Improving your banjo ukulele tone: put a sock in it!

If your banjo ukulele tone has too much sustain and sounds muddy, here's an idea to help clean up the sound.  This little trick is nothing new...it's been used for years, but a lot of people don't know about it.

All you really need is an old sock that's getting ready to head towards the trash.  It might be a bit easier for us guys to locate an old sock (or 10) in the drawer.  My wife always trashes her socks as soon as they develop a hole or two...whereas mine generally have 5 or 6 before I toss 'em.  It's a guy thing, right?



You could also use a piece of foam or a cloth.  Here's whatcha need to do...

Oasis Ukulele Strings - full review

The Oasis company has been known for quite some time for their awesome humidifiers.  They've recently started experimenting in the area of fluorocarbon ukulele strings, and after testing these strings out, I must say...these guys are onto something good.

These uke strings should be available soon and you can check out www.oasisstrings.com to find out when you can pick some up.

Here's my review, complete with a couple of sound samples/comparisons at the bottom.

Ukulele Acoustics - a guide to tonewoods

Every ukulele has a slightly different sound.  This principle even applies to two ukuleles built with the same materials and to the same specifications.  In this case, the differences may be very subtle, but nonetheless, there are differences.
Side note: this is the reason that I hate it when someone says, "I don't like this particular brand or that particular company".  I've heard Gibson and Martin ukes (two very respected companies) that I LOVED...and have also heard ukes from both of them that disappointed me.

While there are a lot of things that can affect the acoustics of your ukulele, the tonewood is central to how it