While the sound leaned a little towards warm and dark, it didn’t come at the expense of clear-sounding chords or single notes and passages on the higher strings, which had nice ring and sustain and spoke quickly when played fingerstyle. Chords had a nice woofy bark, with enough high-end detail to shine. It produced a notably deep sound, with a nice roundness to the low end that kept calling me back to play notes on the C string. I was pleasantly surprised by the Fullerton Tele’s acoustic tone, which was richer and more satisfying than many of the affordable guitar-like ukuleles I’ve played. The vintage-style sealed gear tuners made accurate tuning very easy. All 19 frets on the fingerboard are easy to access thanks to the cutaway, should any fretboard delinquents want to get all the way up to the high E. Though the ends of a few frets could have been shaped a little more attentively, there were no sharp ends and the fretwork was in line with what you can expect in this price range. It’s bound with white plastic that is tinted to match the body binding and it gives off an appropriate vintage vibe. The walnut fingerboard is a handsome rosewood alternative and it has a flat radius. This is really more of a personal preference and is something that any repairer could easily adjust at the bridge and nut. My tester was set up with a medium action, which I found comfortable, but I could see some players preferring their strings a little closer to the fingerboard for easier fretting. I really liked the feel of the thicker-than-average maple neck, and its C shape was comfortable in my hands for long playing sessions, especially when I rested my thumb over the edge of the neck when strumming open chords. The Butterscotch Blonde finish had me wishing for a little more transparency so I could see the wood grain underneath, but it was still pretty cool and looks the part for a mini-Tele. Though I often find heavier instruments sound a bit muffled, this chunky little nugget delivered an impressive amount of volume. Maple is a little heavier than the more commonly used mahogany, but it’s also stronger and usually gives a brighter, clearer tone. I suspect that its heft comes from the use of laminated woods, the onboard electronics, and-unusual for a uke-a maple neck. This combination of woods is a reliable recipe for a sturdy instrument with decent tone, and as one of the heftiest wooden ukes I can recall strumming, “sturdy” is a good way to describe its feel. The Fullerton Tele Uke has a laminated mahogany body capped with a laminated spruce top. While the Tele Uke echoes some of the touchstones of the oft-imitated solidbody guitar, such as the single-cutaway and butterscotch finish, this ukulele is an acoustic-electric instrument with some of its own unique touches. The original Telecaster was born in 1950 (as the Esquire, renamed the Telecaster in 1952) and it was so right for players that it’s been in production ever since, with countless variations. As a long-time player of Fender’s electric guitars and basses, I was eager to check out the new ukes, and Fender sent me a Fullerton Tele Uke to review.Ī few years back, Fender offered another Telecaster-based ukulele, the Ukulele ’52, but the new Fullerton Tele Uke features some improvements that increase its appeal while also connecting it more closely to the Tele guitar’s iconic features. The series is named after Fullerton, California, the original home of Leo Fender and birthplace of these archetypical instruments. Subscribe to Ukulele on BY GREG OLWELL | FROM THE WINTER 2020 ISSUE OF UKULELEįender’s new Fullerton series of ukuleles pays respect to the famous guitar maker’s signature six-string designs and reimagines the Jazzmaster, Stratocaster, and Telecaster guitars as concert-size ukuleles.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |