| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| RWD |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 11:17:50 AM
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). |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Haolenuke |
Posted - 04/16/2010 : 11:26:57 AM
Bummer.
At least is was cheap and it is still pretty, unlike some wives I've known. |
| noeau |
Posted - 04/15/2010 : 08:41:49 AM
Try tying a figure 8 knot and put a bead on the string as well. A small bead will do it. it helps to compress the knot so it does not slip. I do this with strings that go into bridge pin pukas and it works fairly well. |
| RWD |
Posted - 04/15/2010 : 02:48:58 AM
Okay,
I have had this uke now for a few months. within two weeks a long crack appeared along the neck center-line. a few weeks later and the neck was bowing backwards. It is unplayable now.
Evidently, Bruce Wieart "instruments" do warp, crack, and become unplayable--and in a very short time. |
| RWD |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 12:34:53 PM
You hit on one of the reasons Fran.
I suspect many other Ukes have this same problem (as you pointed out).
The distance from nut-to-12th is identical to the 12th-to-saddle. In order to be intonated correctly, it needs to be longer on the saddle side and there is not enough saddle width to deal with it. The saddle slot could be modified and it would be fixed.
The other issue is the pull through string attachment. I absolutely hate it! I would much rather have a tie-on or slotted. The small strings knots can and do pull into the hole causing it to loose pitch very slowly.
Between the two, it means that the bridge needs be replaced (my prefered fix).
Is it worth fixing? Yes.
I will post "fit and finish" pictures and a sound file later. |
| Fran Guidry |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 11:33:01 AM
Our `ukulele player bought one of these. Interesting combination of careful detail and elaborate construction combined with slightly odd esthetics (binding and purfling widths).
The one problem, correctable but not trivial, is the intonation. This instrument is a fair degree sharp (scale length is too short). The saddle is not very wide, so correcting this will require filling the current saddle slot and routing a new one, or some similar fairly major operation.
Interestingly, I had Martin D-18 from the dark period in the early 70s that had the same problem as this very inexpensive uke.
Fran |
| RWD |
Posted - 01/21/2010 : 09:13:21 AM
At the moment I am still evaluating and also trying to contact the maker.
It is a very beautiful instrument and sounds good too. However, at this time I cannot recommend this instrument. With a few changes it would be a great Uke.
More on why later.
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| RWD |
Posted - 01/19/2010 : 03:37:19 AM
Okay, I have the Uke. It took two weeks to be delivered.
First impressions:
It is overall a very good Uke. Fit and finish is good. Sound is good to me--but I am not a Uke player. Nice smooth and straight neck. Intonation is a little sharp.
If it does not warp or crack it's a keeper.
Compared to perfect, there are a few small flaws so I will do a more complete evaluate with pictures later this week.
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| RWD |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 12:18:28 PM
Thanks for the input on the wood guys.
When it arrives I will pass along my impressions. In a few months I will pick this thread up and tell how it has fared over time or if it changes before then.
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| Allen M Cary |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 11:55:27 AM
According to the write up on the wood from LMI, Monkey Pod is a good substitute for Koa both esthetically and sonically. In talking to a number of luthiers this summer at the Healdsburg Festival, I came away with the impression that you can make a guitar out of just about any hardwood, if it is properly dried. I saw several nice ones from California grown eucalyptus, which amazed me. The sound qualities of different woods exist, but they are subtle and can be compensated for by slight changes to the bracing structure, thickness, nodes etc. As the traditional woods like rosewood and koa become scarcer and more costly, other more sustainable woods will be more frequently used for guitars.
Aloha,
Allen |
| Volcano |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 11:30:53 AM
Never Heard of Vietnam Koa. Koa is only on the Hawaiian Islands and is the second most popular tree. It is an Acacia in the pea family. There are other Acacias around the world but only one Koa tree. There are speculated cousins on some other South Pacific Islands. This might be like when Taylor guitars stopped using mahogany on many of their guitars and said the would be using "Africal Mahogany" which is not a mahogany at all but sapele. Much denser but with a somewhat similar look. Martin uses it as well. There is a mahogany cousin in Africa called Khaya which is quite nice. Whatever the wood on your uke, it looks beautiful. It's hard for me to believe that you can get such a nice instrument for that price. Congrats!
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| Volcano |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 11:29:23 AM
Never Heard of Hawaiian Koa. Koa is only on the Hawaiian Islands and is the second most popular tree. It is an Acacia in the pea family. There are other Acacias around the world but only one Koa tree. There are speculated cousins on some other South Pacific Islands. This might be like when Taylor guitars stopped using mahogany on many of their guitars and said the would be using "Africal Mahogany" which is not a mahogany at all but sapele. Much denser but with a somewhat similar look. Martin uses it as well. There is a mahogany cousin in Africa called Khaya which is quite nice. Whatever the wood on your uke, it looks beautiful. It's hard for me to believe that you can get such a nice instrument for that price. Congrats!
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| PearlCityBoy |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 11:08:45 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Allen M Cary
Thanks to our great pupule one, here is a link to the Monkey Pod guitar picture:
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/DisplayLargePhoto.asp?largephoto=BSMonkeypodKirkLoveZOOM.jpg
Aloha,
Allen
Hey, that guitar looks like my calabash bowl  . Seriously though, I never saw a Monkey Pod guitar before. How do they sound? Is it a good wood for instruments? Judging by the cost of monkeypod bowls/furniture/trinkets (usually made in The Philippines) vs. koa ones, I have to believe monkeypod is a lot more plentiful (and a lot cheaper).
Aloha,
Doug |
| RWD |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 11:06:23 AM
I have a explanation from Brucewieart about the wood.
He says it is Vietnam's Koa...wtf??
Is that even possible?
This is what he wrote about the wood.
quote:
The KOA material was used to built this Ukulele is VietNam's KOA
- it wasn't imported from USA.<BR>Don't hesitate to contact with me if you have any question
Best regards
Bruce
To tell the truth I don't really care if it is not Koa anymore. If it is Mokeypod--great, Black Acacia--fine with me.
But, does anyone know what Vietnam's Koa is?
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| Allen M Cary |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 09:22:32 AM
Thanks to our great pupule one, here is a link to the Monkey Pod guitar picture:
http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/DisplayLargePhoto.asp?largephoto=BSMonkeypodKirkLoveZOOM.jpg
Aloha,
Allen |
| Volcano |
Posted - 01/06/2010 : 04:08:22 AM
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. |
