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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
 Posted - 12/29/2009 : 11:17:50 AM
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Has anyone tried a guitar or uke from this ebay vendor? They are made in Vietnam. I am curious if the instruments sound okay or any other info about him (them).
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Bob |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 08:33:25 AM
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Okay, never mind I bought it.
I got a solid koa tenor Uke with MOP inlays...total was 175.
This is what I think I can see from the high rez pics and description: The instruments look great, appear to be carefully made, materials seem to be high quality, and the inlays are fab.
I have read a few reports that his guitars have been cracking after about a year--I would guess that is from improperly cured wood.
I will post a report sometime after I have used it for a while. Hopefully the smaller instrument will fare better. |
Bob |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 09:19:19 AM
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Good luck. Please write more when you get it.
You've got me curious. Although, the reports of his instruments cracking would have me holding on to my money. |
Andy |
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Earl
`Olu`olu
USA
524 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 11:42:01 AM
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Watch the humidity carefully. Your new uke was built in Vietnam, a very humid place. In the US, heating or air conditioning season can result in RH values below 25% in many homes. Anything under 40% has potential for problems.
Keep the instrument in a case with a humidifer except when being played. Try to maintain 65-70% humidity at first. Over the next year or so, you can ramp down to "normal" for your climate, but not below 40%. |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 08:24:32 AM
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I bought a uke from them because they are so beautiful. The inlay is elaborate and the types of woods listed seemed like a good deal. But I've had the thing suffer the drying-out process that left the unreinforced neck bent and almost unplayable. The body was a little too heavy and somewhat dull sounding. The uke I bought was squarish in shape, so I think that might be the problem with the sound, but I don't know; perhaps the more conventionally shaped instruments would sound better. The tiny fretboard on mine was radiused, which is rare to see, but I gave up on it and I've just stuck the thing in the closet and marked it down as a lesson learned.
Jesse |
Edited by - hapakid on 12/31/2009 08:25:24 AM |
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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 09:02:59 AM
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| I bought a used Samick (made in China)concert uke from The Trading Musician, a local reused instrument store here in Seattle. I only paid $80 for it, so I didn't exepct much. I knew after trying it out, that it sounds ok, but it's amusing to look at because the grain on the back runs on the diagonal! It's a plywood uke with Rosewood shelf paper stuck on. The purfling and trim are abalone, and, on the surface, it looks beautiful. Look out for asian made ukes, bra. |
keaka |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2169 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 10:20:43 AM
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| I have a Michael Kelly F5 mandolin, made in Korea. Sounds great and plays good for the price. I have a low end Ovation made in China(Slipry1 calls it an "Ovulation"), lam top (plywood, politely), great band guitar. If the materials and the specs are good and are matched by skill, the results will be satisfactory. If the "suits" are not pickers and are concerned only with $$$, caveat emptor. Inexpensive instruments fill a vital niche around the world and for beginners (campers also), but there is no moral excuse for building what will amount to firewood with frets and strings. |
Edited by - thumbstruck on 12/31/2009 10:22:28 AM |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 11:11:31 AM
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The Ukes I like are generally close to or over 1K so I decided to gamble. The bruceweiart ukes are very attractive and nicely inlaid.
So I hope that it is a matter of slowly acclimating it to our humidity--if that is in fact the problem.
Just so you can appreciate the temptation and gamble, here are a few pictures of the actual uke I bought. Solid Koa body/top and the rest rosewood with MOP and abalone inlays. Also buffalo bone nut and saddle.
It is probably too good to be true. We will see and I will tell you.
The one curious thing I noticed before I bought was how the strings enter the body and do not exit the back of the bridge.
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Bob |
Edited by - RWD on 12/31/2009 11:22:19 AM |
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GUke
Lokahi
188 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 12:24:38 PM
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I have seen that kind of stringing by uke makers. It does look very clean. But when you have to restring, you invole the sound hole. You feed the string through the bridge hole. And then fish out the string through the sound hole, tie a knot on sound hole end and repull up through bridgehole. I recall being told that they do this to put less stress on the bridge from lifting off the sound board.
Would like to know if you feel it's more work when you restring. Nice looking ukulele.
Genaro |
Genaro
Should I? Itʻs only $, and where Iʻm going itʻll burn or melt. |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2010 : 09:05:07 AM
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quote:
Solid Koa body/top and the rest rosewood with MOP and abalone inlays.
Which does beg the question: where are they getting the koa? I wonder if it might be black acacia, a closely related, and non-endangered, wood. Hope so, it would be great of more luthiers use this wood.
I have seen a number of Vietnam-made mandolins, all sold via e-bay and all with huge amounts of inlay. I even owned one for a short time--it was a studio trade. I sold it to a friend in Galicia.
With a little set up, the mandolins are quite good.
I'm sure your uke will give you much pleasure. |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
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rendesvous1840
Ha`aha`a
USA
1055 Posts |
Posted - 01/01/2010 : 09:53:57 AM
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What Earl said about humidity goes for any non-laminated wood instrument. Fiddle, guitar, etc. Except the non-wood ones, and solid body electrics. Over or under humidity can cause a lot of problems, from minor to disastrous. Always watch the humidity of your instruments. Taylor Guitars has a good info section about humidity on their web site.
http://www.taylorguitars.com/see-hear/default.aspx?id=1004 Click on Performance Tips/ Maintainance
Unko Paul |
"A master banjo player isn't the person who can pick the most notes.It's the person who can touch the most hearts." Patrick Costello |
Edited by - rendesvous1840 on 01/01/2010 09:56:06 AM |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2010 : 02:56:36 AM
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The wood does seem different. I even went looking at examples of other Koa ukes yesterday and I agree that it may not be Koa.
If I find that it is not Koa I will tell ebay and mention it in my feedback.
Before buying I looked at a lot of the ebay responses--and even emailed one of the buyers. No one had complaints and the one I emailed said they were great. However, if I would have seen Jesse's post first I would have passed on it.
We will see.
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Bob |
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Allen M Cary
Lokahi
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 01/05/2010 : 11:43:46 AM
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I just looked at a bunch of back and sides wood at the LMI site (www.lmii.com) and agree that this is probably not Koa. I would guess that it is Monkey Pod, which is originally South American, but widely available in SE Asia now. There is a picture of a MP guitar on the LMI site (look in "Mostly Wood\back and sides" under Monkey Pod if you're interested). I'd put it here but I haven't figured out how to insert a picture in the post. It looks a lot like the Uke.
Aloha,
Allen |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
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Volcano
Akahai
USA
89 Posts |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 04:08:22 AM
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| Wow, nice looking uke for $175.00. Koa is an acacia so the woods can be hard to tell apart. Yours looks like koa to me but in a pic it is very hard to tell. No offense to the poster who suggested 70% humidity, but that is pretty high for an instrument. Add in heat and the glues will fail. It is a very common misconception that the humidity of the are the instrument is made is an issue. Almost all factories will keep the internal humidity at somewhere around 45% which is a world-wide yearly average. Houses on the East Coast can get down to 10% in a cold winter and most have learned how to humidify their instuments. Most problems due to drying can be fixed easily enough, but an overhumidified instrument can become unrpairable. I know guitars on the East side of Hawaii can have many problems and generally need neck sets early on. It is much harder to de-hudiify an instrument. An exeption to hte above is Gibson Guitars in Montana. There are many great builders there but they are pushed so hard by management in Nashville that they will often use green wood. Many problems with newer Gibson acoustics as a result. |
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Bruceweiart (ebay vendor)
