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Meanwhile, on the ukulele front...
17 September 2010
I've been a bit involved in the campaigning of late, and neglectful of making posts about my ukulele passion. So here we go with a few recent items...
About two weeks ago I received a mango tenor ukulele from Mainland, in a stunning faux-alligator hard shell case. I spent the following weekend with it, playing it almost exclusively and comparing it with my other (Pono) mango tenor. These two couldn't be further apart in sound than if they were made from different tone woods. And the woods on each look radically different, too.
You can see the gorgeous Mainland rope binding in this picture. The wood has a nice ripple in it, but it's difficult to see from this angle. In colour and grain it looks a lot like mahogany, but the Pono is very different.
Mango is an interesting wood that has been used as a tone wood by luthiers for many years, but has never had a lot of popularity. Reading various forums and Web sites, some say it's a bit soft, which would make it prime for laminates, but not solid tops. It's starting to see more use on ukuleles recently: Pono, Kala, Anuenue, Lanikai, Fluke and Mainland are among those who use it.
Some mango is 'spalted ' - a term that describes wood of any sort that has discolouration caused by fungus. Usually spalting is soft, so it's used in a laminate. Curly mango is another type that seems very decorative. I don't know how, or if, these variations differ in tonal qualities.
The Mainland mango is bright and cheerful - which from what I've heard is Mainland's signature sound. It's not as loud nor has the same sustain and the Mainland cedar. I liken it to a soprano sound in a tenor package. This uke sounds quite different from all my others, too and strikes me as a good instrument for some of that vintage (1920s-30s) sheet music I've been collecting.
I've posted a preliminary review of the Mainland mango on my ukulele review site - www.ianchadwick.com/ukuleles/mainland.htm.
The other uke news is how much baritone ukulele I've been playing. In part that's because I really like the vintage Lyra I got earlier this summer - it sounds remarkably guitar-like. And a very, very different sound from my Pono mahogany baritone. The Lyra is strung with Martins, low-D while the Pono is a high-D and I think D'Addario strings (it was bought second hand and came pre-strung).
I'm enjoying baritone so much I've ordered a solid-body steel-stringed electric uke from Jupiter Creek Music, in Australia. I like having a steel string to complement my acoustic instruments (I already have a Risa steel string tenor). However doing so means I'll probably have to sell one of my existing tenor ukes to be able to pay for it. That's a bit of a dilemma, since I like them all.
I was working on a few pieces this past week, including Bob Dylan's Buckets or Rain and Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues. The latter is a song I arranged for guitar decades ago, and it carries over well to the baritone ukulele, but is a bit high-pitched on the tenor and smaller scales. The former is a song I can't recall ever hearing, but have come up with a nice arrangement (at least I think so) based on a version in a Dylan songbook I have. Played it so much last night my fingertips are sore this morning!
As to those vintage song books and sheets, I've pretty much stopped buying them on eBay. The collection is almost 4GB of scanned files, and I don't want to make it larger than a single DVD can hold. I am looking for just two pieces - Brother Can You Spare a Dime, and Ten Cents a Dance, preferably the original song sheets (I'll accept scans of them) with ukulele arrangements (but guitar will have to do if that's how it was originally arranged). If anyone has these, I'd be happy to buy them. Both are two of my favourite Depression-era songs.
Finally, I'm going to try to get a ukulele club going at either Blue Mountain Music or the Library this fall. I might have a bit of time to do it, after the campaign is over (although I am trying to help create an adult chess club at the Library, too!). However, I am also going to start some part-time work this fall, and it mostly will be evenings and weekends,so it may be dicey as to when I can get the time.
About two weeks ago I received a mango tenor ukulele from Mainland, in a stunning faux-alligator hard shell case. I spent the following weekend with it, playing it almost exclusively and comparing it with my other (Pono) mango tenor. These two couldn't be further apart in sound than if they were made from different tone woods. And the woods on each look radically different, too.
You can see the gorgeous Mainland rope binding in this picture. The wood has a nice ripple in it, but it's difficult to see from this angle. In colour and grain it looks a lot like mahogany, but the Pono is very different.
Mango is an interesting wood that has been used as a tone wood by luthiers for many years, but has never had a lot of popularity. Reading various forums and Web sites, some say it's a bit soft, which would make it prime for laminates, but not solid tops. It's starting to see more use on ukuleles recently: Pono, Kala, Anuenue, Lanikai, Fluke and Mainland are among those who use it.
Some mango is 'spalted ' - a term that describes wood of any sort that has discolouration caused by fungus. Usually spalting is soft, so it's used in a laminate. Curly mango is another type that seems very decorative. I don't know how, or if, these variations differ in tonal qualities.
The Mainland mango is bright and cheerful - which from what I've heard is Mainland's signature sound. It's not as loud nor has the same sustain and the Mainland cedar. I liken it to a soprano sound in a tenor package. This uke sounds quite different from all my others, too and strikes me as a good instrument for some of that vintage (1920s-30s) sheet music I've been collecting.
I've posted a preliminary review of the Mainland mango on my ukulele review site - www.ianchadwick.com/ukuleles/mainland.htm.
The other uke news is how much baritone ukulele I've been playing. In part that's because I really like the vintage Lyra I got earlier this summer - it sounds remarkably guitar-like. And a very, very different sound from my Pono mahogany baritone. The Lyra is strung with Martins, low-D while the Pono is a high-D and I think D'Addario strings (it was bought second hand and came pre-strung).
I'm enjoying baritone so much I've ordered a solid-body steel-stringed electric uke from Jupiter Creek Music, in Australia. I like having a steel string to complement my acoustic instruments (I already have a Risa steel string tenor). However doing so means I'll probably have to sell one of my existing tenor ukes to be able to pay for it. That's a bit of a dilemma, since I like them all.
I was working on a few pieces this past week, including Bob Dylan's Buckets or Rain and Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues. The latter is a song I arranged for guitar decades ago, and it carries over well to the baritone ukulele, but is a bit high-pitched on the tenor and smaller scales. The former is a song I can't recall ever hearing, but have come up with a nice arrangement (at least I think so) based on a version in a Dylan songbook I have. Played it so much last night my fingertips are sore this morning!
As to those vintage song books and sheets, I've pretty much stopped buying them on eBay. The collection is almost 4GB of scanned files, and I don't want to make it larger than a single DVD can hold. I am looking for just two pieces - Brother Can You Spare a Dime, and Ten Cents a Dance, preferably the original song sheets (I'll accept scans of them) with ukulele arrangements (but guitar will have to do if that's how it was originally arranged). If anyone has these, I'd be happy to buy them. Both are two of my favourite Depression-era songs.
Finally, I'm going to try to get a ukulele club going at either Blue Mountain Music or the Library this fall. I might have a bit of time to do it, after the campaign is over (although I am trying to help create an adult chess club at the Library, too!). However, I am also going to start some part-time work this fall, and it mostly will be evenings and weekends,so it may be dicey as to when I can get the time.
