The Oscar Schmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele

The OU5 is a nice beginner's concert size ukulele. A concert size ukulele is bigger than a soprano ukelele but smaller than a tenor ukulele. This ukulele looks fabulous with a natural gloss finish. Although the sounboard top, sides and back is koa plyboard [as opposed to solid koa], it still looks great especially with the abalone top inlays. It also has Grover deluxe die-cast tuners and a Rosewood fingerboard. For its price, it is one classy-looking ukulele that can look good beside the Kamakas and CF Martins.

The OU5 does not seem to be as resonant as my entry-level Hilo. I have read reviews about the OU5 and they recommended changing the strings. After 2 weeks of using the OU5, I changed the strings to D'Addario J65 Ukulele Strings. The string change made the sound crisper although I still do not notice any substantial change in resonance.

In any case, the OU5 is a good unit to play. The fingerboard is smooth and the fretboard metal strips are nicely ground so there are no rough edges. It stays in tune quite nicely for this summertime. I keep it in our basement where the temperature ranges from about 70-78 degF and it stays tuned for about a week before I start tuning it again. I still have to see how long it stays in tune during the other seasons.

All in all, the OU5 is worth its price. You get a decent ukulele that you can enjoy playing and showing off to your family and friends.

Ukulele

After more than 20 years of getting myself interested in guitar playing, I finally switched to playing the ukulele.

My first ukulele was a Hilo which I purchased from Guitar Center. I did not enjoy playing it because the strings were too high above the fretboard. Moreover, I constantly had to tune it since the friction tuners provided were low quality and they slipped a lot after playing a few chords. I would not recommend this ukulele to beginners since it may just frustrate you and you may lose interest in ukulele-playing altogether. I recommend getting a good ukulele that's reasonably priced. Some good ones come in the $75-$200 range. My ukulele is an Oscar Schmidt OU5 concert model that's priced about $180. I bought it at a discounted price of $120 [including tax] from Elevation Music Store. Shipping was free. You can probably buy this now for $100. More on the OU5 in my next post.

There are 4 ukulele sizes [from smallest to biggest] -- soprano, concert, tenor and baritone. Unless you have limited airspace within 1 foot of your body, I recommend getting a concert or tenor ukelele. The baritone ukelele is tuned like the four bottom strings of a guitar [EBGD]. The 3 other ukuleles are usually tuned using the standard GCEA. If you put a capo on the 5th fret of a baritone, then you essentially have the standard GCEA ukulele.

Some of the more contemporary ukulele masters are Jake Shimabukuro and James Hill. Their playing styles transcend the barriers of the stereotypical perception that the ukulele is just a toy and not a musical instrument. I may not be as good playing the ukulele as Jake or James but their virtuosity provide mortals like us with exciting musical possibilities that we can eke out from such a tiny instrument.