NUDE

[sunjamr]

New Ukulele Day, Everyone!

Since I’ve had chemo and other miscellaneous health issues, I spend quite a bit of time every day noodling on my little $150 Kahala baritone uke and really enjoying it. In order to do that, size matters. With a baritone uke, I can sit in a couch or recliner holding it comfortably in front of me and play it easily. But I’ve been wishing my student-level Kahala was built to a more profesional standard, and had pickups so I could plug into my amps. So, I finally broke down and bought the baritone uke of my dreams. It was apparently the last one left in NZ. Came from a guitar shop in Wellington.

It is superbly crafted, complete with awesome Fishman pickup and tuner. Played unplugged, it sounds sweet as. Plugged into my amp, it sounds just as sweet, only louder. It is the ultimate weapon for developing chord sequences and melody lines. Even those complex jazz chords are easy to make. Musically, the top 4 strings of a guitar are where all the action is, unless you are playing the bass lines. So this baritone uke forces a guitar player to focus on those 4 strings only and really understand the fretboard better. Those triads we all need to know are right in front of your face. A standard uke won’t work for this purpose, because it’s tuned to My Dog Has Fleas, whereas this is tuned just like a guitar.

Sunjamr Steve

[Bill]

That’s really great Steve, glad you got it. I didn’t know about the tuning on the baritone Uke. It’s like a tenor guitar, just 4 strings, like Tiny Grimes played.

I’ve been getting more into uke with my daughter. Easier for her small hands to grasp and the uke in standard tuning is the least offensive instrument to just wail on with no chords played :). She recently played one of her own songs at an open mic, braver than me!

There’s a great old time jazz uke instructor on YT: Christopher Davis Shannon, been digging his stuff.

[Tremelow]

Congrats Steve and a good advice about the tuning of the Baritone Uke. I also would like to have a Uke one day, but I still havent made up my mind which one. But I got enough on my plate at the moment (more in my November Challenge submisseion), so this can wait.

Anyway, enjoy your gift to yourself and keep getting better (healthwise).

[Andy N]

Well I clicked on that link with a bit of fear and trepidation, I wondered what you were going to reveal 🤣.

But congratulations on your latest acquisition. If it plays and sounds as fine as it looks in the picture, it’s going to be a source of pleasure for many years to come. I’ll look forward to seeing its debut performance.

I didn’t even know that a Baritone Uke was a thing until you mentioned it the other day. Now I think I need one!

[San Luis Rey]

Hey Steve,
Hope you’re getting through with the treatments soon and feel better.
I recently sold a Kala Uke that was a tenor tuned to my dog has fleas. The size was better than the soprano but not large enough for my sausage fingers. That baritone just might be the ticket! Congrats on the new Uke and look forward to hearing it.

Mike

[sunjamr]

I also have fat fingers, and that’s one of the main reasons I like the baritone uke. The wide string spacing is almost identical to my classical guitar, so much more generous than any steel stringed guitar.

Sunjamr Steve

[Ralph P.]

Hey Steve, fell for your “nude” click bait! Very cool and interesting uke. Does it project much volume unplugged?

I’ve been away from the Forum for a while and didn’t realize you were sick. I went through chemo also, along with Radiation Therapy and Immunotherapy. The Immunotherapy almost killed me, but I’m still kickin’ it. Keep on surviving and making music.

Ralph

Ralph P.

[Author]

Posts