on a baritone uke.

I saw those familiar (at least to ebay warriors like me) Bushman B-stock ukes while cruising ebay and looked at a few of them. The recent ones are mostly baritones and several of them were Cedartones, which kind of piqued my interest. I read the list of defects on those B-stocked baritones and one of them seemed to be in good shape with only a couple of small cosmetic issues. I ended up getting that one and received it last Friday. There were indeed no real issues with action, intonation, or other playability issues that I could see. Even the cosmetic blemishes were very minor. Most importantly, I really liked the sound coming out of the uke. I have only previously strummed one baritone uke a couple of times, so I really didn't know what they sounded like. This one definitely sounded like a guitar and I thought the sound was very pleasant. Nice and deep with good sustain. Having only had it for a couple of days now, I am very happy with this purchase. It might be my favorite cheap uke purchase yet because I really feel like it's a steal at this point. Once I have a bit more time with it I will probably post a review of it.

One thing that was kind of interesting to me about the baritone uke is that it felt really big and kind of small at the same time. It seems a lot bigger than a tenor uke, yet because it sounds so much like a guitar, it feels small because it's much smaller than a real guitar. I took a couple of pictures of it alongside my two tenors (Pono cedar top & Koa Works) and as you can see, it's significantly larger. Also note how orange the cedar on the Bushman looks compared to the Pono's cedar. I wonder if it's a matter of different species or if the factory for Bushman dyed it orange.

Anyway, my first experience with a baritone uke has been very positive and certainly exceeded my expectations. I think the baritone uke will probably always be a side diversion compared to the other sized ukes for me, but I think it will be a fun diversion judging from the enjoyment I've derived from the Bushman Cedartone in the short time I've had it so far.

Isn't it Something?

Thanks to the "Play It Forward Ukulele Video Contest" hosted by Ukulelereview.com, I've been learning Something from the tutorial Dominator submitted for the contest. The tutorial is easy to follow and Dom does a good job of teaching it, so I was able to get all the chords and picking patterns down after a few days. I decided to post a video of it on Youtube despite not really being very smooth at it yet. I wanted to put up some "fruits" of the tutorial, so to speak. Here is the video:



Hopefully with continued practice I can play the solo part better. I tried several takes and this was the best I could do with the camera on so far.

Next one to do will be the Close To You tutorial Dominator had also put up over the last week. I think he should win one of those Fleas from the Play it Forward contest just because he has been "Playing it Forward" with his tabs website and other tutorials for a long time now. Thanks Dom!

How do I love the ukulele? Let me count the ways.

It's obvious that I love the 'ukulele. That's why a blog such as this exists. Someone at Ukulele Underground forum posed the question "What do you like about the ukulele" and it got me thinking why am I so addicted to the 'ukulele? There are a lot of reasons for it, so I will put some of them down here for your reading pleasure (or not):

1. I love the sound. Yes, the first time I heard it, I just had a fondness of the sound. It was this guy playing the 'ukulele at the Dole Plantation in Oahu. I was just really drawn to the sound and noted that I really liked it. Even a humble little Mahalo uke sound pretty good by itself. That's the number one thing that drew me to the 'ukulele. It's sweet sound.

2. It is very portable. I have ukes scattered through out my house and all it takes to be playing a uke is to open the case and take it out. You can literally play it anywhere. I often take a uke out with me just in case there is some time for me to play it. Unlike say a guitar, it is so light and small (even a tenor is really not that big) that you can just tote it around and play. The portability alone makes it much easier to practice your playing since you can just move it anywhere you need to be in the house. Trying taking a guitar up and down the stairs of your house while playing something.

3. It is easy to learn. I have never played any stringed instrument before the 'ukulele and have long forgotten how to read music. Yet the 'ukulele has been really accessible and I have had a great time learning to play it. It's difficult to find anyone teaching 'ukulele lessons here in Minnesota, yet because it's so easy to pickup and play, the great materials available on the Internet makes it possible to learn to play the uke at a good pace.

4. It's unique. Outside of Hawaii and Japan, the 'ukulele is still very much a niche instrument. Not a lot of people play it. So you feel unique being a 'ukulele player. After all, it's good to be unique. Right?

5. There are great communities of 'ukulele players around the country. I have exchanged emails and even talked to some fellow 'ukulele enthusiasts I've "met" online at various forums. I have surfed the 'net on various forums before this is the first hobby where I actually interacted with other posters outside of the forums. Many of the uke players seem to be very friendly and eager to talk uke. I hope to meet many more of them at 'ukulele festivals in the future.

6. 'Ukulele lends itself to a collection. This is probably a lame reason, but I have a history of "collecting" things. It seems that anything I get into, I end up with a collection. Since 'ukuleles don't take up a lot of space and are relatively inexpensive (although more expensive than I initially thought), it's easy to build a collection. As you can see from this blog, I already have a decent sized collection of ukes. The good thing is, they are all unique in some way so I don't feel like I'm collecting a bunch of the same things.

7. It's something I can use to serve God at church. Since I've taken up the 'ukulele, I've used it to lead church worship or play backup music for others at church many times. For me it just feels more powerful to be able to play something instead of just singing. I'm very happy that it is something I can use at the church setting.

There are probably a lot more reasons I can think of for why I love the 'ukulele, but these are probably as good as any. I truly think this will be a life long commitment and I very much look forward to the rest of this journey.

Play it forward ukulele video contest @ Ukulelereview.com!

One of the greatest contest ideas I've ever seen is currently ongoing over at Ukulelereview.com. It's the "Play It Forward Ukulele Video Contest" sponsored by Julie Strietelmeier. In this contest, people are encouraged to post ukulele related tutorials to Youtube. The 3 top winners gets a sweet package including a Flea ukulele and a clip-on tuner. This is literally a contest where everyone wins because if it takes off nicely over the next month, we all should benefit from the array of new ukulele tutorials that will be present on Youtube. Heck, Dominator has already contributed a 35 minute long 4 part tutorial on how to play "Something" by the Beatles, which for me is like a prize in itself.

It should be interesting to see future entries to this contest. There has not been a lot of entries so far, but I'm guessing that many are already planning their own tutorial videos to enter the contest. If I ever feel creative enough, I might give it a shot too. So for anyone reading out there who have not heard of this contest, get going on some videos!

New Pins for Kanile'a

My Kanile'a super soprano has always been a looker. It features some great looking curly koa that has a glowing 3D look. I like wide curls in curly koa and when I first saw this uke for sale on musicguymic's shop, I knew I had to have it. Appearance-wize, I really liked everything about this uke. The wood is gorgeous, the bridge and headstock looks handsome, the new Kanile'a logo looks very nice, I love the Kanile'a soprano body shape, and even the geared "sidewinder" tuners look good. I really had no complaints until I read on the FMM board about someone wanting to switch out the plastic bridge pins on his Kanile'a. I realized that the plastic pins are kind of cheezy, especially when you pull it out, when it looks pretty cheap. Another guy on FMM commented that Stewmac sells some bridge pins that worked well on his Kanile'a, so without further ado, I was at the Stewmac website right away looking for replacement pins.

I found the pins that guy was talking about and there were several attractive options for me to choose from. The snakewood pins looked good but I was drawn to the koa pins since it is a 'ukulele we're talking about here. I decided that I would get a set with pearl dots to match the pearl position dots on the fretboard. The uke has slot cut into the bridge for the string to pass through, so I bought the unslotted version of the bridge pins. Stewmac ship items quickly and the pins arrived after about 2 days. I immediately put them onto my Kanile'a and I think they look great and a lot more classy than the white plastic pins that came with the uke. Take a look at the pictures here and judge for yourself.

Mahalo Very Much!

Several weeks ago a two and a half year old boy from our church came to our house during a fellowship gathering. At one point he was toting around my Maccaferri Islander and seemed to show some interest in it. His dad mentioned that he's going to get him a ukulele. Knowing that the dad isn't likely to follow through on that thought, and being interested in "converting" people to the 'ukulele (yes, I know he's a little young, but what the heck?), I thought I'd buy the boy a cheap uke sometime. A couple of weeks ago I saw some colored Mahalo ukes on ebay that were $30 shipped, so I snagged a blue one for the little boy.



It arrived last week and I put a set of KoAloha blue strings on it. It looks pretty good on this uke. I figured I'd let the strings stretch for a week before giving it to the boy this weekend. While it's in my possession, I strummed it a little bit to see how it is. These colored Mahalo ukes have a reputation of being pretty decent beginner ukes. Of course, for $30 shipped, one really couldn't reasonably expect anything great, so I wasn't exactly expecting to be blown away by it. I was fairly impressed, however, when I looked into the soundhole. Why? Because there is a "Nubone" logo on the sticker inside the soundhole! "Nubone" is what Kanile'a uses for their ukes and upon examining the saddle, it indeed looks exactly like the saddle material on my Kanile'a super soprano. It probably doesn't mean much, but hey, at least there is some quality material here. Unfortunately, there isn't much to be said about the sound. It's decent, and works OK, but probably doesn't even reach the level of the Maccaferri Islander. The action and intonation are also kind of bad. The action isn't so high as to be unplayble, but definitely high. The intonation isn't great. It starts to go sharp almost immediately, although the intonation problem at the first few frets is probably caused by the high nut and might be fixed by filing it down a little bit. The volume is actually pretty decent. I didn't think it was quiet or anything. The tone is pretty thin and almost plasticky. On the plus side, there aren't any frets sticking out to poke your hands and the tuners seem to work well.


Overall, it's probably a pretty good deal at $30. It does a decent job as a kid's first uke, and it's colorful. The little boy I'm giving it to will probably will not actually be playing it, but maybe his parents might pick it up for a strum or two once in a while. I'm not so sure if it is such a great uke for a real beginner, but again, it is $30 so you can't expect too much from it. It should extract a few smiles though, and that's worth something.

Here is a sound clip of this 'ukulele. (playing Craig Roberson's Staten Island Slide and chords for Seals & Crofts song Summer Breeze as played by Aldrine Guerrero)

Updated Rankings

Time for another update to the rankings of my 'ukuleles. Since the last ranking, I've added the Koa Works tenor to the lineup. I've also tried out several string sets on a few of the ukes and also made some slight fixes to a couple of them. I'm going to rank all of the ukes this time and make some more detailed comments on stuff I've done to the ukes where applicable:


1. Koa Works tenor: If you read a few of the past blog entries, you probably know that this uke is currently in Hawaii waiting for a couple of repairs by the builder, Rich Godfrey. Between purchasing it in Oahu last month and shipping it back for repairs, I had it for about 3 weeks. During that time, I thoroughly enjoyed every second of playing this uke. Not only does it sound great, but the feel while playing it is on an entirely different level compared to anything else I have. I'm really looking forward to getting it back as it's a truly magical experience for me when I get to play this uke.

2. KoAloha Pineapple Sunday: While this and my other ukes don't really come close to the Koa Works tenor, it is a tight race for the number 2 spot, and I think the Pineapple Sunday narrowly holds off the Honu concert, mostly because it has just a little bit more "mojo" from the unique styling. I briefly tried some Worth CT's on this uke. While it still sounded very good, I felt that something was missing with the CT's. It seemed to have lost some of the "Pineapple Sunday-ness" with the switch. Also, the middle two strings don't seem to sustain as long. I switched back to the Worth BL's after a couple of days and I really like the sound with BL's much better. The uke always has sounded great, and I'm still enjoying it very much. It's got a richer sound than the Honu, but not quite as crystal clear. Still a great uke in my book.

3. Honu Deluxe concert: I had tried some colored strings on this uke over the past month, first some KoAloha green strings, and then some Guadalupe rainbow monofilament strings. Unfortunately, both sets really didn't sound all that great compared to the Worth CD's I had on it, so I switched back to those Worth CD's. With those strings, this uke sounds so crystal clear to me it almost feels like the strings are made of glass while I'm playing it. It's not particularly rich sounding, but the clarity of the tone is pretty much second to none. Well, except for maybe the Koa Works, but that uke is pretty much on another level by itself.

4. Bluegrass Ukes Cigar box: This uke has been kind of like an ultra-Fluke for me. It can stand on its own and I'm not as careful with it because it seems to be pretty rugged, but its sound rivals the Pineapple Sunday. I tried a set of Guadalupe rainbow wound strings on this one and actually kind of like it. I normally don't like wound strings, but these look and sound cool enough that I've decided to keep them on for a while. I recently got a file from stewmac.com to file down the fret ends a little bit. It had stuck out past the fretboard slightly since I got it and while it wasn't too bothersome, I did wish to get it taken care of. I filed the ends down and it feels a little bit better now, but I think I still need to shape the fret ends a little bit since these are pretty big frets and some of the edges are a little sharp. Still a great playing with great volume and tone. It dropped from its #2 spot from the last ranking, but it's still a quality instrument in my book.

5. G-String Honu soprano: I have not really been playing my soprano ukes lately, so I've only played this one a handful of times in recent months. It still has great sound though and I still hold it in very high regard. But it doesn't get higher than #5 simply because I don't play it enough.

6. Martin Style 1 soprano: Another uke I don't play very often because I've been gravitating toward concerts and tenors. However, this is a top quality uke in my opinion. It is very loud. In fact, it seems to be as loud as or maybe even louder than some of the tenor scale ukes I have. It has a vintage sounding bark and is very resonant. The uke is also extremely light, which no doubt contributes to the sound quality. It's a keeper.

7. Kanile'a custom super soprano: While I've been playing concerts and tenors more frequently, the concert I usually play is the Honu instead of this uke. I think the main reason is that the Honu is so clear sounding that this Kanile'a sounds a little muddy in comparison. This uke is also deeper sounding, so that may contribute to that illusion. On its own, it is a very good sounding uke. I've recently restrung it with Worth CD's but it didn't sound all that different than the Worth BM's I had strung it with before. I would love this uke a lot more if the sound clarity is the same or close to the Honu's. This uke has gorgeous wood and I really like the super-soprano size and the Kanile'a soprano shape. But I find myself reaching for the other ukes listed above more often, so #7 is where it shall be ranked this time.

8. Pono cedar top tenor: This has turned into sort of an experimentation uke for me. I've tried many different string sets on it. The latest set I tried is a set of "custom" Savarez low-G strings as suggested by William King. These strings sound very good, although the last time I strung this uke with a low-G set, it was the original Ko'olau Gold strings that the uke came with and I don't remember how it compares to that set. For the time being, the Pono will be my low-G uke. I think it's a decent uke, but of course it's not in the class of the Koa Works or Pineapple Sunday. If I ever become more interested in low-G tuning, I may have to invest in a better low-G uke. Of course, I could just restrung one of the other tenors with low-G, but what fun is that??? :P

9. BugsGear concert: I got this uke for its silent-uke function and active pickup. However it was plagued by frets that stick out past the fretboard that causes it to be uncomfortable to hold. I finally decided to do something about it and bought a fret file from Stewmac.com. I filed down the fret ends and while I probably need to do more filing, it's already much improved in that regard. I almost never play it without plugging it in though, so I guess the silent-uke function is not all that important. It sounds fine plugged in, and I appreciate the tone and volume adjustment knobs on the uke. I would have to say that other than it being an electric uke, there isn't much else there to compel me to play it.

10. Maccaferri Islander soprano: This is pretty much strictly a novelty uke for me. I strum it once in a blue moon, but I keep it around for its historic and novelty value. It sounds plasticky and the intonation isn't that good. Still, it's pretty cool to have.

Ukulele Forums

There are a lot of 'ukulele forums on the internet for the uke enthusiast to read or interact with other people's opinions on the instrument. I visit quite a few of them on a regular basis and there are a couple of interesting observations. The first one is that a lot of the same people seem to post on all of these forums, including me. The other one is despite many of the same people appearing in those forums, they all seem to have a distinct flavor. Here's a roundup of what I think makes each of those forums that I visit unique:

-Flea Market Music: This is by far the most active 'ukulele forum that I have come across. It uses a pretty ancient message board format, but you get used to it after a while. It almost seem to be the "hub" of the online 'ukulele universe as most people who posts on some of the other forums seem to post here. It has a reputation of being the most confrontational forum, but based on my observations, I don't think it's justified. Sure, there are a few disagreements here and there, but I don't think there's a higher percentage compared to other forums. The average age of the posters here seem to be 40 and up (just a guess though), but they seem to be from pretty diverse backgrounds.

-EZ-Folk: This is the first forum I signed up to after taking up the 'ukulele. It's actually a much more encompassing forum than just 'ukuleles. I only read the 'ukulele area though. Lately this seems to be the "newbie" forum as there have been many beginners here asking questions. So there should be a lot of good information for future new players in this forum.

-Ukulele Cosmos: This is a UK based forum. This one has a strong international flavor since a lot of the posters are from Europe. There are some interesting things to be learned here especially since it's from a different perspective than Americans. I don't really have a sense of the average age of the posters here, but I don't think there are very many in their 20's or 30's posting here.

-The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum (uke section): I was referred to this forum just last month. It's part of the Martin Guitar forum so most of the posters are guitar players first. Recently there has been an infusion of uke players to this forum (including me). I think because most people here are guitar players first, they acquire expensive ukes pretty rapidly, probably because they seem so inexpensive next to nice Martin guitars.

-Uke Talk: This is a pretty quiet forum usually. There seemed to be more luthier discussion here before but I think they all got too busy building ukes so I don't see as much posting from them here. It seems to be mostly a subset of people from the FMM forum. Discussions are pretty civil around here, but there also isn't much traffic most of the time.

-Ukulele Underground: This is a pretty new site. The age demographic here is definitely A LOT younger than the other forums. Most of the posters are college age kids and the topics of discussion is definitely different from some of the other forums. I think it's kind of refreshing to have a forum like this that's pretty much separate from the others. I think I can relate well to the younger people, although at 32, I'm not really that young anymore. I think this forum will have more and more traffic down the road as time goes on.

So that's my breakdown of the various internet forums that discusses the 'ukulele. It's always fun for me to read about the 'ukulele and to interact with other uke enthusiasts online. I hope to continue to do it for a long time to come.

Somebody is probably weeping...

Well, I was going to post a video of me playing the Koa Works tenor, but before I sent it back to Hawaii for repairs, I have not had a decent video of me playing it. But just for the heck of it, I decided to post a video I did take of me playing Jake Shimabukuro's version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps. I made several mistakes in the video, but I think it gives a decent idea of what the Koa Works sound like. And yes, I'm weeping on the inside right now because I'll be without my Koa Works tenor for a period of time.