Anyone played a new Oli uke? (2024)

doctorapatite said:

But part of me wonders how much more expensive it would be to make all of their ukuleles with the arm-bevels on both sides. How much does it add to the cost, really?

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An arm bevel is not only VERY labor intensive for the luthier, but takes up a lot of interior space that would otherwise contribute to the resonance of the instrument.

I’ve long wanted a concert with an arm bevel, but luthiers generally refuse to do it for anything smaller than a tenor, because slicing off a corner of the lower bout would detract from the sound production.

I’m now having a concert made with an arm bevel and with an extra large body to compensate for the interior space lost to the bevel. This will make a HUGE difference to me, since I now have to play with a towel wrapped around my r. forearm. Otherwise I have angry red welts, plus considerable pain.

Happy Pride month I told myself I probably shared enough sound samples of my ‘Oli in this thread but I really enjoyed how Chiquitita by ABBA came out so sharing here as well. Mahalo for listening!

Patty said:

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How does this affect the sound of my uke?Intermediate Acoustic-Electric Concert uke wanted. CONFUSED!!!

An arm bevel is not only VERY labor intensive for the luthier, but takes up a lot of interior space that would otherwise contribute to the resonance of the instrument.

I’ve long wanted a concert with an arm bevel, but luthiers generally refuse to do it for anything smaller than a tenor, because slicing off a corner of the lower bout would detract from the sound production.

I’m now having a concert made with an arm bevel and with an extra large body to compensate for the interior space lost to the bevel. This will make a HUGE difference to me, since I now have to play with a towel wrapped around my r. forearm. Otherwise I have angry red welts, plus considerable pain.

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@Patty, the question is not how expensive an arm bevel is (we can estimate that from the price ∆ of the Oli's), the question is how much more expensive a second arm bevel is as opposed to just one. Is it actually twice as much labor as one? Maybe it is, I'm not an expert. But maybe it is only 150% as much labor, not 200%.

And Oli puts bevels on concerts, so I dont see why they couldnt put two on a tenor.

doctorapatite said:

@Patty, the question is not how expensive an arm bevel is (we can estimate that from the price ∆ of the Oli's), the question is how much more expensive a second arm bevel is as opposed to just one. Is it actually twice as much labor as one? Maybe it is, I'm not an expert. But maybe it is only 150% as much labor, not 200%.

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There was a recent thread that showed an arm bevel being constructed. It looked very labor intensive. Putting a second one on makes little sense.

The one custom one I declined was to put one on a Barron River concert. The price for the one side was an add-on of $500 AUD. This is the most expensive option along with the same price for a scoop cutaway.

rainbow21 said:

Putting a second one on makes little sense.

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Unless you are left handed

doctorapatite said:

Unless you are left handed

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I would think that just having a left-handed appropriate bevel would be done for you. Not both sides. I may order an 'Oli, partly just to try an ukulele with an arm bevel. Will let post a NUD if/when I do.

rainbow21 said:

I would think that just having a left-handed appropriate bevel would be done for you. Not both sides. I may order an 'Oli, partly just to try an ukulele with an arm bevel. Will let post a NUD if/when I do.

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The whole point is that no one makes left handed instruments for perfectly valid economic reasons. So, the conversation moved on to what about an ambidextrous solution?

Adding a bevel after the fact is a terrible idea for many reasons, so we are only discussing bevels that are built into the instruments when they are originally built.

Ordering custom instruments is a great solution for me and a handful of other rich folks but you know I can only own so many $2000 customs.

doctorapatite said:

@Patty, the question is not how expensive an arm bevel is (we can estimate that from the price ∆ of the Oli's), the question is how much more expensive a second arm bevel is as opposed to just one. Is it actually twice as much labor as one? Maybe it is, I'm not an expert. But maybe it is only 150% as much labor, not 200%.

And Oli puts bevels on concerts, so I dont see why they couldnt put two on a tenor.

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I would think two arm bevels would be twice the labor. Thus twice the cost. An extra $700-$1,000 total, since most luthiers ask $350 to $500 for adding a bevel. You’d be better off ordering a custom with all your left-handed boxes checked.

doctorapatite said:

Ordering custom instruments is a great solution for me and a handful of other rich folks but you know I can only own so many $2000 customs.

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Another thought here, @doctorapatite. For a left-hander, there’s also the problem of the upside-down sound port with the Oli. So the bevel’s not the only issue with that brand.

In fact, production manufacturers don’t have much incentive to make left-handed stock, or to innovate into ambidextrous instruments. Sad but true. I do feel for you, since I also have physical requirements that aren’t being met by these manufacturers.

At the same time, lots of very gifted luthiers (many on these forums) could make you a custom build at a price very competitive with the big K brands.

wy_uke said:

What size mango did you get? Could you do a comparison of your cedar/rosewood and mango Olis?

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I have Oli cedar rosewood and a mango in tenors. Mango is a bit brighter and a touch more note separation to my ear. Maybe string separation is a better term. Love it in high g. The rosewood cedar is loud and full smooth and strong. Low g for me. Absolutely love both. My two tenors are loud I used the Mango to jam with two guitars and was no feeling squashed by their acoustic volume as I Have often felt in the past. May try some sound samples at some point if I can figure out how to get so files good enough to compare. Great finger style or strumming ukes. I went to Hawaii to explore buying a Kanilea D and ended up with two of these. Still smile everytime I pick one up.

doctorapatite said:

The whole point is that no one makes left handed instruments for perfectly valid economic reasons.

Ordering custom instruments is a great solution for me and a handful of other rich folks but you know I can only own so many $2000 customs.

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Here is a left-handed build from Kala (!):