I feel extremely blessed to have the ukuleles I own. I get asked a lot of questions about them and I added this page to let you know what kind I play and why.
First off, a bit of my history: My first ukulele to purchase, when I was about twelve, was a soprano. It is a bad sounding uke I paid $17.00 for and I still own, but never play. When I became more serious about playing ukulele 30+ years later I bought a couple other inexpensive ukes including an older Harmony sunburst with the plastic fretboard. About that time the Fluke ukulele was invented and I bought one...
First off, a bit of my history: My first ukulele to purchase, when I was about twelve, was a soprano. It is a bad sounding uke I paid $17.00 for and I still own, but never play. When I became more serious about playing ukulele 30+ years later I bought a couple other inexpensive ukes including an older Harmony sunburst with the plastic fretboard. About that time the Fluke ukulele was invented and I bought one...
"Abstract" design Fluke-
I bought this Fluke without ever having been able to try one first. They were getting rave reviews on the internet and I have never regretted its purchase. It was my first good sounding ukulele and helped me progress in my playing. A good sounding ukulele is an invaluable tool in your playing progress. The Fluke is considered a concert scale, but it is a tad longer scale than most concert size ukuleles. If you want more info on this ukulele you can read about them here.
After owning the Fluke I thought I was a concert size player for life.
Bushman "Jenny" concert
After finding that I liked scale size of the concert scale I wanted one that was more traditional in design. The owner of Bushman Ukulele is a harmonica specialist who started selling a lot of Lanakai ukuleles (part of the Hohner line) and then decided to have his own brand of ukulele made. My Jenny (their basic model) was in their first generation. It was made in 2005 of mahogany and it sounds really nice. They are made in China and I think are (or at least were) in the same class as Mainland Ukulele and ironically are sold from the same area in Indiana. They may be made at the same factory as far as I know- there are many design similarities. I have never played one of the newer Bushman ukuleles and so have no opinion to give of them.
I have played the Mainland, and while I don't own one, I would recommend them as a good sounding ukulele.
"Tiki" Flea-
I wanted a durable ukulele to use at work and after owning a Fluke I knew how nearly indestructible they were. The Flea is the soprano model with a 14" scale. I fell in love with the scale size which is a bit longer than a traditional soprano. I bought this third hand from a man who had tried to fix a crack in the plastic back by melting it with a soldering iron. I used super glue and it has worked great. You can see more Fleas by clicking here.
My Honey-
I don't name all of my ukuleles, but some seem to ask to be named. When I opened the case to this uke for the very first time, I heard a whisper. Maybe the voice wasn't hers, but the name stuck...
Some people tend to think custom built ukuleles are out of touch for the average person. My advice is to keep an envelope or jar for birthday money and/or loose change... it's worth it.
This Kepasa Josephine model was made for me in 2008 and is made of Koa wood. It is bound on the front and back as well as the headstock. The fret board sports a chevron style inlay and has side markers. It has Peghed tuners and is very light. It is strung with Aquila strings. The Josephine model has a 14" scale (same as the Flea) and mine is 1.5" wide at the nut (same as the Flea). For more info on the Kepasa ukulele specs check out their website and tell them Ukester Brown sent you- Kevin builds a nice ukulele. This is my go-to uke!
My Ruby-
About a year after having my Josephine "Honey" built, I bought a book called Vintage Ukuleles: The Tony Ku Collection by Isami Uchizaki. It is filled with wonderful photos of vintage ukuleles. Page 132 shows a Regal ukulele described as, "Spruce top; rosewood back, sides, and neck; white celluloid binding around top, back, sound hole, fingerboard, and peghead; rosewood fingerboard; abalone "Regal" logo on peghead; circa 1930s." At the very least, I was inspired...
Pleased with my first Kepasa I contacted Kevin again and we started emailing back and forth on this project. We made some changes such as: 1) using ebony on the face plate and fingerboard 2) instead of "Regal" it says "Remiger" (my last name) in the same script as the "Regal" logo 3) we used an ivory color binding on the top only instead of white. We only had one photo to work with, similar to how mine is posed. I think Kevin caught what I was hoping for.
This uke is heavier than my first Josephine, but that is due to wood and tuner choices in order to emulate the vintage Regal. It is bright sounding with a nice long sustain and so far I like Worth Clear Medium stings on it the best.
Firefly banjo ukulele-
I have to be honest and say I am not usually a fan of playing banjo ukuleles. When I play one the tone sounds too harsh to my ear- I think due to my tinnitus. After having the opportunity to play one of these Firefly banjo ukuleles I liked it so much that I sold a vintage banjo ukulele that was pretty to look at, but rarely played because it bothered my ear. One thing that is nice about the Firefly is that I can control the volume more because of the open back. It is also amazingly light. Some people don't like the polycarbonate fret board, but there is a rosewood upgrade available. As you can tell by now, I like instruments that are made by The Magic Fluke company and you can read more about the Firefly by clicking here.
I applied the moon and stars graphic using sharpie markers and two very light coats of polyurethane spray to keep it from rubbing off.
My golden girl Rose-
I had been watching Ebay for a vintage Martin for a while. I saw this one near the end of the auction and thought, "Hey, I'll bump up the bid one buck and see what happens". Well, I bought it.
I named it Rose because of the old TV show "Golden Girls". I bought the uke from someone in Florida, and Rose was the goofy gal from Minnesota- my home state.
This is a pre-1926 model 01. Made of mahogany, bound in rosewood and has the wood peg friction tuning pegs. It needed a bit of maintenance by a luthier when I got it, but it has a sweet voice and is wonderful to hold. If you are interested in vintage ukuleles please remember you become a caretaker of them just like someone is with an old house.
Some Assembly Required...
This is my cigar box ukulele. I assembled it from a neck and fretboard assembly from Mainland Ukulele and a Cohiba cigar box. Choosing a better grade cigar box allowed me to actually do less work in this construction. I think the box is all mahogany and that meant instead of removing the box bottom for a new sound board all I had to do was sand it thin enough to make a good vibration. I drew a line all around he edge of the box bottom and then sanded it thin with my belt sander. I'm quite happy with the results. I can still open the box. The custom case was made from burlap coffee bags from a local coffee shop and has a quilted fabric lining. I did most of the work, but my beloved provided technical assistance. You can see more about it on this video.
Roxie?
This was one ukulele I just wanted to have just to have it. It is a Kala Concert Scale Resonator. It's a fun uke with it's own applications. It is raucous- like a toy the grandparents buy the grand kids. Is it love or infatuation? Only time can tell.
