How do you “really” choose a ukulele
There will always be a debate on how or what a person needs to know in choosing a ukulele.
The short answer will be follow your heart, that’s it!
For the long one, get ready for a ride!
Well it depends on what you wanna accomplish with your instrument, buying the most expensive one on the shelf will not guarantee your satisfaction since some sellers prey on customers who fall for getting “the most expensive”
Let’s start with construction, luthiers might not agree with the choice of pro players and vice versa, but they will have valid points. Heck even the audience might not agree with your choice of ukulele. So let’s dive deeper than the usual advice on how to choose considering different perspectives
Having built ukuleles in the past, luthiers will start choosing from various tone-woods, famous ones are mahogany, spruce, sapele, rosewood etc. One is not better than the others as they all have different characteristics, the harder the wood the easier the vibrations travel, the softer the wood the more mellow the sound it produces, but overall built will define wether sound will resonate effectively thru the whole instrument, from bindings, kerfings, chemicals used for bonding so the artist might chose a certain ukulele for its looks and playability, but he doesn’t know how the instrument was put together and one day find his newly bought instrument broken just by the change in humidity
As a player myself, he will hold it to feel wether it’s comfortable, having the right neck curve so it fits his hand, checking for buzzing frets, checking for string action wether too low or too high, checking the neck if it’s warped, for guitars checking truss rods if it’s working, stuck or tight tuning pegs, sometimes pulling the string if the tuning pegs turn, it’s too loose, checking the inside and putting it against the light if it has light passing thru, checks the kerfings if it’s not continous or poorly installed. As he starts to play it, he will listen if it sounds loud enough, hear the sustain if it’s long enough, check the fret wires for sharp edges that might cut you while playing, check for loose inlays, inspect the strings installed if it’s of quality, checking for nut and saddle cracks, gaps between the bridge and soundboard or gaps in general binding
As a listener, people will always have different preferences, first is how good the player is, but no matter how good player the player is, if the sound coming out of the uke is not complementing the type of music he is playing, you will loose them or worst get forced to endure the whole performance.
So in helping you find your “perfect” ukulele, we built 2 models that satisfies everything i said and more in a uke, the musicero URS-001 and URS-002, 21” ukulele
