UkeTalk

[partyofone]

Has anyone seen or heard any of the new Gold Tone instruments. They are making a banjo uke in all sizes now.

Just wondered.

Erik

[dave]

I keep an openback and a resonator Gold Tone banjo uke in my shop. They are very well made instruments and, in my opinion, bargains for the money.
_________________
Dave
The Banjo Ukulele Haven
www.banjoukes.com

[partyofone]

Dave,

I've seen the older models, but they are making a new series of them. The one I am interested in is the BUT model. It's a tenor scale banjo uke with 12 brackets instead of the normal 18 and dot on the fingerboard as opposed to the snowflakes.

Erik

[rwh56]

The Gold Tone site also shows two Martin clone ukuleles, a solid soprano and a laminated concert, the concert presently offered on Amazon.

Rob

[ron6827]

I have taken delivery of one of the new Gold Tone Tenor Banjo Ukuleles, BUT model. I am unable to bring the 1st string to standard A.
I also have a Gold Tone Banjolele that I have no problen tuning to
GCEA. Everytime I get the 1st string to G#, on the BUT, the string breaks at the no-knot post. I have broken the string that came with the banjo uke , two Aquila tenor 1st strings and one Ko'olau Gold 1st tenor uke string. I looked under a magnifing glass at the No-Knot post and do not see any rough spots. I tried turning the post 180 degrees with the same results. Elderly suggested tuning to DGBE rather than GCEA but as I said I have had no similar problems with my Gold Tone Banjolele and I wish to stay with GCEA.
Gold Tone is sending a new No-Knot tail piece but I am really getting frustrated. If I can not resolve this soon I will be forced to return the uke. Any suggestions?? I own and play five other ukuleles and have never had a problem like this before. Ron in California

[chris]

Without seeing the tailpeice I can't guess, but is there a way to route the string differently?

[ron6827]

Update: First let me say that both Elderly and
Gold Tone have been very accommodating and
showed concern about my problem. Gold Tone
mailed me a replacement tailpiece. Also, Elderly
has mailed one of their P115 No-Knot tailpieces
and some strings. I will receive the P115 in a
couple of days. Elderly's technician says that
the P115 has more space between the No-Knot
posts. This should allow the loop and lock
technique to work. Basically, I am waiting for
the Elderly tailpiece before going further.

To see the correct tie method go to:

http://www.mugwumps.com/no_knot.htm

Both Gold Tone and Elderly were willing to
accept a return but it was my idea to try to fix
the problem before going to the trouble of a
return. I really like the instrument.

Ron in California

[rwh56]

It took me a couple of times to figure out that the no knot tailpiece means that you attach the string without a knot, but wrap it in the manner that the mugwumps site illustrates. My Gold Tone banjolele tailpiece made for a tight fit between the posts, especially for the fatter C string.

[ron6827]

BUT banjo ukulele problem solved:

I wish to thank Elderly Instruments and Gold
Tone for pitching in with their efforts to solve
my string breakage problem with my new Gold Tone
BUT banjo ukulele.

I ended up using the new stock Gold Tone no-knot
tailpiece and the factory method of mounting the
strings. The instrument is tuned GCEA with no
problems.

I have been playing the BUT all week and did a
two hour gig with no new problems. There must be
a knife edge of some sort on the original
tailpiece.

I thought of using the P115 No-Knot but that
would require enlarging the third string slot.
This slot is too narrow for a third tenor
ukulele string. I do not yet have a proper file
to do that modification.

Anyway, the stock setup is now working fine.
Everyone I played this little instrument for
fell in love with it. After the gig two folks came
up to ask about the banjo ukulele.

Ron in California

[John Colter]

Result!

Glad you got that sorted out, Ron.

John C.
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Acoustic & live