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Mika ele
Ha`aha`a
USA
1493 Posts |
 Posted - 02/22/2007 : 2:09:52 PM
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| I heard but not confirmed that you can find the Oscar Schmidt ukuleles at COSTCO. |
E nana, e ho'olohe. E pa'a ka waha, e hana ka lima. |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 02/24/2007 : 04:52:48 AM
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| No offense taken. Like I said: "I'm not making a recommendation." I expected someone else to chime in if the commercially made one's I pointed out sound okay. (I am curious myself.) I took the "plastic jumping flea" route inspired by that web link in my second post, but with a mahogany, plywood box that I made and a few changes to the design, which I wanted to try out when I built the two I constructed. Hope you enjoy the fleas! (I built my two "cigar box" ukuleles to conform to the length and number of frets of a Fluke.) |
Thank you. |
Edited by - Absolute on 02/24/2007 04:58:26 AM |
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jk93117
Aloha
5 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2007 : 04:44:02 AM
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Suprisingly enough Canada has a very active uke program in it's grade schools. They use ukes from Empire Music and they seem very reasonably priced. Here's a link to their page.
http://www.empire-music.com/Canada/English/ViewCategory.cfm?Category=93
I've purchased books from them before and the delivery service was very good.
Good Luck. |
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jk93117
Aloha
5 Posts |
Posted - 03/01/2007 : 6:48:03 PM
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| I was looking for a uke I could just leave in my car to play during lunch etc and bought one of the Oscar Schmidts from Costco. Without a doubt it was the biggest piece of crap I've ever played. Luckily I was able to take it back. If you want to discourage someone from getting interested in the uke, buy them one of these. |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 05:19:05 AM
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I bought a non-cutaway Lanikai koa (laminated) tenor (around $250-350) and put Worth strings on it. It is the best sounding uke I have, even compared to my Kamaka tenor. It's loud, mellow and nice looking. Although it might not be suited to the starter of this thread, it's a good buy for a knockaround uke that looks like it cost a lot more.
Jesse Tinsley |
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GUke
Lokahi
188 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 08:54:56 AM
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jk
I'm sure you know, but keeping an instrument in a car especially if parked in the open sun, will cause tuning to go off. So I've been told if you must, not a bad idea to loosen strings and then retune. I would also suspect that if the instrument is baking in the car, it'll probably dry out unless it's humid.
GUke |
Genaro
Should I? Itʻs only $, and where Iʻm going itʻll burn or melt. |
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islandboo
Lokahi
USA
237 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 09:09:42 AM
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| I don't know if this is specific to Costco in Hawai'i, but Ed Bigelow brought an 'ukulele to one of last month's Waihe'e kanikapilas that he had purchased at Costco and it had a really nice sound (according to Sheldon, not just musically-challenged me). I believe the brand was Silvertone, and they have them for under $100. |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 09:13:06 AM
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GUke,
I don't worry about tuning going off. Ukes need to be tuned all the time. I have no problem leaving a cheaper plywood uke in the car and simply retuning each time I play. The other worry is the neck warping, but I haven't found this to be a problem yet. I live in a four-season environment, but if it's hot everyday where you are, there may be more issues than I have seen.
Jesse Tinsley |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 09:43:54 AM
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Jesse, I know of a guy who left a very expensive guitar in his car for a few hours in the summer and it just about came apart. Totally trashed. The story was all over r.m.m.g.a for weeks. No way I leave anything organic in a car, ever.
...Reid |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 11:47:30 AM
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I don't think they use hide glue on plywood Chinese ukes. You can use them for tire chocks, too, even in the summer....8^)
Jesse |
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Davey
Akahai
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 12:59:37 PM
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Jesse's right, but make ABSOLUTELY sure you're using two of the SAME ukes under tires (i.e.: two sopranos; two concerts; two tenors). Never, ever mix a tenor with a soprano. There's a sad story about a guy changing his oil up here in the Northwest who did just that, causing the car to shift and roll.
The ukes stayed in tune, by the way -- but he went flat.
Davey |
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hikabe
Lokahi
USA
358 Posts |
Posted - 03/02/2007 : 2:58:56 PM
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Very funny Davey.
Aloha JC
People as young as your children don't always take to an activity that the parents enjoy. But if your girls show an ability and an enjoyment of music, get them anything that makes a sound. We can be picky about quality, but they just wanna have fun, and you can have a lot of fun with cheap lousy instruments.
The best instrument I have ever played cost $2000 and was made by Tony Graziano in Santa Cruz(one of my students owns it). The worst was a Mahalo or Johnson. Obviously, your girls would sound better on the more expensive instrument, if they sound good at all.
If you are in the SF bay area, call me. After listening to a player I can evaluate and advise you what instrument is most suitable for your situation.
All the brands mentioned will sound good in the right hands. But until I hear your girls, I cannot advise what is best. Good luck, dad. |
Stay Tuned... |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2007 : 08:50:32 AM
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Just to throw another log on the fire, so to speak:
Check out the cigar box `ukulele you can build with Dennis Lake at the Aloha Camp this June.
Materials fee is $125, and you'll need to put in some time... but you'll come out of it with a very cool, very playable, teriffic-sounding, in-tune (Dennis insists...) and durable instrument.
I built one a year ago and it's my favorite play-around-the-campfire `ukulele. Turns heads at jam sessions, too.
Mark |
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 03/03/2007 : 5:16:17 PM
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We have several of Dennis Lake's ukes, and they are so stable they hardly need to be tuned. They may go out just slightly after transport, but they don't go off all that much. Best purchases we ever made! But like anything else, perfection does not come cheaply.
I take mine to work when my husband and I commute together. During the hourlong ride I drive him nuts with my plunking. When at the office, I bring it into the building, safely in it's little jacket.
Mark, you should post a photo of your gem.
Julie |
Edited by - Julie H on 03/03/2007 5:17:08 PM |
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Reid
Ha`aha`a
Andorra
1526 Posts |
Posted - 03/04/2007 : 05:17:00 AM
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Julie, and `ohana. The picture of Mark's gem, if you mean the gypsy koa tenor, Julie, is on the cover of Mark's book and, IIRC, you can see it if you snake around Mark's web site.
...Reid |
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