It's the last day of summer, but......"Yes Sir, That's My Baby" - from Eugene Ukulele

Another stunning performance by one of my favourite ukulele players! Played on a custom Bruko curly maple soprano ukulele.

Popular standard written in 1925; music Walter Donaldson, lyrics Gus Kahn. Those two wrote wrote some wonderful songs that have lasted nearly 90 years...Another one is "My Baby Just Cares for Me"... see some more songs with lyrics by Gus Kahn here.

And for this wonderful morning, the last day of summer, when at 10.00 a.m in my garden the sky and the air were so beautiful it just took my breath away..... this video is just perfect.

The song has basic chords and a common chord progression - it's what Eugene does with them that's so, so skilful... the finger-picking between the chords and the "add-ons".... that performance is brilliant in my book, and it's one I'm going to study!

Thanks for sharing, Eugene! And a wonderful morning to you down under, too! Down there, spring must be in the air! Aaah.....

A new Kiwaya KTS-4 Soprano for a very happy bunny

So much excitement - it seems a long time since I had a little fantasize about what my ideal soprano ukulele would be like, and I dismissed any ideas of owning a custom-built uke as quickly as I had dreamed about one. Why people have them is a whole subject for discussion in itself - suffice it to say, I'm not in the market. I'm still a learner and was brought up not to be extravagant. But I did decide that I wanted a soprano for a traditional sound, and that I wanted a good one - for quality of build, precise intonation and a beautiful finish, in solid wood.

When it came to factory-built ukes, there were three contenders, and I wanted to see them and play them. Whilst in London, I dragged poor LSH (Long-Suffering-Husband) off to a ukulele shop - yes, a music shop selling just ukuleles, and advertising the Kiwaya and the Bruko on their website - but no chance, they don't seem to actually stock them. I did spend a happy hour in there playing all the other solid wood ukes though, while LSH spent an equally happy hour in the excellent pub across the road, where the draft bitter was apparently excellent - but I was particularly interested in the Kiwaya KTS-4; I posted Ken Middleton'e reviews of the Kiwaya (made in Japan) and the Bruko #6 (made in Germany) on here, and low and behold, a few days later a used Kiwaya KTS-4 (solid mahogany, no laminates) came up on ebay uk! What a coincidence is that!

I watched that baby and drooled over it all week - LHS doesn't really get why anyone should want more than one wooden uke. And I like a peaceful life. But as the final minutes ticked away I got very twitchy... and he noticed. Doesn't miss a thing - not after forty years. So I told him about it. He must have been feeling particularly mellow - because he replied "You'd better get up the stairs to your computer then!"

"What - to bid for it?"

"Yes if you like!"

Did I need telling twice? I do love that man of mine...the minutes ticked away while I fiddled about getting to the page... now what should my maximum bid be......?

Well - I got it! And yesterday it arrived. It's fitted with Aquila strings, which I plan to change very quickly, so I'm not going to talk much about the sound except to say that yes, the intonation does seem to be spot on, just as it should be, and when you pluck the strings, you can feel the whole body vibrate. The body is built of very thin wood - which, in a ukulele, is a good thing, as long as the internal bracing is adequate.

I just love the look and feel of this uke - it surpasses expectations. The satin finish on it just glows. The tuners are good quality friction tuners and the neck is nice and thin. Rosewood fingerboard, of course. And it is SO light - I'm going to weigh it and compare the weight with my little Mahalo soprano - just to see the difference.

So - that's my soprano story. I'm very happy with my concert uke, and I love this - and I can't really get into tenors at all..... so I'm a happy bunny. A very happy bunny......

Plan - put Living Water Strings on it. Aquilas are very loud, and I want to try the Living Water - because they are just beautiful on my Tanglewood concert uke.

Then - put a Living Water low G string on the Tanglewood to try it out. A low G set-up is great for the jazzy numbers...busy day tomorrow....

I think I want a Kiwaya KTS-4 Soprano Ukulele - here's a review by Ken Middleton

The soprano sized Uke has grown on me greatly - I like the sound, and I like the fact that if I see a chord fingering that goes from fret three to fret ten, I can reach it! I was horrified to find such a chord in the tab for Music Box Waltz, by Roy Smeck. It's reachable on a concert uke, but barely - I've got long fingers - I don't know whether people reach stretches like this on a tenor... but that's another story.

Anyway, I really fancy one of these, the Kiwaya KTS4, or even the KTS5 with more frets, although that one is considerably more pricey. The laminate version, the KS1, has great reviews, but I would love a solid wood instrument, one with a thin enough top to give it the volume and sound that I want. In my dreams, I reckon.

But, I'm hoping, this weekend, to get to a shop that sells these ukes and try them out - the Japanese Kiwaya KS1, the KS4 as above, and a Bruko, a German-made uke which also has gained a great following. I'm expecting the sound to be very different, from what folk have said - it'll be interesting! And there are many more factors to take into account when playing a ukulele; the necks can vary in thickness, some being thinner than usual, and some being thicker; so can the width at the nut (where the strings go through slots at the top before they attach to the tuning pegs). These things can make a lot of difference to personal comfort and preference, and it's one good reason to try to get hands on and play before buying, rather that buying unseen online. The other reason of course is the sound.

I can't finish without a word for Ken Middleton's review. This one is from 2008 and is as thorough and well-considered as ever.

Whoops - I've actually just this minute found a review from Ken where he compares the Bruko 6 to the Kiwaya! It's here....

Thanks, Ken for the music, for the reviews, for the tabs, for the strings.... you are the man.

I planned to do something completely different this morning - this is my trouble, you see..... lah-di-dah.......

If I Could Design my Own Ukulele.....

There was a thread on the Ukulele Underground Forum the other day, along the lines of "What would your dream ukulele be like?" As I'm on the look-out for a new, pretty, excellent-sounding ukulele it set me thinking. I've drooled over the beautiful custom-built ukuleles made by luthiers - works of art in wood, they are, and some are highly decorated with various inlays. If money were no object, what would I commission for myself? Would it be an instrument built of solid koa, with a rosette of abalone and inlays of turquoise? With binding down the sides of the finger-board?

I went to sleep last night dreaming up my perfect ukulele! And here it is - or would be - in my dreams!

It would have to sound sweet and loud.

It would be a long-neck soprano, or a concert, traditional figure-eight shape, round sound hole - built with woods with a beautiful grain, ideally but not essentially grown in the UK, ideally recycled from some beautiful but unwanted furniture. (We're talking Dream Ukulele here!)

Binding on the body not necessary, but a beautiful rosette - not rope pattern. That's for guitars, in my book. The rosette could be inlays of other woods, perhaps with a little mother-of-pearl, but not necessarily. The finish on the body would be satin - not matt, not glossy. Just look well-polished. French-polished, most likely.

No binding on the finger-board but there would be inlaid markers, perhaps tiny flowers like pimpernels at spaces 5, 7, 10, and 12.

The headstock would be solid, shaped nicely at the top in keeping with the traditional look of the whole instrument, with good friction tuners and dark buttons.

There would be a "green man" inlaid or somehow fashioned onto the headstock. The whole instrument would breathe "wildwood", integrity, and would ooze craftsmanship and quality. And beg to be played.

Ah me - that's my daydream for today!