Well this little baby arrived for me this week and a quick share on Facebook made it quite clear to me that people were interested in seeing a bit more of it. The Gretsch G9320 New Yorker Deluxe Mandolin.
Now 'hang on a minute' you may be saying... 'that's not a ukulele, are you mad'. Well there are a number of reasons why I thought I would share it on Got A Ukulele..
- It's my site, and I can share what I like....
- Fans of small stringed instruments like ukulele would, I guess, be interested in other small stringed instruments!
- This Gretsch forms part of their fairly new 'Roots Collection' of instruments. That range includes ukuleles and I know a few people who rate them highly.
- What's wrong with a bit of eye candy?
But part of the main reason goes back to those who may be saying 'but it's not a ukulele'.... I quite often see people express confusion when people share their love of other non uke instruments out there and I don't really get it. I once shared a picture of one of my guitars on social media, and it got loads of replies saying 'six strings bad' or something similar...
This was bought to appear with our band, but then that band includes synth, percussion, drums and full size bass as well as a few ukes. There is nothing at all wrong with that. We love the uke, but we love other instruments too.
This was bought to appear with our band, but then that band includes synth, percussion, drums and full size bass as well as a few ukes. There is nothing at all wrong with that. We love the uke, but we love other instruments too.
A while ago when we shared an early stage picture of my band with our bass player on a full size Rickenbacker, somebody actually said to me, 'oh I guess the bass guitar is allowed in the band because it has four strings too?'... I kid you not, and I really didn't know how to respond other than, 'No, the bass is in the band because we wanted a bass in the band'. Music is a broad church, and I find the ukulele goes well with a whole range of instruments. Nothing pleases me more at a uke festival to see bands and acts performing with 'different' instruments alongside ukes (and in the last year I have seen Bouzoukis, Cellos, Double Basses, Toy Pianos, Musical Saws, Electric Guitars, Fiddles and Brass...). It makes perfect sense. Fans of electric guitars dont play in bands that only play guitars, so why do it with ukes? Minor rant over!
This isn't a review post either. Not only is this a beginners model, I am no expert on the Mandolin to do that. I would say though that it is built really well, has a strong tone, and is setup just lovely. Also has a passive piezo pickup too! I got this for around £180 which I don't think is too bad at all. It is actually based on the original Gretsch New Yorker models from the 1950's and I think it looks very pretty.
So there you have it. Play uke? Don't be afraid to add other things to your repertoire... It IS allowed!
Nice instrument Barry, and I agree with you that a mix of ukes and other instruments is a great idea. I play in a trio that features acoustic / electric guitars, bass, banjolele, ukulele, harmonicas, mandolin, melodica - and soon banjo - but obviously not all at the same time (there are only three of us after all). Funnily enough I was asked by a prospective booker a few weeks ago, "how many are there in your trio?". I waited for the punch line, but he was serious! Good luck with the first gig featuring your fine new mandolin. Bruce Russell of the Beer House Boys.
ReplyDeleteOMG that is gorgeous! As a longtime mandolin player and teacher,I totally appreciate you sharing this here (and yes,I do play ukulele too!)
ReplyDeleteBruce, Sherrie - thank you!
ReplyDeleteOnce I get a little more proficient on my ukuleles, I would love to learn to play the mandolin. Got a ways to go though. I first played about 45 years ago, then picked it up again about 2 months ago. I got a baritone because I love the tone, but after looking at a tenor with pickup, I got that too. I find a lot more available for the standard tuning..How different is the mandolin for fingering than the ukelele?
ReplyDeleteDifferent finger positions entirely as tuned GDAE - but still only four finger positions - as such if you can learn a new uke chord, you can learn mandolin chords.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger challenge is that the strings are far closer together and far tougher on the fingers!