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bl0ops
Aloha
13 Posts |
 Posted - 09/03/2005 : 6:08:04 PM
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Can someone please reccommend me a good baritone uke? Are bushman ukes solid wood?
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catheglass
Lokahi
USA
312 Posts |
Posted - 09/09/2005 : 7:30:46 PM
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aloha! just saw your message - i play baritone, and as you've noticed, we baritone players are few and far between.
can you give a little more information about your playing habits? beginner, advanced? picking or strumming along? know how much you want to spend? which ones have you tried?
I have two baritones; my first one is an old Harmony, bought off ebay a few years ago, nice balanced tone. my second is one built by Dennis Lake of Po Mahina Strings in Na'alehu, Hawaii. gorgeous thang.
so there are lots in between these two, eh? let me know..... |
cathe |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 03:52:50 AM
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aloha e bl0ops,
i have two baritones, too - a martin i found in the rafters of a store in san luis obispo, and a silvertone i inherited from my father-in-law. i've also gotten to play the dennis lake bari of cathe's. they're all beautiful sounding instruments.
i've never played a plywood bari, but i suspect (with no real science behind me) that it would sound okay. being a larger instrument it will resonate more and so be less likely to sound poor. of course, it still has to be made correctly; poor intonation is a terrible thing.
aloha,
keith
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2005 : 4:10:01 PM
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At the bottom end of the scale, I would say there are some Chinese-made instruments that are okay under the names Oscar Schmidt, Lanikai and Lahaina. Some have solid tops. Those start around $125. I would probably avoid the cheapies that start around $50. You can find many others above that, including custom ukes costing anywhere from several hundred to thousands of dollars.
I've found that the right set of strings can make a baritone playable or detestable, based on the tension and tone. Most cheap baritones come with poor strings.
Good luck!
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UncaJohn
Aloha
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 09/24/2005 : 10:30:56 AM
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Hello,
I love Baritone Ukulele. There are a few real good reasons to play Baritone. 1) Your hands are big (like mine) and you have trouble playing a tenor. 2) You play guitar. I play guitar more than uke and find keeping the same chord structures handy. 3) You want to learn even more chords. When you play Baritone it is not uncommon to capo at the 5th fret and play the standard uke tuning chords. This will quickly teach you how to improve with transposition -- especially from G to C.
Now, how to pick a uke.
Me, I made the mistake of starting off too cheaply. I wasn't sure....yadda yadda yadda....
I bought a Hilo mahogany Baritone. (Price about $85 to $100 -- once you get a case). It has a pretty warm tone. I like it to take to the beach or camping, now. I can beat it and not worry.
My next Uke was cheaper - a Santa Rosa Baritone for $35. I got it so I could set it up to tune like a tenor. This helped me to play blind with other ukes, but after awhile I could do the same thing on the D-G-B-E tuning anyway. This is now a wall decoration.
My next Uke was a Lanikai Koa Laminated wood Baritone. K-B model (about $180 - I think). Right now, I believe this is the cheapest anyone should start with. It's not solid Koa, It's not custom, It's not..... But it does have a nice sound, it fits me well and it can go anywhere. Last weekend I was camping on Saturday and then drove straight to Aloha in the Redwoods. It worked well under this stress. Furthermore, I was not stresses about hauling it around.
My current #1 is an Island Ukulele Baritone (Kauai) that is farther "high end." You can research these if you are interested. I love this uke, but it is not for the beginner, nor am I ready to camp with it, nor even take it to lessons when I have other errands to run. I play it mostly at home.
The lesson here is to buy the best uke you can afford. The used market is a great place to start. Where you live can matter. I feel that if you spend much less than $200, one of two things will happen. 1) You will lose interest because the instrument is hard to play or rather unsatisfying; 2) you will soon be spending more money to get a better uke. So, you here is your chance to learn from my mistakes. Good luck.
Oh, what will my 5th uke be? A Kamaka all solid Koa Baritone. I am already looking. I have lots of time because I am happy with what I have, but when the right one comes along I will get it.
I know someone who will only buy and play Kamakas. They collect well and can go up in value rather than down (like a Lanikai).
Other ukes I’ve played include Mele on Maui (they are nice but not 100% Maui -- correct me if I'm wrong, but I think they are assembled in Asia), Koaloha (I love these but they don't make a baritone), plus a few others I've played in stores like Bounty Music on Maui and at the HOLUALOA UKULELE GALLERY on the Big Island. If you are going to the Big Island soon, you should go visit this gallery! My wife and I spent nearly 1/2 a day there.
I hope this helps.
Aloha,
John
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Let's go back to the valley, one more time. = ) ...Ekolu |
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catheglass
Lokahi
USA
312 Posts |
Posted - 09/27/2005 : 8:31:03 PM
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Eh, John:
Nex'time you on Big Island, go see Dennis Lake in Na'alehu, he's PO MAHINA and makes incredible baritones.....wish you were close (or are you?) so you could try mine out and see.... just the best i've ever played.....(Sorry Chris Kamaka)da kine. |
cathe |
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UncaJohn
Aloha
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 09/28/2005 : 06:30:54 AM
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Aloha Cathe,
Not really nearby -if you live in Na'alehu, also? None the less, I would love to take you up on that offer. Oh wait, I looked at your profile. You might be nearby, now.
This uke thing is an addiction. In retrospect, perhaps the best advice to Blooops should be to run away. No wait, running shoes are expensive too. You can't win for loosing on that front.
One thing I've found is that the really good custom ukes I've seen can be very dear. Like -- if I should sell my guitars I might not have enough for ONE of da kine.
I did enjoy: http://www.konaweb.com/mahina/
Looks like Dennis is not dear as the "bigger" brands. Pretty ukes, too. Nice choice!
We will be back on the Big Island in a little while and we do get down south about once a year. So, I will definitely look up Dennis when we are headed that way.
John
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Let's go back to the valley, one more time. = ) ...Ekolu |
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UncaJohn
Aloha
USA
25 Posts |
Posted - 10/28/2005 : 08:10:57 AM
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Maybe this is just bumping this topic up??? I don't know.
But here it is anyway..
I'm working on a bari uke in the shop.
If you have Schaller tuners on your Bari uke, could you measure them, or photograph them or something? I am really wondering which ones are used.
There are some Schaller "minis" out there for Fender strats. They look like they would work. Any input?
Mahalo, John |
Let's go back to the valley, one more time. = ) ...Ekolu |
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