Aloha!
Seeing the recent interest in the ukulele, I thought to create a thread where we can share our experience and story behind this cheery instrument.

Introduction
Originally known as the braginho, the Portugese immigrants first brought the sweet sounding 4-stringed instrument to the island of Hawaii in 1879. Later the natives called it by the name its' now known to the world today, Ukulele; which means "the gift that came here".

Standard sizes and tuning

Soprano : A4-D4-F#4-B4 or G4-C4-E4-A4
Concert : G4-C4-E4-A4, A4-D4-F#4-B4, or G3-C4-E4-A4
Tenor : G3-C4-E4-A4, G4-C4-E4-A4, A4-D4-F#4-B4, or D4-G3-B3-E4
Baritone : D3-G3-B3-E4
* There's also other sizes ( peanut, long-neck soprano, super-soprano ), they follow standard Soprano tuning. However some people do get creative manipulating tunings as they see fit.

Anatomy of the Ukulele


Body ( aka Soundbox ) – The wooden box made from the back, top, and sides that makes up the main part of the ukulele. These pieces of wood work together to project the sound out of the instrument
Bracing – Thin strips of wood that are glued to the underside of the sound board and the back. They help strengthen the ukulele and keep the top from warping under the pressure of the strings.
Bridge – The bridge holds the strings and transfers string vibration to the ukulele’s body.
Cutaway - Part of the body is “cut away” on the ground-side of the fretboard to let players access the higher frets easier.
Fretboard – The fretboard is the piece of wood that holds the frets in place along the neck. It’s usually made from ebony or rosewood.
Fret dots – Little markers on the fretboard that are made out of plastic, abalone, or other materials and give you an idea of where you are at when you are playing. Usually markers go on the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets.
Frets – Frets are little strips of metal that are placed in slots on the fretboard. When you finger a note the fret makes the vibrating length of the string shorter so that the pitch is raised up a certain amount.
Headstock – The part of the ukulele that holds the machine heads/tuning pegs.
Heel ( aka Neck-joint )– The deepest part of the neck where it joins the body.
Machine Heads ( aka Tuning peg, Tuning key, Peghead, Tuner )– Hold the strings of the ‘ukulele and control the pitch of each string.
Neck – The neck of the ukulele is the piece of wood that suspends the headstock, tuners, fretboard, and frets.
Nut – The nut holds the ukulele’s strings in their correct positions on the headstock-side of the fretboard.
Pickup Jack – located on the bottom , this is where you would plug in an instrument cable to amplify the ukulele.
Soundboard ( aka Top ) – The soundboard is the top of the ukulele’s body. It holds the bridge and has a hole cut in it to allow the sound vibrations out.
Sound Hole – The sound hole is an opening in the ukulele’s soundboard that lets vibrations in the body out into sound.
Sound Port – A newfangled sound hole that is put on the side of the ukulele near the player’s face to allow for better monitoring and allows for a less “trapped” sound.
Strap Button – This is used to fasten a strap to the ukulele. One goes on the heel of the neck and one goes on the opposite side of the body where it can be mounted on the tailblock.
Strings – The strings are the ukulele’s source of sound, they vibrate at various pitches when picked or strummed.
Saddle – The saddle sits on top of the bridge and holds the strings above the fretboard.

Riptide with Sound Port


Nalu Hokua with Cutaway


This post has been edited by redlyfs: Apr 8 2013, 11:41 AM

Wood types
Mahogany - Red-ish brown. Contributes to a bassier soundbox. Popular and cost efficient. Commonly used for most parts of an instrument.


Nyatoh - Similarly colored as the Mahogany, however sometimes found in light brown. Also known as Eastern Mahogany. Cheaper than the original Mahogany, however does not slack in sound.


Rosewood - Various dark tones of red and brown. Commonly used for fretboards. Uncommonly, when used in soundboxes it produces a cheery, sweet tone however lacks sustain.


Koa - Light to dark brown, sometimes with tinge of red. When cured properly, it exhibits a reflective effect similar to a cat's eye. Acacia Koa is native to Hawaii. Top ukuleles with great sound and visual is usually made from this wood. Produces a warm, sweet tone.


Bamboo - Light brown. Environmentally friendly as bamboo grows faster than any other hardwood tree. Sounds better with age.


Maple - Light to dark brown. Sometimes with red tone. What makes maple different is the beautiful wood grain. There's flame, quilt, birdseye, burl and curly. Produces a trebly bright sound


Spruce - White to light brown. Commonly used as the top of body. Full spruce body is uncommon but it makes an excellent instrument. Produce a ringing treble tone.


Mango - Chocolately brown. Have beautiful wood grain pattern. With proper finish it could look really beautiful. Only recently used for ukulele construction. Produces a clear bright tone.


Buying guide

Ukulele Brands review - Link

Ukulele Shops
- Ukulele Malaya -
Location : Batu Caves, Selangor. This shop probably have the largest repository of ukulele in Malaysia. The owner is really friendly and willing to share his knowledge on ukuleles. He showed me how a cheap uke sounded compared to a quality one. I had a great time choosing my first ukulele here.
Official Site
Facebook

-Ukulele Movement-
Location: Kampong Bugis, Singapore. Have an impressive selection, including those premiums venturing into the high RM3k+.
Official Site
Facebook

-The Guitar Store-
They have many branches, thus selection varies. As they are primarily a guitar store, they carry limited ukulele models. Best is to contact them beforehand.
Official Site
Branch list and contact
Facebook

-Maestro Ukulele-
Location: USJ, Taipan. They have a wide range of ukuleles for beginners.
Facebook
Blog and online store

-Manuel Ukulele-
Location: Penang. Pretty decent selection but their pricing can be quite inflated. Don't be fooled by the discounts. It's already marked up pretty high and "discounted". If you do intend to purchase from them, do compare pricing first.
Official Site and Store
Facebook

-Ukulele 101-
Location : Pelangi Damansara. You can find good deals here. Listing in Lelong seemed incomplete, best if you head over their shop.
Lelong
Facebook

-Ukunili Ukuleles-
Online shop only. Too bad you can't test them first
Online Store
Facebook

How does a cheapo Ukulele sound to a premium expensive one? Find out.


The best first 5 minutes with your uke

Meet Mike. He's a well known dealer in Ukulele Underground. Famous for his passion and deep knowledge of the Ukulele, many forums and netizen all over look up to this awesome dude, me included. He can now be found here

Ukulele Setup


This post has been edited by redlyfs: Jul 9 2014, 02:37 PM

Events
You might not believe it but Malaysia and Singapore hosted quite a number of ukulele events in the past. Jam fest, walk performance, open mike, retreats, workshops etc. Some of the big names in the local industry like Ukulele Malaya, Ukulele Movement and Manuel Ukulele took part to organize these events. Keep an eye on their FB page and websites for announcements. Additionally there's a group called Malaysia Ukulele Group ( MUG) that collaborate and spear head these events, with the aforementioned names. Put some feelers on for them too.
M.U.G Official Site and their Facebook page



Ukers List
1. .. =D

This post has been edited by redlyfs: Mar 13 2013, 04:27 PM

Awesome thread dude.. mahalo

More ukulele shops:

Ukulele 101, Pelangi Damansara, PJ
- Cordoba and more other brands
- http://ukulele101.blogspot.com/

The Guitar Store, Taman Segar Cheras
- Anuenue, Makala, Kala, Ohana, Maton
- http://www.theguitarstore.com.my/

Candor Music, Solaris Dutamas
- https://www.facebook.com/Candormusic1

Chamber Music, Sungai Wang
- Mostly cheap ukuleles

Manuel Ukulele, Penang
- Many brands include branded KoAloha and Mele
- http://www.manuelukulele.com
- They always invite famous ppl like SungHa Jung and Kimo Hussey recently

Pusat Muzik Reco, Melaka
- Ashton, Mahalo, Morrison, Ohana, Waikiki
- http://pusatmuzikreco.com.my/index.php?cPath=80

Thanks. I didn't know there was another ukulele shop in Pelangi. =D Is the selection good?
Edited in with some of your recommendations. I've contacted 101 Ukulele for a catalog listing

This post has been edited by redlyfs: Mar 13 2013, 11:31 AM

never went to the 101 shop before.. :-P not in the market for ukulele.. for now.. but good to know where to buy in case hand gets itchy.. haha

Which would be better? Spruce or Mahogany?

Thank you for the awesome thread. If only you can add in guide to go to all these places by public transport

Depends. Spruce is usually more expensive than Mahogany. But it produce brighter and sustainable sound if well built.
Personally I'd just advice you to get a reputable Mahogany ukulele than a brandless spruce. I've encountered cheap spruce top ukulele but sounds like crap compared to my beginner Kala which is slightly more expensive.

Well I'm not too familiar with public transport, but if you need to get somewhere in PJ I could try helping out for directions

The Curve/ Ikano/ Ikea is actually just grouped together in a spot. If you can get here, it's just a 15-20 mins walk to DoReMi. It seems that Ukulele 101 is also in the same area. Go on and contact them for exact positions. I've msged 101 on their FB page and they replied really fast.

This post has been edited by redlyfs: Mar 14 2013, 03:13 PM

I'm trying to figure how to get to Maestro Ukulele (Taipan) without having to pay for the cab

Btw Makai better or Pukanala?

This post has been edited by yihlingpow: Mar 14 2013, 03:18 PM

Taipan.. if not mistaken you can grab one of those minibuses from Sunway Pyramid. Just ask the bus if he is going taipan.

For RM185


For RM168


For RM200

Of that three, I cant seem to decide to decide which. What do you think?

Oh yeah found another one.

Solid Mahogany Top Special
Mahalo U320S - MYR 220, FREE Deluxe gig bag

Now there's 4 to choose.

Go for Makai CK-55. The pineapple form PK-55 might seemed cute but it has less frets.

Do note that CK is a concert size. I didn't recommended Pukanala since I can't find any reviews or actually seen their work. Had bad experience with Mahalo. A friend bought one, sounds crap and hollow. Perhaps they improved over time but I still won't recommend it. Yes it's that bad a first experience.

This post has been edited by redlyfs: Mar 14 2013, 03:36 PM

Yeah, Concert for tht CK55. I've heard more and more girls opt for Concert than Soprano. Not sure whether I'm comfortable with Soprano or not. I guess I gotta check it out myself.

About Pukanala, Pukanala Review

Interesting. Bruce is endorsing Pukanala? The video isn't a review anyhow, it's more of a promo; judging from the poster. The premium model looks good though.
From what I hear underground, most players didn't like the workmanship. Unless it's medium to premium, the work is pretty shoddy. Comes from a factory in China.

As I said before, it's better if you go to a shop that have different available ukulele and try them out.
Feel the wood, sides. Is it rough? Is the wood all cut properly? Is there glue just to fill the gap? Look inside the uke, is it clean? Got excess glue spilling out at joints? Take a good look at the frets. Is the metal aligned properly? Is the action too high? Too low? You don't have to know how to play to see a well made uke.

Okay.

I know how to play the guitar but never tried the ukulele before, is it somewhat similar?