So, the night before I went on a little mini-vacation to Wisconsin, I got my 6-string Aquila string set in the mail. So, I strung up my new OU-26T 6-String Tenor Ukulele so I could show you guys how it sounds with the proper strings on there. I think you'll agree that the sound differences between my 6-string tenor uke and my low-G tenor uke are pretty dang dramatic!
If I don't seem as perky in this video, it's because my wife and two boys had been gone for over a week at this point. So, if you have kids, then you know how that goes. It's like 2-3 days of late nights, beer, bad movies and video games and then the rest of the days are spent moping around the house. I honestly missed the sound of the boys screaming at each other. Heh.
Also, I'd thank you to not look up my shorts during the whole video.
So, I was so freaking excited after getting my new Oscar Schmidt OU-26T Tenor 6-String ukulele that I was pretty much making up reasons for putting it in a video. Case in point, last Friday night I went to a get-together at my brother's house. Beers and ribs were enjoyed by all and then I made my way on home with no definite plans. Hrm. What to do? How bouts a hop on my old friend and enemy, Facebook. Next thing I knew, it was 4:30am. You see, here's the thing. Colin, my brother, does this thing on Facebook that he calls CTV. Basically, he drinks beer and posts Youtube videos and pretends that a) he's a DJ (which, in reality, he is) and b) that we are listening (well, sometimes we are). Well, on Friday me posted something like "CTV is about to start!". So, I thought it would be hilarious if I suddenly "invented" something called STV and if I pretended that I didn't know what CTV was. Thus began a mighty Youtube DJ Battle on Facebook and my sobriety was the main casualty.
So, anyway, during the back and forth video attacks between CTV and STV, Colin's CTV posted this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AEldiUP408
Wherein I responded and said that I liked that song when it was called Needles in the Camel's Eye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ba7a9pZM6_I
I considered that my checkmate.
So, why am I going on and on about this? Hmm... good question. Oh yeah, I remember. You see when I picked up my new 6-string ukulele and heard those octave A strings (slightly out of tune) it popped Needles in the Camel's Eye right into my brain. That's all the excuse I needed to make a uke video for it. And, here it is.
This song is real easy to learn, it only has 4 chords. Here's a quick tab for it.
Needles in the Camel's Eye - Brian Eno
E A
Those who know
E A
They don't let it show
E B
They just give you one long life
D A
And you go, oh oh, oh oh
Goes to show
How winds blow
The weather's fine
And I feel so so-so, so
Birds of prey
With too much to say
Oh what could be my destiny
Another rainy day
Why ask why?
For by the by and by
All mysteries are just more
Needles in the camel's eye
Those who know
They don't let it show
They just give you one long life
And you go, oh oh, oh oh
Why ask why?
For by the by and by
All mysteries are just more
Needles in the camel's eye
So, yesterday was a damn fine day. Two ukulele events coincided with each other and the stars truly aligned for awesomeness. First, the mailman delivered my set of Orcas Low-G tenor strings (which I was going to use for my Lanikai CK-TEQ tenor ukulele). Next, I scored an Oscar Schmidt OU-26T 6-string tenor ukulele for a meager $45 on Craigslist. The guy who was selling it lives in Polson, MT. That's about an hour away from Missoula (where I reside), for those of you who aren't familiar with Montana geography (for shame!). But, as luck would have it, his wife was traveling to our shopping mall yesterday and he sent the uke down with her.
So, beside the fact that I was going to have to intentionally visit the mall, the day was really looking like it was gonna rule. The lady I was meeting suggested we meet at the coffee shop in the center of the mall. I'm sure she naturally assumed that since I was from Craigslist that I was murdering rapist. Heh. So, I met her and had a look at the 6-string tenor and it was in perfect condition. I played it a little bit (long enough to entertain other coffee shop patrons and not so long as to be tossed out of the mall for busking) and something sounded a little weird about it. It looked to me as if he strung it a little bit weird. But, no matter, still a fine deal.
So, when I got it home I realized what he had done. The A and C strings on the OU-26T are supposed to be double strings. But, they are also supposed to be octaves. Now, he had both strings playing the same note and not octaves. The end result being that the smaller gauge string was really "floppy". I did my best to fix it up and, sadly, snapped the C string. The A strings are a real nice octave, though. I just ordered a new set of Aquila 6-string tenor strings, though, so I'll make more videos when I get it strung up properly.
Anyway, here is a video that shows you how a Low-G tenor ukulele sounds and also how the OU-26T sounds with only 5 strings. 😉
I should probably mention, again, that these Orcas strings are really incredible. Do yourself a favor and get a set to see what I mean. And, if you have a tenor ukulele, you should definitely get a set of the Low-G strings. They sound so full and rich.
Look at that thing. It's gorgeous! You know how Amazon sometimes has those deals where the price is so dang good that you have to add it to your cart to see the price. Well, that's what's going on here. List price on this thing is $104.90. It sells for $69 on Musician's Friend, and that's already a crazy deal. Well, it's only $56 at Amazon and FREE SHIPPING?! Has the world gone mad? Just the other day a guy was asking about good deals on Twitter. Buddy, I hope you didn't buy anything yet. This is as good as it gets for a price to awesomeness ratio.
