High End Ukuleles at SUS part two

In part one we talked KoAloha, Kiwaya, Kanile'a. It took me several weeks to get around to it but here is part two... PONO If you are a performer or perhaps a multi instrumentalist that has roots in Guitar playing, you will probably know and love Pono Ukuleles. Here at the Southern Ukulele Store we stock many of the bread and butter Pono Ukes and it really feels like not a day goes past when we are not putting a pickup in one and shipping it out to a customer. I would split the Pono ukuleles up into a few categories - The Standards, Deluxes, Pro Classics and the Solid Bodies. The Standards are an excellent step up for somebody that is willing to invest in an instrument they will keep without spending £400+ on something manufactured in Japan, Hawaii or the USA. We have always been very pleased with these Indonesian made Mahogany, Acacia and Mango Pono's and these satin models really cover all of the different sounds and styles a player might want. STANDARD The satin mahogany ukuleles have confidence and a dark tone that only seems to stand taller and resonate more as you really play the instrument in. The Acacia is predictably slightly mellower and suited to a an introverted picking style of play. The Mango seems to find its own place in the middle. It has a rounded bottom end to it like all Pono ukuleles but has an innocence to its sound that makes you want to play it whilst deep in thought! DELUXE The Deluxe ukuleles are more of the same but with improved timber and a hi-gloss finish. These ukuleles seem to be the favourite of performing musicians and tonally they offer more clarity and distinction than the satin models. These Ukuleles are still very affordable and hold their own against many Ukuleles double the price. PRO CLASSIC The Pro Classics are a noticeable step up in quality and materials again. We offer a vast range of Pro Classic models and they really excel in woods commonplace in Mandolin and Guitar building but often overlooked in Ukulele manufacturing. Spruce, Cedar, Ebony and Rosewood are all really responsive woods that can be quite unforgiving to a player that makes a lot of mistakes but so incredibly expressive in the right hands. Little details such as the type of Ebony (Macasscer - Rarest Ebony available) and a slotted headstock make these a great alternative high end Ukulele. A couple of years ago when I met James Hill he was playing a custom built Mya Moa that reminded me a lot of the Pro Classic series, which segways nicely onto the next gem in the Pono line... SOLID BODY Strictly, this Ukulele is not completely solid like a Walnut Fluke or an Eleuke Peanut - The Pono's feature a chambered body that actually has a fair amount of acoustic property to it unplugged. If you want to make it sing though, you really do need to put this beast in its natural habitat and plug it in. James Hill used a Pono solid body on this live video, I hope it pretty much sums up the potential of what can be done with one? COLLINGS This is a very new brand for SUS and one that we have been admiring from afar for quite some time. I don't have much information for you about Collings other than that in all my years as a Guitarist and Uke player, this is the first time I didn't find myself skeptical about what would make an instrument cost more than £2000. The UC2 Collings that arrived recently in store is clearly a labour of love for its designers and the craftsman behind it and according to a Ukulele Underground report from the NAMM show in 2013, some of the Ukuleles Collings are producing are not profitable for them because of the amount of man hours going into the production process. I think if anything could ever be a testament to the merit of spending big on an instrument, that could be it. The Dog hair finish on the UC2 (pictured below) is just hours and hours of pain staking work for somebody and whether it is your thing or not, you have to admire just what a master built bespoke instrument it is. We will be sporadically receiving custom built Collings Ukuleles in 2015 and beyond please email Rob at shop@southernukulelestore.co.uk with any specific requests and upto date stock information about Collings. Martin Martin are a big deal in the Ukulele world. The impact they have had on instrument building for nearly 200 years is unparalleled and the name value of the players around the world playing a Martin Ukulele alone cannot be overlooked. But what is it about them? Well there are so many of them around that remain unweathered at close to 100 years old that Martin have every right to boast that their instruments will outlast their players. Many, if not most of the Ukuleles around today have taken inspiration from Martin designs - A Kiwaya KMS-K may be every bit as good as a Martin 3K to a player coming in from under a rock but it isn't always about that. Sometimes, to hold an instrument that is both innovative and enriched in generations of respect and tradition can in itself be a shot in the arm to the players confidence. I for one am guilty of being an old romantic for Gibson and Martin instruments and what you get today from the modern American made Martin's is a badge of honour knowing that your instrument was made on a production line in Nazareth, Pennsylvania shared with several generations of familes that build these things with as much instinctive care and personal satisfaction as possible without carrying the Martin name themselves. Here is a video of me playing a 65 year old Martin Soprano badly. You wouldn't notice how bad I played it though because the quality shines through..   Big island/Honu Beautiful and priced just slightly lower than the Hawaiian made Ukuleles, Honu/Big Island may be a perfect companion for a player that wants a high end instrument but is not dictated by where the instrument is made. Where is it made? Well, the labour is split between two places. The wood is harvested, milled and cut in Hawaii before being shipped overseas. Big Island use a specialist factory in Vietnam to assemble the instrument before shipping it back to Hawaii for the final set up, quality check and finer detail. The Big Island Ukuleles we stock and have experienced here at SUS have almost always been made of either Koa or Mango and have been finished in a gorgeous high gloss. They are naturally quite mellow and the bodies are ever so slightly wider and thinner than the proportions of the other manufacturers available. I would recommend a Honu or Big Island to any customer that liked to finger pick an instrument more than strumming. In Summary though, the Big Island Ukuleles are an excellent alternative to some of the more mainstream brands we have available. Uluru Uluru are a company that manage to pull off being all things to all people. The mahogany Ukuleles they produce are all solid for under £300 and feel and play like an instrument twice the price. As you progress up the range to solid Koa for under £500 you could be forgiven for thinking that they offer more than they can deliver but this really isn't the case. I think that more customers buy Uluru in the shop having come in to try something else than any other Ukulele. The Uluru range is similar to Big Island/Honu in that the Ukuleles are manufactured in Vietnam. We recently expanded our range of Uluru Ukuleles to include the more deluxe gloss Koa models like the Pukana La and Lehua and I think the most unbiased review I can give of them is that I think that they are 90% as good as a KoAloha or Kanile'a at comparably 2/3rds the price of their Hawaiian companions. Check out Uluru and certainly try one if you are in the market for something special... What have I missed? If you think that I should include another brand that we stock here at the Southern Ukulele Store then please let me know. Either by commenting on the post or by calling the shop and asking for me (Alex). Everybody has a different experience and taste in regard to musical instrument and I have tried as hard as possible to remain unbiased and fair. Until next time. Alex