Hamano H-100 Vintage 1920 Style Concert Ukulele (Mahogany/Rosewood) Review
Posted by
Bernard Cornell
on 7/20/2012
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Labels:
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concert ukulele,
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Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I have teaching myself ukulele for about 3 months now.
This Hamano is my second ukulele. My first was a Kala soprano I bought from Amazon for about $50.
It had a nice sound, but it never stayed in tune. I took it to a guitar repair shop, and the neck was warping. The guy basically told it that it would cost $100 to fix. At that point, I was 6 weeks in, and was really enjoying the Uke, so I decided to buy something a TAD more expensive.
Word of mouth on the web lead me to consider a Mainland Uke or this Hamano. The Hamano Concert was at a local music school, and for the same price as Amazon, so I picked it up after being impressed with its fabtastic appearance, easy action and truly sweet sound.
This Hamano is very well constructed, has a very sweet, rich sound, and plays loud. In fact, my friend was just over with his Tenor Uke he got in Hawaii and he paid a lot more than I did and our ukes sound almost identical. He was VERY impressed. The "action" on this uke is very light-- very easy to learn to play on! Cannot say enough good stuff.
I broke down and bought a tenor uke from Mainland, and it has a very un-rich, hollow sound to it next to this Hamano. The Hamano is smaller but plays louder, and the tone is just really rich and beautiful. I am sorry I spent the money on the Mainland, frankly. I never play it. I just play the Hamano constantly and it is a real pleasure.
For beginners, I would suggest buying a plastic, $20-30 uke to see if you stick with it, and then I would unreservedly recommend this Hamano or its Tenor or Soprano cousins. The construction and finish are gorgeous.
The only con is: friction rather than geared tuners. They work, but I just prefer geared tuners.
You cannot get a better ukulele for this price.
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