Oscar Schmidt OU4 Spruce Top Tenor

                              

I’ve reviewed 2 soprano size ukuleles thus far and am venturing to the tenor size this time. Today’s review is of the Oscar Schmidt Spruce Top Tenor (OU-4).

My digital camera decided to quit working for me, so I had to negotiate the webcam to take the photos. I really need to improve my technology so I can provide higher quality sound and images, but that’s a different issue. So, the ukulele is not crooked like the images indicate, it’s perfectly shaped.

The Oscar Schmidt spruce top series are really some beautiful ukuleles! It has a tenor scale with 19 frets. The top is solid bookmatched select spruce. The back and sides are rosewood (laminate). There is abalone inlay on the top and around the soundhole and the gloss finish really gives this ukulele a wonderful look and feel. Some people may like a satin finish on their ukes, but when it comes to a fine looking uke, you can’t beat it! Check out the picture of the back above, you can see my reflection taking the picture! The glossy finish seems to make this instrument a bit heavier and some have said it may also affect the sound. It isn’t the loudest ukulele out there.

This ukulele has a smaller body as compared to a Lanikai or Kala Brand tenor. It’s about 3/4″ smaller in both length and width. It has a nicely tapered and slightly rounded back. The size of the body and the glossy finish may both be responsible for the relatively quiet sound this ukulele emits. For comparison in the video, I played a Kala Brand tenor and the difference in loudness (is that a word?) is noticeable. I don’t necessarily mind this, but some people may be looking for a more boisterous ukulele. To me, it being a bit more quiet gives it more of an ukulele sound versus the somewhat guitary (now that’s definitely not a word!) sound that some tenors make.

The workmanship seems very good, and the price is good too. For a suggested retail price of $169, or less at ukewarehouse.com, you get a nice sounding, beautiful looking, quality instrument. I like glossy finishes as they tend to withstand a bit more abuse and I also like abalone inlay to distract people’s attention from my playing. If your looking for an ukulele that looks great for an affordable price, this is a good pick. If your looking for something with booming tenor sound, you may want to look elsewhere.

Hope this helps you on your ukulele purchasing quest! Oh yeah, in the video you’ll see me tuning the G string. I pulled this uke straight out of the box and thought it worth mentioning that whenever you buy a new uke or re-string an existing one, there will be a break in period for your strings. I tuned up right before the video and saw the G lose it’s tune in just a few seconds. I generally find it takes almost a week in some cases, playing 1-2 hrs. per day for your strings to hold their tune. The metal C string will hold it’s tune almost immediately, but both the G and A will require constant attention until that one magical day you pick it up and it’s perfectly in tune!

Lehua Long-neck Soprano

                   

The Lehua Ukuleles long-neck soprano is a fine ukulele for under $200.

“All Lehua instruments are made in Portugal from beautiful Australian Blackwood, botanical name Acacia Melanoxylon, with very similar tonal and appearance characteristics to Koa Acacia, a close relative, the material of choice for Hawaiian ukuleles. All Lehua ukes are solid wood with no laminates or plastic anywhere. The necks are made from seasoned mahogany, for strength, and have a rosewood or wenge fretboard with accurate fret placement. The bridges are also rosewood or wenge, depending on availability. Both wenge and rosewood are very attractive hardwoods that make excellent fretboards and bridges. Lehua uses only high quality gold plated tuners which hold their tune very well. All instruments have a great looking durable matte finish. They are all strung with the traditional style of black nylon strings. Each instrument is individually set up by Lehua here in the U.S. after receipt from Portugal, for maximum playability.”

The above paragraph is Lehua’s own description of their products and it rings true as far as I’m concerned! I’m pretty stoked on these ukuleles as they are constructed of solid woods with bookmatched tops and backs. The Australian Blackwood is a beautiful wood that is very similar in appearance and sound to all wood koa ukuleles. The quality of construction seems top notch upon close inspection, it’s got a nice slim neck, a narrow headstock and traditional style ukulele tuners, most appreciated by those who don’t like ‘ears’ on their ukes!

It’s plain appearance with no binding and basic inlay around the soundhole make for a classic looking instrument. A perfect match for those that don’t like too much bling on their ukes. The only problem I see with the lack of binding is that you’ll have to be a bit more careful so you don’t ding it up when your moving it around.

The long-neck is a concert sized fretboard and scale on a soprano sized body. It doesn’t look weird at all, if it was a tenor scale, that would be a different story! The neck joins the body at the 15th fret and has a total of 19 frets. It’s overall length is 23 5/8″ (60 cm) with a scale lenght of 15 9/16″ (39.6 cm). I can’t tell if the fretboard on this ukulele is rosewood or the wenge noted above, only because I’ve never seen wenge and don’t know if it looks just like rosewood or not, so basically, it looks like rosewood (but could be wenge if wenge looks like rosewood!).

I have included a video below where I am doing some basic strumming and picking of the strings to give a general idea of the sound. I have also included the Kala Brand soprano koa model so you can compare the sounds together. The Lehua sounds a bit deeper in tone than the Kala, probably due to the Lehua’s body being deeper and a bit longer, though the Kala’s body is a tad wider. Like the Kala, the Lehua has a tapered back, but not as drastic as the Kala. Another reason for the deeper resonance is probably the solid wood construction versus the laminated wood construction of the Kala.

For around $200 the Lehua seems to me a great deal and a very nice ukulele. I am currently only carrying the soprano and long-neck soprano models because I wanted to see what the Lehua’s were like. I will definitely be carrying the concert and tenor models in the near future! In fact, I might even buy one for myself!

Here’s the video, once again, this isn’t a performance, it’s a sound demonstration!

Kala Brand Soprano Koa Ukulele

                   

So here we go. I have taken some photos of the Kala Brand Soprano Koa and recorded a short video that will hopefully come across OK. The sound on the video isn’t the best, but it should give you a decent idea of the sound quality of this ukulele.

When I started playing the ukulele I strictly used the soprano size, but have switched to playing both the concert and tenor sizes mainly. I haven’t ventured into the baritone thing yet, though I know a few that have.

I really like the Kala Soprano Koa ukulele. It has a great shape with the tapered back and a sweet look with the maple binding on the top and back and inlay around the soundhole. A tapered body is a classic for ukuleles and is generally found in most high end ukes, not generally in the less expensive ones. Even though it’s pretty common in custom ukes, I was never sure that a tapered back was a good fit for a soprano, but the sound from this Kala Brand koa is nice and it resonates well. It’s got nice lines and is very well constructed. This is not a solid wood construction, but laminated wood construction. You won’t find any koa ukuleles in this price range that aren’t laminated. This does not however detract from the quality of this instrument. What the Kala Brand Koa soprano ukulele does provide is a nice sounding, beautiful looking, affordable koa ukulele.

I’ve been reluctant thus far to review ukuleles because I find it difficult to compare and contrast them to others. Each ukulele seems to have it’s own specific qualities. This is why I’ve recorded a video that will hopefully give you an idea of the sound and look. It is recorded on a webcam so the quality is suspect, but it seemed decent on my computer. 

Hopefully this will give those that are seeking to buy an ukulele in the under $300 range a good idea of what you are in for. I have a few koa ukuleles, some laminated, some solid, but my favorite is one I bought on Maui a few years back. It’s a solid wood construction and is my favorite because it has a fabulous sound and it looks great. I paid about $700 for it and it was worth every penny! That is by far the most I’ve ever spent on an ukulele. If you’ve got $700 to spend on your next ukulele, the options are many. If you want a koa ukulele and don’t want to spend so much, the Kala Brand koa soprano is a good choice. This is a great sounding and looking ukulele and I would recommend it for those interested in any ukulele in this price range.

And please, don’t critique me on my playing in the video, I was just trying to get the majority of sounds without thinking about what I was actually playing. This was my first YouTube video though, how do I look from the shoulders down, HA!

  

Ukulele Reviews

I haven’t posted any reviews of actual ukuleles yet because I was trying to figure out the best way to do it. So, as you will see, I still won’t in this post! But, I will in the next few days. I’ve been tinkering with the web cam I got for Christmas, and although the sound doesn’t seem to match the video, it should still suffice for some basic sounds and visuals. Sure, it cannot replace actually playing and feeling the ukulele, but as I’ve found out, not everyone has that opportunity.

I promise to demonstrate and review some ukuleles in the next couple of days. I’m getting in some Lehua Ukuleles, so maybe I’ll start with those…

If you see anything at ukewarehouse.com that you would like a little more info on, feel free to comment and suggest something.

John King’s The Classical Ukulele

The Classical Ukulele - John King

I’m not trying to be partial by giving reviews (good reviews) of John King’s books, but it’s hard not to. His arrangements are better than most I’ve seen, and to say that he is advancing current ukulele interest is an understatement. He has opened alot of peoples eyes to the versatility of this small 4-string instrument.

There are some great classical pieces in this book like Prelude, and Prelude and, well Prelude. Each of which are superbly arranged for playing on the ukulele, not to say that they are easy to play however! Included are some great Hawaiian tunes like Alekoki, Ahe Lau Makani and Pupu A’o Ewa. All songs are written in standard notation and tablature.

One of my favorite songs is Tarantella Italiana, which sounds familiar enough for me to always think of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. It’s by no means the same song. My personal favorite is this Vandals version. Sorry, little sidetracked there. Maybe Woodshed at UkeHunt will see this and tab out the melody for the ride’s theme song…

This is one of those books that you will constantly visit as your skills progress. At one point I almost had the third Prelude in the book, this one, memorized, but got a bit lost and forgot all about it. Now, I can go back and still be lost, but at least I’d put in the hours before so I can keep up with the tempo and hack my way through it! Maybe one of these days…

Anyway, if you like Famous Solos & Duets or John King or classical music, this is a great book. It’s well suited for advanced beginner and up. I say advanced beginner because there are some fairly playable arrangements and it’s always good to push yourself.

On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being best, I would rate this book a 5! (John’s arrangements are splendid!)

Pachelbel Canon in D

I was looking at BUKE to see if Roger had added any new tabs since the last time I visited, and he had. The best source for baritone ukulele tablature around, and a healthy and growing list of tab for GCEA tuned ukes.

Just browsing down the list I came across Pachelbel’s Canon in D. I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but it looks interesting. You may not know it by name, but you surely know the tune. I remembered comedian Rob Paravonian’s rant about the song and felt inclined to point you toward Roger’s tab and below is Rob’s YouTube performance.

Bosko & Honey

I was turned on to Bosko & Honey via UkeHunt. I really enjoy all of their videos and think you will too. Here’s there most recent video, posted a couple days ago on YouTube. It’s a wonderful original instrumental.

By the way, go to UkeHunt and vote for Best Internet Ukulele Video of the Year 2007. I was torn between Bosko & Honey’s Fingerpickin’ Love-in, GUGUG and Sweetafton23. You’ll surely find something you like.

What’s new?

I’m trying to keep things current. So, I figured I’d add some of the videos posted in the last couple days on YouTube. No particular order.

Sorry, I’m struggling tonight to get these videos posted, so you only get one….

I give up, my browser shut down on me three times and I lost all the videos I found. Maybe next time.

Ska & Little Grass Shacks

Here are some random videos featuring the ukulele. Once again, I’ve included GUGUG with a couple ska tunes, can’t go wrong there! I’ve included two versions of Little Grass Shack. The first is just a great version posted a couple days ago on YouTube. The second is Mark Occhionero’s version which includes some great instruction on how to play the song. Go HERE for Mark’s tab of this song.

The Jumping Flea

The Jumping Flea - A documentary film by Paul Kraus

I just got these in today and couldn’t wait to watch it. Fans of the ukulele interested in it’s history, players and builders both past and present will enjoy this documentary. It’s about an hour long and is filled with some great information, sounds and visuals. If you liked the book The Ukulele - A Visual History by Jim Beloff, you’ll be in for a treat.

You can see a trailer for the film here.

The film is very well done as the filmmaker Paul Kraus began working in special effects in Hollywood and later in Marin County, CA. His first documentary feature, The Shapemakers, a surf documentary about the art of surfboard making, received critical acclaim from the press worldwide.

I’d like to compare it to something else, but I’ve yet to come across a ukulele documentary with in depth info on the history, it’s builders and players. This is a very entertaining film and it’s great to hear some of the stories about how some of the ukulele designs came about, like Kamaka’s first pineapple ukulele. The film itself is directed mostly toward the history of the instrument and it’s builders. Included is footage of some ukulele legends like Bill Tapia and Lyle Ritz, but it would have been nice to see some of the current ukulele talent. Although there is a snippet of James Hill in there. All in all, I thought it was a great film. I will watch it again for sure!

On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being best, I would rate this film a 4.9! (Yes, I do reserve the right to use decimal points in my ratings!)