4 comments about Washburn Koa Ukulele.

1. I bought my husband this uke for Christmas,2006, and he absolutely LOVES it! The abalone inlay around the edge is very attractive. He did have to keep retuning it every so often, as the strings stretched, but now it's just fine. He just has to "tweek it" once in a while.
   
   I had looked at a simalar uke at our local guitar center, but they wanted $149 and that was without the abalone inlay. My husband and I both agree it was a "super buy'!



2. I can hardly be considered a musician and playing the ukulele is only a pastime involving some enjoyable minutes of strumming through a few cords, but I must say a few words about the Washburn (Oscar Schmidt) OU-5 ukulele I just bought from Amazon.com.
   
   My previous ukulele was a nice low end soprano box that served me well for several years. It looked OK, it stayed in tune and sounded fine to me. However, I wanted something a bit better and the concert sized OU-5 caught my eye. I researched the heck out of ukuleles in the same price range and decided the Washburn OU-5 was the best.
   
   When the ukulele arrived I opened the box and was absolutely amazed. The uke was a beautiful thing--a work of art. Its highly lacquered finish and distinctive Koa wood construction was stunning. I was looking at a true musical instrument. At that moment I knew my old ukulele was a piece of junk--a toy. I suddenly hated it.
   
   The OU-5 sounds ten times better than my previous ukulele and the somewhat larger size makes it easier for me to "play" and move about the fret board. The mellow and resonant tones that come from the OU-5 are stunning. I know my judgment about that is not based on a lot of musical know-how, but the contrast with my old uke was certainly remarkable. I can recommend this Washburn ukulele to anyone who appreciates fine workmanship, a great sound and wants an fine instrument at a bargain price.
   
   Oh, one other thing--the picture of the Washburn OU-5 ukulele in the Amazon.com description is not a picture of the OU-5 with the Koa wood top. The illustration is probably (a mistake) the Washburn OU-13 with a spruce top. Don't be put off by this apparent error. The product is indeed a Koa wood OU-5.



3. Just a warning. If you think you are going to get a Washburn ukulele from Amazon, you will not. As in my case, you will recieve an OSCAR SCHMIDT ukulele by Washburn. a nice ukulele but you could get it for only $99. I got very little empathy when I voiced the issue with Amazon directly. Maybe I should have caught on when there was no picture available for this item.
   
   MW



4. One night I'm watching Joe Versus the Volcano... and Joe is afloat on his steamer trunks playing the Cowboy Song on his ukulele... and it hits me: I want to learn to play the ukulele just so I can play that song! I've played guitar casually for many years, but I had no clue about the guitar's little cousin. I knew that I wanted something better than a toy ukulele, but also knew I had no plans to play this professionally. After looking around online, I decided to order the OU-5 Oscar Schmidt by Washburn from Amazon.
   
   Summary: I could not be happier. This is a wonderful instrument for both the first time user and the semi-serious amateur. The ukulele is beautiful. The woodwork is gorgeous. Everyone who has seen it says "wow". It sounds just like a ukulele should. And it is a blast to play!
   
   The worst thing about this ukulele is the product description page. The description provided by Amazon is terrible. At the time of this writing, there is no photo of the product (I bought it on faith based on reviews of a couple others here). The product description is a single, incomplete sentence and uses the word "founf"... and the description is so bad, it's not at all obvious that you're getting an OU-5 (look in the item details under model number), but that is what you get. But please, don't be fooled by what may be the worst page on Amazon's otherwise wonderful site... this is a great product.
   
   One user complained about the strings not holding their tune, and I've seen at least one complaint about the tuners. Well, the ukulele comes with nylon strings, and there is a fair amount of stretching before it will stay in tune. My first couple of attempts were frustrating... the top string would be badly out of tune by the time I had tuned down to the bottom string. It took a couple of days of constant tuning before the strings were properly stretched. There's probably some trick to pre-stretching nylon strings, but I just kept at it and eventually prevailed. Now it stays in tune comparable to my guitar. The chrome tuners appear to be of good quality. They are solid and have a good feel.
   
   The Koa wood is stunning, and has a wonderful finish, especially for an instrument in this price range. The detail in the inlay really makes this uke visually impressive.
   
   I grabbed a chord chart off the internet to learn chords and fingering... there are plenty out there. I decided to learn to play songs from movies featuring the ukulele. A quick search and I found the chords (all two of them) for Joe's Cowboy Song... awesome! It sounds great! Tonight You Belong to Me by Steve Martin was next, followed by Forgetful Lucy featuring Adam Sandler on the uke. I suggest looking for ukulele performances on YouTube for inspiration. You haven't really, truly played a string instrument until you've played Rawhide on the ukulele.

No comments about 12" "Twirly-Whirly" Plastic Action Rainmaker.

1 comments about Metal Slide Whistle.

1. I put this whistle in my kids stockings. They love to play them and surprisingly enough, it's not annoying. The sound is not shrilling,but more mellow so it's easy on our ears. It's a nice addition to the kids instrument collection.

5 comments about Hohner HM-901 Alto Melodica.

1. I have to strongly disagree with the previous reviews of this melodica. I believe that the button styling of the red and green versions hohner melodicas have the best design a melodica can have. Obviously, it doesnt feel exactly the same as a normal keyboard, but to the extent that it shouldnt matter to a real musician. The thing i like about the button layout, is that its accessable from both sides, therefore both hands, unlike any other melodica. And no, you don't have to just play the black keys with your left hand, the white with right, its easy to reach all the keys from either side. It allows you to more fully immerse yourself in the musical expirience, keeping a rythym with one hand while soloing around with the other, or keeping a nice rythym with both hands, or even doing some bass riffs with one hand and messin around with the other. I highly recommend the button style melodica to the adventurous musician. What's the fun in one handed playing?



2. Hohner makes two very different types of instruments, both called Melodicas, and people who confuse the two types are unhappy. The so-called "piano" style IS a keyboard instrument with wind power, making it a cousin of the accordion or organ, while the 900/901-style is, in fact, a wind instrument with keys, perhaps closer to a keyed recorder or other woodwind.
   For a traditional keyboard player, the 901 alto could be almost as uncomfortable as trying to play a saxophone like a piano, while someone coming from a woodwind background would find the transition much easier. My suggestion: Those who are committed to their keyboard technique should buy the piano-26, piano-32, or similar model, while realizing that the 900-series requires a woodwind-like fingering technique for mastery.



3. I must also disagree with every review that disses the small keyed melodicas. Like anything new you have to get used to it, and once you are comfortable on the small melodicas you can really shread. As one reviewer stated, you can play basslines and melodies and comp chords all at the same time by having both hands playing at the same time on opposite sides. If you just want to play single line melodies on piano like keys get the other style melodicas. If you want to be able to accompany yourself and play many more notes at once (you have greater polyphony because each reed is smaller, on the bigger melodicas you quickly run out of air playing even just diads) go for a 900 or 901.



4. I must say that I disagree with those who say that this melodica is useless. I have been a professional saxophone player for the last two years and have been playing saxophone ever since the six grade. I played piano when I was a kid but never really got anywhere because saxophone is my true passion. When I saw this melodica it was like a dream come true. It was small, out of the way and easy to travel with and it came with all the perks, a cool jazzy sound, similarities to the saxophone so I can learn quickly and overall good quality. Because I am a saxophone player I can tell you that with practice you can achieve a lot of fingering fluidity and if you already are a sax player then more power to you. It's rich sound and jazzy feel are only the beggining of boundries you can reach and cross with this great instrument. You'll love it!



5. Last year I bought a piano-keyboard melodica, which I liked, but, as someone much more comfortable playing Irish flute, tin whistle, recorder, and sax, I found it a bit of a challenge. What I really wanted was to be able to hold the keyboard like a whistle/recorder and use both hands to play the keys. But with the style melodica I had this was very difficult. Then I discovered these small-key Hohner models (alto and soprano)! I love them. They may indeed require some adjustment for traditional keyboard players, but for those who come from blown-instrument backgrounds they are extremely easy to adapt to and offer a great new world of sound. I really love the fact you can play multiple notes at once-- something that just can't be done on the flutes/whistles. You really can make great music on these models (I love playing Celtic music on them)-- but if you want to play them like a piano you'd probably be happier with one of the full-sized key models that you can finger in just the same way. For everyone else, I'd actually recommend these models over those with the larger keys.

No comments about Bamboo Antara Andean Instrument made in Peru, 6".

1 comments about LP World Beat Santana Conga.

1. This beautifully constructed conga will afford you years of drumming pleasure.
   
   Its fiberglass body results in a durable drum with a sound that is loud enough to carry without amplification in a small- to medium-sized room.
   
   The natural cowhide drum head provides rich and complex tones.
   
   Although technically this might be classified as a requinto due to the 10 inch head size, you will not miss the extra bulk.
   
   Furthermore, this light and compact conga can be placed sideways on the lap and played like the dholak drum that is native to India.

No comments about Remo 22" Ocean Drum, Clear Head.

No comments about Large Bamboo Recorder Flute 14" Peru.

4 comments about Grover Sweet Potato Diatonic Ocarina.

1. It is a little known fact that Beethoven (and many of his peers) actually wrote the majority of their work specifically for this instrument. Tragically, the corrupt governments of the time viewed this behaviour as subversive insanity and ordered an extensive rewrite for the more socially acceptable 'orchestra'.
   This was a massive blow to our civilization, resulting in the modern world's shamefull ignorance of this majestic tool of art. I find it difficult to contain my outrage when some ill-educated neanderthal asks questions such as:
   
   "why sweet potato?"
   "diatonic ocarina, is'nt that a tool used in colonic irrigation?"
   "who's grover and why would I care?"
   
   The mind boggles!



2. This Ocarina literally saved my life !
   It was a lovely summers day. The birds we're singing sweetly, the sheep were frisky. I was walking to the local Walmart for a quart of freshly squeezed Sunny D. Suddenly out of the blue a 10 foot Elephant burst through a nearby hedge row. The elephant, who I found out later belonged to "The Elephant Man" from the circus that was setting up in the field next to me, paused and looked into my eyes. I could see it had a thirst for blood so averted my gaze. I was later told that breaking eye contact is the worst thing you can do when faced with a rabid animal but, alas, I didn't think of this at the time. The elephant raised up onto it's back legs trumpeting wildly and returned to earth with a thud. By this time I had decided I should find some cover and had dived into a nearby Birch wood. The elephant began to charge toward me. He'd got my scent ! I ran as fast as I could into the wood but unfortunately I didn't notice a root that was sticking up and caught my foot in it. Before I knew it I was on the floor with a broken ankle !. Nelly, as I had affectionately named him, had reached the outskirts of the wood. He came thundering through the trees knocking them to the right and left. As I lay there I thought "This is it Davinci, what have you done with this life of yours.". As Nelly grew closer the ground was shaking and so was I. At last he reached me and towered over me his front legs lifted in the air. I closed my eyes and awaited my fate...... but death never came. A high pitched sound that I immediately knew to be a Grover Sweet Potato Diatonic Ocarina broke through the silence of the wood. Then almost immediately Nelly turned and ran back the way he'd come. I opened my eyes and saw a strange little fellow wearing some kind of robes. He came over to me and checked that I was OK. I thanked him for his help and enquired about the Grover Sweet Potato Diatonic Ocarina that had just saved my life. Within a week Amazon had delivered one to my door and to this day I never leave home without it. Just in case !



3. I am a musical instrument collector and when I saw this for such a low price I knew it had to be a toy. I just couldnt stop myself from getting it because I really wanted to know if I could get a good sound out of it. I can! I can play some simple tunes already. Its not the best sound in the world, but it is pretty fun. Its rather small fitting into the palm of my hand. I wear mens large gloves. It fits into any pocket. The placement of the holes are not too complicated to figure out. Your on you own because it doesnt come with any sort of guide but i didnt have too much trouble getting it. There are plenty of tabs on the internet for this thing. I think its a fun toy. For the price of it thats all you should expect. Good for children if you could find a guide on the internet.



4. The product is really just a toy, but it's priced appropriately so I have no complaints. Someone looking for a real musical instrument should expect to pay much more, and look for a wooden or ceramic version.

1 comments about Childs Student Soprano Hawaiian Ukulele - Hot Hula Pink.

1. very disappointed with product as I was tightening strings, they snapped, may as well buy a good quality ukulele for my daughter.