Instrument Review – 21″ Mini Size Ukulele from ebay
21″ Mini Size Ukulele Exquisite Workmanship Spruce Ukelele [sic] Ultrathin M3K9 This was an ebay purchase and was listed as a Buy Me Now at $35.58, with free Economy Shipping. The pictures on line were very attractive, I figured for the price, let’s give it a shot. It is listed as unbranded, but has an IZ (ZI?) in a crescent logo on the head. The top is listed as Spruce and the back and sides are listed a Sapele, an African wood often substituted for mahogany. The neck is supposedly mahogany, but as it is completely covered in paint there is no way to tell for sure. The label inside simply has Model No: LA03-21 on it. It showed 15 frets with markers at 5, 7, 10, 12 and 15. Ox bone nut and saddle with rosewood bridge and fingerboard. My biggest reservation was that it was listed as…
Jake Shimabukuro at Hill Auditorium
Jake was at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor on November 16th. I last saw him two years ago a Hill on a cold snowy day. It took my two hours to travel the 50 miles from home to A2. This year it only took me an hour, and I had time to investigate the large group of students outside Angel Hall, and see Jessie Jackson speaking. I went to a nearby restaurant and had dinner and then sat outside and noodled around a bit. Getting some smiles from kids and a gentleman who I discovered was going to the concert as well as having been at the Michigan Philharmonic concert, Uke Can’t Be Serious!, the week before, an event I had also attended. Arriving well before the concert started, I chatted with a number of ukulele folks I had met at previous ukulele events. When I purchased my ticket, all…