Chords4Uke iPhone App Review

March 15, 2011 at 2:25 am | Posted in Products, Reviews | 2 Comments
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A few weeks a go Calven Eggert of Mulva and Gipple contacted me about a free (Yes as cheap as free) app for the iPhone called Chords4Uke. I don’t own a iPhone currently so I convinced one of my co-workers to install it on his phone, and have been stealing his phone for lunch to play with this wonderful little app.
Side Note: This will work on an iPhone touch also, the tuner may have issues on some of the older ones that do not have a built-in mic, but remedied with iPhone head phones with the mic or attach one with one of the many adapters.

Pros:

  1. Free
  2. Great if you are like me and like to find new ways to play chords, like G, D, D7 are great at the second fret. A lot less movement of the fingers and more control over muting or jazzing things up.
  3. Since it is on an iPhone it is with you all the time (assuming you are like me and carry your phone with you.)
  4. You can easily switch from C to D tuning, so if you are new to baritone you can actually play with the “regular” uke people.
  5. Simple to find the chord anywhere on the neck and add the 7th or augment it.
  6. Intuitive interface.
  7. Did I mention that it is free?

Cons:

  1. Tuner is not perfect compared to my clip-on tuners, but it works in a pinch.
  2. I wish it was a Flash web app (I don’t own an iPhone, so….)
If you want it go to the Apple page HERE
And please comment below about what you think.

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$5 Hard Ukulele DIY case

February 14, 2011 at 5:56 pm | Posted in Cases, Projects | 16 Comments
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Up front, I lied a little…The case is $5 and you could leave it as is and not spend any money, but it is hard not to look at this and just make it awesome.

Case with legs installed

I was walking around the Beast (What we nerds call Best Buy) and I saw that the DJ Hero cases were $5, and I looked at it for a good 5 minutes and wondered if a uke would fit in it? And by chance it is a perfect size for a concert ukulele (25″ x 12″ x 5.5″) , except that to make one fit I had to modify it a little, the bottom has legs that screw in to make it a Dj hero stand. So the adventure begins.

What I used so far:
  • DJ Hero Case (dimentions 25″ x 12″ x 5.5″)
  • Small Thin sheet of metal found at most hardware strores, thin enough to cut with tin snips
  • Tin Snips
  • Hand Rivet Gun (cheap one with 4 sizes works great)
  • 16 Rivets Sized 1/8″ X 1/4″
  • 3 Rivets Sized 1/8 X 7/32″
  • Padding

The first thing I did was to throw the legs away and pull out the the pieces that were there to  store the legs in the middle of the case. They are just glued in with a rubber cement . Then I unscewed the the nuts and bolts for the plastic pieces that the legs screwed into. This left 4 holes in the bottom of the case.

Legs screw into this bracket

Metal patch and rivets. Notice the one with a washer, It was to fix the blown-out hole

At first I tried to use the exsisting holes that the leg brackets came out of but figured out that it leaves a corner that can’t be riveted since there is a big hole under it. That is when I cut out the rounded squares and used the 1/8″ by 1/4″ rivets. The rivets will not go all the way threw, they will expand and wedge into the hole that you drilled leaving a nice flat surface on the inside. I did have one rivet that blew out the hole, but that was when I tired a larger rivet and I had to use a rivet washer and a longer rivet (1/2″) to go all the way threw to the rivet washer on the inside.

Post Rivet-polooza

After the bottom holes were covered I noticed that some of the rivets for the case had either fallen out or never put in, so I used a few 1/8″ x 7/32″ rivets to secure the corners.

Case closed, Nice feet.

Beyond that I took some foam that I had around and cut it to fit the bottom and used double stick tape to hold it down.

Hollowed case with padding I cut

At this point if I wanted to I could cut foam to make it work for a concert uke, but for now I am leaving it free form. I like the fact that I can use it for a concert or use the padding that came with it and the other pieces to fit 2 small ukes like a Kala Travel soprnao and an Ohana sopranino, and still have room for some music books.

Case with padding that came with the case holding my OU-2 concert

Kala and ohana layer 1

Kala and Ohana layer 2

As of today (Feburary 13, 2011) my Best Buy has 5 cases on the shelf, but none online.

Gallery

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NAMM Day 2

January 15, 2011 at 3:44 pm | Posted in Events, General, Products, Shows | 1 Comment
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A few more pictures for y’all. I will do a full report and stuff tomorrow. For now we have more pictures. Enjoy

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NAMM 2011 Day 1

January 14, 2011 at 5:45 pm | Posted in Events, General, Products, Shows | 6 Comments
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I was so beat and did not get to this today, but here is a quick update in pics, feel free to comment and I will answer all questions.

Click to get bigger pics

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Uke Leash Review

December 19, 2010 at 9:44 pm | Posted in General, Products, Uke Leash | 3 Comments
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Every so often I am contacted by people to review their product. Not a bad gig really considering that most of the review stuff I get I have an exchange of 10+ e-mails back and forth to actually send me something. Having someone ask you to review something is refreshing.

Lori contacted me a month or so ago and asked me to review the uke Leash,  I was a little apprehensive because honestly I thought they were weird. Why would I want to support my uke by the head? I would think that I would want to have the back end supported. I decided that if she believes in it enough to send it to me then I would give it the good old college try and see what this thing was.

All the goodies Lori sent me

Designed Way on a Standard Ukulele

I will start with how it is suppose to be used; one side goes on the head and the other goes around your arm on your shoulder. At first it feels strange and you have to adjust the size of the loop to a comfortable size that will not cut the circulation to your arm and not too loose. Once you have that you get the loop on your arm/shoulder area and pull the strap over your head (look at the instructions for clarification) Make sure that the top of the loop, the part that clips together around your arm/shoulder, is pointing up to your ear so it will not get all bound up on your arm. Once you also have a comfortable length (done easily and has a nice clip to hold the excess) you can start playing. In all honesty I tried it several times and am not a fan. I like to have the head free to move, but that is me and this is far from over. I have found many other way to use this very versatile accessory.

“Regular” Strap Way on a Standard Ukulele

With Strap button attachment

Since the uke is a light instrument it does not need a heavy strap. The thin Uke Leash is very well suited to be used on a ukulele, and if you have a strap button on the butt of the uke you can take the part that goes a round the arm and hook it to the button with a little piece that you can get from Lori to make it a “regular” strap. One advantage is that it is easy to untangle since it just snaps a part where it is attached at the head. I like how thin it is and that it is very small and light weight. I do see a small thing that I am not a huge fan of, you really can’t leave it on the uke when you put it in a case. the plastic clips could rub on the finish and scratch it if you are not careful, but really since it is so small you would just unclip it and put it in the pocket of the case. As a “regular” uke strap it is really exactly what most people would want and it has a ton more adjustments than a standard ukulele strap.

Modified Designed Way on a Banjo Ukulele

Me using the Uke Leash for a banjo uke

So let’s get to where I think the Uke Leash will change peoples lives. If you play banjo ukulele than the normal way of using a Uke Leash will not work. The body of most banjo ukes is the heaviest part and is what needs support. After a bit of experimenting I found a great way to use the Uke Leash that in my opinion is what this thing is made for. If you take the part that is suppose to go on the head and put it on one of the j-hook bolts (the things that hold the head down) then use it like you are suppose to, with the other loop around your arm/shoulder, it works out great! I found for this Morgan Monroe I have in for review that the j-hook next to the neck was the best spot, I would think that you would want to experiment on others and find the balance you like. I really like using the Uke Leash like this because it holds the body in place, it leaves it so you can easily move it, and it keeps you from muting or distorting the strings since there is no good place to put your arm on a normal banjo uke. As you can see I am using the leather one in the pictures. I found that since the banjo uke is heavier that it was more comfortable than the nylon one. Oh, and leather looks way more bad ass.

Uke Leash on a banjo uke

“Regular” Strap Way on a Banjo Ukulele

The other way to use it is to make it like a “regular” strap and take an extra head loop and loop it on the tail piece and put a head loop on the head and clip them to make a “regular” strap.

Using it like a "regular" Strap

I know I will get e-mails about how I should like the Uke Leash when used the way it is designed, but really I think it is a great product and another option for people to use. There are a ton of reviews of people who really like it. I think for banjo uke players this is a must have accessory. All in all I think Lori is doing an awesome job of getting this into people’s hands and they are so well made that you cannot deny that the uke leash is a great product, and in my eyes not a one trick pony. I was able to use it so many ways that I did not talk about that for $21 (Polypro leash, extra headstock strap, and button adapter) you can use it so many ways that it will make your head spin.

Check the Uke Leash out at UkeLeash.com

 Gallery

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Zoom A2.1u Pedal

August 3, 2010 at 3:27 am | Posted in Products | 1 Comment
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Here we have another NAMM acquisition. I must confess that I have owned one of these pedals for 3 years now, but it is not this version exactly. Mine is a little older and I did not get the software with mine. My serial # 000115, the new one is 502105, not that I think 500,000 were made after mine, it is just mine is pretty old in comparison.

While I was on the floor at NAMM I walked by the Zoom booth and just stopped to see if they had anything new, and they do but it is pretty much just for electric guitars, not super useful for ukulele players. I noticed they had the same pedal I have and started to talk to a rep about it and they seemed excited and wanted to send me the new one with the software and all so I could write about it. 3 days after I got back from Nashville, TN it was at my door. I guess they were excited for me to do something with it.

Now a little over a month later I am getting to writing about it. Made a video a few weeks ago but never had the time to write about it.

Why I purchased my pedal; I had just purchased my Risa solid for my 30th birthday and liked it well enough, but it seemed to be a little annoying when I played it just straight out of an amp. Nothing was wrong with the uke, it was just a weird sound and I wanted to take the head off of it and make it sound more acoustic. I tried a few cheap pedals and an equalizer but never was satisfied. That is until I found a Zoom A2.1U in the clearance area at a Guitar Center in Chicago, figured what the hell it was $80. It was exactly what I wanted and more.

I was looking for a way to make my Risa sound acoustic but I got spacey, techno, electric, and like I am in a big empty hall, along with at least 10 different acoustic sounds that I wanted. I love it because manly it lets me experiment with different sounds and the pedal is really fun (Set it to D4 and it is like a whah whah pedal from the future, sounds really cool when I play Flaming Lips songs)

The only thing I am not wild about is how hard it is to come up with your own custom sounds. I have found that it is a lot of work to create something that is different from the built-in effects.

An added bonus that I don’t use very often is the USB port. With it you can record to your computer. It comes with Cubase LE 4 (Cubase LE 5 is out but does not come with the pedal) I have been using an open source product called Audacity for my small recordings. It is free, kept up-to-date, and it has a lot of free plug-ins and sounds. I just found it simpler than Cubase. The pedal will also work with Garage Band if you have an Apple. I found one thing to be surprising , the lag. When you record it is a step behind. So if you want to over dub (Play while listening) and you go back to the tracks it will be a step behind. Not a huge deal, you just move the last track down a bit and all is good.

I have used it at an open mic and it has every output you would need, including a mic 3 prong if they don’t have a regular jack. It was nice to have the tuner built-in and a bypass if I just wanted to hear it straight or with another pedal.

Watch the video below of me wandering through the different sonds.

Places to buy

Amazon: $158 shipped
ZZSounds: $179 new or $159 resealed

Summer NAMM 2010

June 22, 2010 at 2:49 am | Posted in Eleuke, Events, Papas Boxes, Products, Shows | 5 Comments
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I love tradeshows. I like meeting new people and seeing new stuff. I have been to a few technology shows since by day I do computer stuff and am also a computer nerd along with a ukulele nut. Both actually come in handy from time to time.

The atmosphere at NAMM is over whelming in so many ways. You want to look at everything and the noise from all the instruments is deafening at times. It made it real hard to hear the instruments or to take any kind of video that you could hear anything on. The summer NAMM is pretty much just one giant room, not like winter, so I am told, were it is several floors and there is an acoustic floor. I really hope I can make it to that one.

Mim From Mimsukes.com with here Ohana sopranino

While at NAMM I talked with a ton of people and vendors about everything about ukuleles, straps, and home recording.  I have about 30 different business cards from the vendors alone and I also made a couple connections with people that sell them like Mim from Mim’s Ukes. She Has a Hawaiian shaved ice store and she also sells ukuleles there (and online) in Charlotte North Carolina. Also in the post before this I have a pic of Chris Martin of martin guitars holding 2 of his ukes.

Funny story about Meeting Chris Martin, I actually almost knocked him over coming out of the Martin booth, so I stopped and asked if I could take his picture and he said sure. The funny part was that I texted 2 of my friends that were with me that I had just met Chris Martin. They thought I met the Chris Martin from Coldplay. It was not until I showed them the picture that they realized who I actually met. and for the record I would rather meet the Chris Martin that I met. Very cool and nice enough to talk with me for 5 minutes

Cool stuff that I saw:

Bamboo Pauleles

Bamboo ukes from Kiwaya called Pauleles. Played nicely and I am hoping that I will have a chance to review one along with their Kiwaya KS-1. I don’t have a picture since it was not at NAMM, but Cordoba is also coming out with a bamboo uke very soon.

Banjo ukuleles from Morgan Monroe, and they are under $300 street price!!!  That to me seems like one of the holy grails right now. They are loud and really well built. I am hoping that sometime in November, when they catch up with orders, to get one in my hands to review and show people.

Morgan Monroe Banjo Ukulele

Morgan Monroe Resonator Banjo Ukulele

Mahalo Camp Ukulele

So, I was at the Saga Music booth looking at the Mahalos and I see what I know to be a camp ukulele, but I look at it and it says banjo ukulele. I scratched my head and laughed a little. An owner of a music shop wanted to know what I was laughing at. She thought I was being condescending about the products on the wall. Yes they are on the lower end, but they are still ok. I said to her “that is not a banjo ukulele” She asked then what is it because she has one in her store an no one will buy it. I told her that it is a camp ukulele, I have seen several of them and it is called that. She rushed over and grabbed the sales guy and told him “you need to talk to this young man, he knows his stuff!!” I proceed to tell him what it is and he pulls out a pen and changes the name of it on the little tag hanging with it and tells the marketing guy to also change the name in the catalog. It was a good feeling to have someone change something because you recommend it. Excuse me as I go deflate my huge head. 

Maholo Wall

Felix Bass

One of the interesting ukuleles I saw were the Oriolo ukes. The Oriolo family owns  Felix the cat and the brothers decided to start a guitar company. They look fun. I like the way they did the base with Felix’s head, his nose is a knob of some sort.

Grapic on a Orio Guitar

Felix Ukulele

Riptide Golf Ukulele

On the topic of interesting design, Boulder Creek Guitars had a booth showing off their guitars and ukuleles. They are the ones with the off-set front sound hole and one on  the side. They have the regular laminate mahogany and a line of solid wood ukes, but they are also coming out with a couple with a printed top. The designs are fun. One with a wave and the other with a golf theme.

Riptide Wave Ukulele

For completely crazy design I would give that to Eleuke. A “tie dye” electric. I like the idea, I am not in love with the colors they used.

Eleuke Tie Dye

Kala Pocket Uke

We cannot leave Kala out. They had all of their well known products like the U-bass, and that is all the guitar and bass people talked about, and the travel ukuleles. They had 2 things that I really thought were cooler than everything else. The pocket uke and the new 10 watt “Round about” amps.

Kala Round About Amps

The last new thing that I will talk about is from Papas Boxes. I did not even know they were going to be there. I just ran into their booth.  They now make whole ukuleles and they are beautiful. They use lasers to etch the boxes and cut the holes. It was fun to go to a booth where the owner is really happy to meet you. I think they will be very successful with their new instruments along with the kits.

Papa's Boxes

A couple I lusted after:

A Collings

I can dream can’t I? I had to stop by the Collings booth. I played the one pictured and it is like butter. I also played a Santa Cruz, and a few of the high end Big Island Ukuleles ( I was able to take their least expensive home for a review, a SP-KRGT, so watch the site for the review). Also while I was at the Kiwya booth Augutino LoPrinzi ukuleles was also in the same booth. Very very nice ukuleles. the one pictured was really neat with the 2 shoulder holes, very loud. If I say loud I mean it, it was loud in the convention center.

LoPrinzi Ukulele

 

The other side:

Crappyleles

Ukuleles are popular. They are blowing up. I heard from several companies that their ukuleles sales are 75% of their sales in the last few months, so with that people want to jump into it also.  I saw several like the ones below that are toys and not real instruments by any means. that makes me mad. Just don’t make them or carry them if they are such junk.

Not sure how I feel about ukulele lamps. I want one, don’t get me wrong, I just feel bad for the little guy.

Uke Lamps

I need to thank all the vendors that I talked to, I am a total spaz at times and I was also sweating like crazy, so embarrassing. Also my two friends, Paul and Marc, for hanging with me and not beating me while trying to leave and I get lost at another booth that caught my eye, and spreading the word about Ukeeku to everyone you saw.

I really want to go to winter NAMM in Anaheim CA, time will tell.

WINNER of the Eleuke

May 6, 2010 at 1:51 am | Posted in Eleuke, General, Giveaway, Products | 5 Comments
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Meet David from Rochester, MN. He is the winner of the Eleuke!

David rocking out with his spiffy hat and shirt

I must thank all 354 of you that entered, many people commented many times, and that was the real point of this. I really wanted to just get people to my site and get people involved in spreading the ukulele love. I will have more in the future.

I will be at the Ukulele World Congress and Milwaukee Uke fest (and Windy City if it happens) this summer giving others away. Also I will have some on the site.

OH, and if you are ever in need of a pick-me-up, hold a contest to give away a ukulele. People are extra nice and say some of the craziest stuff! Way better than Prozac.

So..You Got a New Ukulele!

April 28, 2010 at 4:27 pm | Posted in General, Products | 6 Comments
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Here is a video that I had to make for a class. I liked it so much that I figured I would share it with all of my uke family.
Dont worry, I dont plan on making videos like this. Expect this to be an article someday.

Links Referenced

Pre-strumming Link - A forum post on the idea

Humidifier – The one I like to keep in my cases

Restringing video – From UkuleleUnderground

Ukestar Ukulele Strap Review

March 11, 2010 at 5:13 am | Posted in Products, Reviews | 8 Comments
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I have to start this by apologizing to Hannah, the really awesome strap crafter (Says it on her business card) from Ukestar Straps.  Hannah was kind enough to send me one of her handmade ukulele strap back in January.  No excuses, time got away from me. So on with the show!!   

Most guitar players have a strap for their guitar, especially electric guitar players. Guitars are big and most people can’t hold a guitar while standing and play it (Unless you are my friend Paul, he is weird). Ukuleles are small; you can wedge it between your belly and your arm and still play it just fine, right?

  The answer is yes and no. On one hand you can simply hold it with your arm and gut. It is light and that is what a lot of people do, perfectly fine, but………..You knew there had to be a but. When you wedge the uke you are creating some problems: 

  1. You are not letting the instrument completely vibrate, letting the full sound come out.
  2. You put a nice line in your arm from holding it too long.
  3. After a while a buildup of sweat and “stuff” will start to show where you hold it with your arm and can cause permanent discoloration.
  4. Your strumming hand is limited to what it can do since it is locked into position of the arm holding the uke.

Me Holding my Jenny Using the Ukestar Strap

To resolve these “problems” people will buy a strap for their uke. As I mentioned before in a earlier post there are several straps. The one from Ukestar Straps is a handmade classical guitar strap style but made for ukuleles,  meaning that it holds the instrument by the sound hole, but Ukestar Straps are way better than your mass produced ukulele straps from Levy. 

  1. It is handmade in America with love ( I could stop here)
  2. Many different fabrics to choose from (NOTE: She has 5 up presently, but there is a spot that you can custom order size and fabric LINK)
  3. There are 3 sizes. Absolutely genius mainly because I see so many different sized people playing ukulele. As a 6″ 1′ man with a slight gut I got a medium, IZ would have benefitted from a large, where Jake could probably use a small.
  4. Unlike the levy strap that has a hard plastic clip, these have an amazing clothe covered hook to protect your beloved ukulele.
  5. For $20 you cannot beat it. A factory made one from Levy is $15. For a whole $5 more you have a product that is so much better in so many ways.

Clothe Wrapped Hook

All I can say is that my strap changed my playing. I love it, I love it , I love it. The real beauty of it for me is the fact that I don’t have to take it off to change ukes. Just unhook and hook another one on.

The Star Button on all Straps

Buy one today, Hell buy two (one for you and one for a friend)  

A few fun things to know about Hannah. Besides being a strap crafter she is in a band called the Ukettes and is a graphic designer (Which explains the really professional tags and other printed materials that come with the strap)

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