Martin ukulele from Elderly

**Sellars** · May-04-2004, 1:31am

Hi all,

2 months ago I bought a cheap $15 uke I have been toying around with it since, and I absolutely love it. Although it is (almost) a toy instrument, that special uke sound can allready be heard.

Since I like it so much, I now want a "real" uke. Elderly sells a martin ukelele that is made from solid mahony wood, which costs around $275 (they can't tell over email, because Martin doesn't allow that anymore).

My questions now are:

Are there any players around here?
Is this uke any good?
Should I have taken this question to a uke forum?
(if the answer to the former question was "yes", could you re-direct me, I sought all over the net, but up until now I was unsuccessful)

thanks!

Roel

**Jacob** · May-04-2004, 4:56am

Sorry, I can't answer your three questions, but for ukuleles, try the Bulletin Board at Flea Market Music.
(In the Hawaiian language, the word "ukulele" means jumping flea.)

**John Flynn** · May-04-2004, 5:25am

I am not a uke expert, but a good buddy of mine is a professional guitarist, works at a music store that sells a lot of ukes and plays a uke as a sidelight. He says a cheap uke works just fine for most stuff. Expensive ukes are not always great trade-ups. Its kind of like mandos: Past a certain point, you have to pay four times the price just to get a small improvement. He did say that he is very impressed with the "Fluke Uke" and its smaller cousin (I forget what they call it) that you can see at the Flea Market music site. He said that if he were going to trade up on a uke, that is what he would get.

**Bruce Evans** · May-04-2004, 5:52am

Hi Roel.

I guess I am a uke expert of sorts. I just came from the Flea Market board mentioned in a previous post and I spend a lot of time there. It's a good place to hang out. Uke players are a (mostly) a friendly bunch.

The Martin instrument you are referring to is a controversial instrument. It isn't anywhere near as good as the Martin instruments of the past, but some owners just accept it for what it is and are happy with it.

The little brother to the Fluke which was mentioned earlier is the Flea. The Fluke is a "concert" size instrument while the Flea is soprano or"standard" size. Both have plastic bodies and fretboards which really turn some people off, but again, some people accept it and do a fine job of playing it.

Take a look at the "New Instruments" ukulele page on the Elderly site:
http://www.elderly.com/new_instruments/180N.htm
Good inexpensive instruments are the Lehua, Risa and the Lanikai. The Johnson instruments won't be much if any better than what you have right now. Avoid the Weber Sweet Pea like the plague! Despite Weber's fine quality mandolins the Sweet Pea is a real loser of an instrument, IMNSHO.

Go over to the Flea Market and get aquainted, too. Tell 'em Bruce E sent you.
http://www.flea-mkt-music.com/bulletin/default.asp

**Bob DeVellis** · May-04-2004, 3:43pm

I've been bitten by the flea recently. I've got one of the Flea ukes -- little brother of the Fluke. They're fairly amazing for the just-over-$100 price. But they're best for strumming and things get a bit dicey up the neck. The tone around the 10th or 12 fret is really not there. But they are a fantastic starter instrument. I believe the new Martin ukes are made in Mexico. The old Martins are revered by uke players the way the D-28 is revered by guitar players. There are several other fairly well-known high-end ukes, such as Kamaka. There are also builders on the west coast and in Hawaii that can build you a nice instrument from koa for several hundred dollars. Because the uke is a small, fairly simply built instrument, you can get a lot more instrument for the dollar than you can with mandolins, especially F-style mandolins. For the price of a good, American-made F-style, you could get a killer ukulele. If you're a guitar player, you might consider getting a uke with the string closest to your chin tuned down an octave to low G. This then gives you intervals across strings that are the same as those of the guitar's treble-most 4 strings. On the other hand, if simple strumming is your thing, the high-G string might give you more of that quintessential ukulele sound. Another "innovation" to look for in a better instrument is geared tuners. Most inexpensive instruments either have violin-style pegs or simple mechanical friction tuners of the sort sometimes seen on old banjos. Many builders and players prefer geared, open-backed tuners because they weigh less and don't make the instrument as top-heavy, but still outperform friction tuners. Having gears really helps to keep the instrument in tune. Fully enclosed tuners work fine but do add that extra weight.

But if you just want to go from something rather toy-like to a simple but functional instrument that has surprisingly good tone, the Flea or Fluke are excellent choices. If you eventually get something better, you'll still enjoy having your Flea/Fluke around to use in an alternative tuning.

**Russ(String-Alley)** · May-04-2004, 5:01pm

Yes, Try Flea market music,( Jim Beloff's site )search google and check E-bay. I am a Roy Smeck fanatic and have been able to find the harmony made ones cheap, (yes, they do have plastic fret boards but some sound great, I have one that actually almost sounds better than my Martin S-O ) Try a Fluke or flea if you can, they are great too. One of the cool things about ukes is they can be cheap.

aloha and Cheers
Russ
http://www.geocities.com/thesandbarukers/

**Doug Edwards** · May-04-2004, 9:44pm

My wife's aunt have willed her 1950's Martin Uke to me. Someday I'll finally have a Martin on Stage.

**WireBoy** · May-05-2004, 1:47am

Hooray a little uke yak at the cafe! # The FLuke and Flea are great sounding instruments despite the plastic bowl and fretboard. #at the flea market music site you can custom order a flea or fluke with a rosewood fretboard and real frets. #the fluke also comes in a Tenor model. #They just move the bridge further down the body for a longer string length. #ANd there are Lots of choices for top colors and installed pickups are available too.

I don't own one of those myself (but i have played them). #I have 2 ukes. #A soprano made by Pacific from Australia and a concert made by Mele from Maui Hawaii. #The concert has the Low G strings. #very nice and mellow.

FLea market music is a great place to get started poking around the web for ukes. #i live in the Los Angeles area and am treated twice a year or so to Jim Beloff's Uke workshops and his annual Uketopia show. #The workshops are great fun. #Jim and his guest teachers will take you from simple 2 chords songs/strums to jazz chord stylings in an afternoon. #the shows are also great. fabulous players doing things on a uke that you just would not have thought of.

Ukeleles are just so much darn fun. #And they are so darn easy to play! #

At the very least, go to the FLea market music site and purchase any of the CDs by Lyle Ritz. #He plays his baritone Uke like the Jazz guitarists of old. Your jaw will hit the floor.

**WireBoy** · May-05-2004, 1:49am

Let me also say I'm glad to see so many responses on the subject of Ukes here at the cafe. #Ukes and mandos are my favortie things.

**Evan Skopp** · May-05-2004, 2:43pm

I have an all-koa/ebony board Mele tenor that I purchased in Kauai for $400 and I love it. It has a really sweet tone. I ran into Jesse Colin Young at an airport once and he was carrying two Meles.

The wood is processed in the Philippines and they're assembled, finished and set up in Maui (I've been to the factory). Like any instrument, there's good ones and bad and I went through a whole wall of them before I settled on mine. Meles are high quality. They're also less money than Kamakas.

My partner in D-TAR, Rick Turner, is starting to make ukuleles. He uses walnut with pakka fingerboards. I've played them. Real nice!

Even though the instrument originates in Portugal, I like the Hawaiian tuning, where the C string is an octave higher. To me, that's what gives it the lilting Hawaiian sound.

**KevinM** · May-05-2004, 3:34pm

Thus, www.ukelecafe.com was born.

**KevinM** · May-05-2004, 3:35pm

Er, ah, I meant www.ukulelecafe.com

**T Little** · May-05-2004, 3:47pm

Has anyone tried one of the Larrivee ukes? http://www.sprucetreemusic.com/larriveeukes.jpg
They are great looking and based on their guitars I would assume they sound just as good.

**Bruce Evans** · May-05-2004, 7:16pm

Originally Posted by (T Little @ May 05 2004, 16:47)

Has anyone tried one of the Larrivee ukes? http://www.sprucetreemusic.com/larriveeukes.jpg
They are great looking and based on their guitars I would assume they sound just as good.

Larrivee isn't making ukes any more. The ones that are left are immaculate in finish, and are fine sounding ukes, but in my opinion they are overpriced. They're good, but not worth what they cost, compared to what you can get in other brands. Scuttlebut was that Larrivee made a limited number of them, mostly for the Asian market, and figured they'd get whatever they could for them.

**WireBoy** · May-06-2004, 1:56am

Hey Evan Skopp,
# I got my Mele concert from the Maui factory too. #The owner's wife Cheryl Rock sold it to me. #That was a lot of fun with a wall full uke perfect ukes to choose from. Mine is Mahogony back/sides,Koa top with the low G string.