Tag: ukulele

Uma Baby-T Ukulele

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO200
 “Uma Baby-T” Cedar Park, 2023

My new ukulele arrived! It’s an Uma “Baby-T” Tenor ukulele – a tenor neck with a concert-sized body. It’s kind of a perfect tenor ukulele for me. I prefer the smaller body size ukuleles (my Mele concert body is much smaller than the inexpensive Kala ukuleles), but wanted to try out the tenor-size neck. So far I am enjoying it quite a bit! My concern was that my short fingers wouldn’t be able to reach comfortably, but those concerns have vanished as I’ve been able to stretch more than I thought. And the extra space between frets makes it easier to place my fingers on those adjacent strings.

The quality of this inexpensive Uma Baby-T is impressive. The Taiwanese acacia wood (laminate) looks beautiful, and is very similar to my Mele Hawaiian koa (solid-top) ukulele. The fit and finish of the frets is excellent, and the action is set up nicely, right out of the box. It has simple but attractive binding and I love the playful Uma logo. Some say it looks too cute and childish, but I think it’s great. What’s wrong with adding some joy to the world? Lastly, the Baby-T has a beveled edge so that the ukulele doesn’t dig in to your right forearm. It really makes a difference! No more “uke arm”. 😀

My new Uma Baby-T is now my favorite in my collection. To make room for it, I am selling one of my Kala concert ukuleles, but I’m not sad about that. I hope it finds a good home!

Dad’s Kamaka Ukulele

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/4, 1/640 sec, ISO640
 “Old Kamaka” Torrance, 2022

I am enjoying playing this old Kamaka ukulele, which my dad has had it since he was a kid. I gently cleaned it with a damp cloth, and changed strings and it sounds nice! The tuners don’t hold tune very well, but that’s okay. It just adds to the charm. 😀

Omiyage and Songbook

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Photo info: FUJIFILM X-E4, 27mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
 “Goodies” Cedar Park, 2022

My wife returned from Japan today, and brought back so many gifts and souvenirs. Here’s a few that she got for me. The book of Ghibli songs for ukulele is awesome! So many good tunes to learn. And I love the cover design… it’s so cool.

New Ukulele Day

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Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 4.2mm, f/1.6, 1/120 sec, ISO50
 “Two Ukuleles” Wailuku, 2022

Today was new uke day for me! This morning, Mariko’s friend picked her up for brunch out in Wailea, so I went ukulele shopping. First I stopped by Bounty Music in Lahaina. They had a large selection of ukuleles, and I got to try out a Kamaka and and KoAloha. The prices were good, but I wasn’t so happy with the service. All the salespeople were helping the tourists who (I think) came off of the cruise ship, and I was pretty much ignored. When I did find someone who could help me, he didn’t know much about ukuleles, but acted like he did. It was embarrassing, but I can’t blame the store for trying to make some money and the cruise ship tourists are probably a good source of income.

My next stop was Mele Ukulele, which is a local shop that has been around for about 30 years. I think the quality is comparable the Ks (Kamaka, KoAloha, and Kanile’a), but the combination of materials, price, and the fact that they are Maui-based is important to me. Plus the service I have received from everyone I talked to there was great and friendly. Today Annie helped me browse the model line and helped me decide on the one I wanted. However, I wanted to check out the other Mele Ukulele branch in Wailea and see if they had any other ukuleles that “spoke to me”. :)

So, that afternoon after Mariko returned from Wailea, I asked her if she wanted to go back to Wailea with me and look at ukuleles. She said okay, so it was off to the Shops at Wailea! The service at the Mele Ukulele here was excellent as well, and Austin helped me pick out the perfect all-koa wood concert ukulele. We sampled four of them, and I finally chose one that sounded best to me (there were two that sounded equal), but also felt best and had a unique look. I am in love with my new Mele Ukulele!

Photo info: Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max, 5.7mm, f/1.5, 1/60 sec, ISO500
 “New Ukulele Day” Wailea, 2022

After my purchase, we stopped by the Waikiki Brewing Company (another brewery?!) and had a couple of beers and split a sandwich, Then on the way home, we had a craving for some Thai food so we stopped by the Thai Mee Up food truck by Costco and got some curry to go.

Photo info: Apple iPhone 12 mini, 1.55mm, f/2.4, 1/30 sec, ISO1000
 “Food Trucks” Kahului, 2022

Curry, beer, poké, and mac salad: another nice meal. :)

Oyasumi!