NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

All instruments that aren't guitars (or bass guitars).
Post Reply
User avatar
Bradley-Jazz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 794
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:00 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:42 am

So I’m shallow and I bought this just because it looks nice...

Image

However, it’s actually a really nice ukulele. My main uke is a Pono solid mango tenor. The Fender isn’t nearly as good as that, but is a third of the price and much closer than I’d expected.

The construction seems very good, with pretty clean binding, nice paint work. The Tidepool colour is really lovely, but very close to the LPB of my AR XII (not that that is a problem)

Image

The JM body shape makes this concert uke about the same size as a tenor, which works very well for me. It is a concert scale though, so a little more cramped than the Pono.

It sounds great - more resonant than I expected for an all laminate body, though definitely not with the richness of the Pono. It came with the usual Aquila nylgut strings, which worked ok, but they are not my favourite and sounded boomy on the C string. I’ve cut the nut slots a little deeper which has helped the intonation on the first couple of frets, and put some Martin grey “Polygut” strings on, which seem to work well on here.

The pickup and preamp work fine - I’ve not tried them enough to say much more than that at the moment. I’ve been playing it acoustically and finding it a really fun little instrument.

Image

Anyone else got one?
All the cheeses....

User avatar
crianlarich
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 75
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:36 pm

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by crianlarich » Sat Jul 04, 2020 11:15 pm

Oh, thankfully it's sold out and won't reappear within the next 8 weeks! I have family and an even larger family of ukes, which cost me less than 100€ total (converted junk, some vintage Brükos, cigar boxes...) but am looking to fill the concert /tenor gap for a long time.
You mean to say that it doesn't sound thin for that size of instrument?
Pop is the most wonderful music – as long as it's played with three basses, a string section, and two french horns going "Vroop-Vrooo".

User avatar
Bradley-Jazz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 794
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:00 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Sun Jul 05, 2020 3:12 am

I don’t think so, not for a concert, certainly not a laminate one. I think the string upgrade has helped mine too.

The body is thinner than a regular uke, but it’s also bigger in surface area (if you see what I mean) because of the shape, so maybe that helps.

Compared to what I have at hand here - it’s much fuller than my son’s solid top Ohana soprano, but much less warm and complex than my all solid Pono mango tenor.

If you want a tenor, I’d avoid it, because the extra scale length really helps for getting all the fingers in for some chords, and it won’t sound as big. If you want a concert, you are probably paying a bit of a premium for the looks of the fender, but not that much.

You’ve an 8 week gap to weigh up the options! Good luck!
All the cheeses....

User avatar
crianlarich
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 75
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:36 pm

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by crianlarich » Tue Jul 21, 2020 12:24 pm

This has got to wait a little longer.
Because of NSGD (New Small Guitar Day, this is what it was advertised as).
Image
Brüko No. 21, Concert Size, a rare one, with frets past neck join and zero fret.
"Garage find" and it survived, due to qualities that laminates originally were conceived for.
Pop is the most wonderful music – as long as it's played with three basses, a string section, and two french horns going "Vroop-Vrooo".

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Embenny » Fri Aug 21, 2020 1:26 pm

These things are cute, but with the matching headstock and LPB finish, I feel like they missed the opportunity to make the pickguard mint or white. I'd get a real kick out of the vintage colour scheme.

Still, one can never have too many ukuleles. I'm glad to hear it holds its own.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:57 am

I saw one of these in person a month or two back, and I immediately fell in love. I've never wanted a ukelele, but that little matching headstock in what I thought at the time was LPB, won my heart. Though the one I saw was an acoustic body shape with a matching JM headstock shape.

EDIT: my bad! It was an acoustic body shape and matching blue Tele head!
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
burntumber
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 874
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 7:15 am

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by burntumber » Fri Sep 04, 2020 8:59 pm

bought the same one on a whim a while back.
I like playing slide on it and some delay.

User avatar
gishuk
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1677
Joined: Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:57 am
Location: Devon, UK

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by gishuk » Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:35 pm

I got one of these too the other day after having it on order since July or so. I also bought it because I'm shallow and thought a mini JM was cute :D

Never played a Ukulele before and honestly not the biggest fan of their sound in general, but its been a lot of fun playing this and figuring out songs on it. Plugging it into my pedal board is interesting too, I think theres potential for a lot of non-traditional Uke stuff to be done there.

Plus its got my girlfriend wanting to play ukulele now which is cool.

Image

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Tue Sep 22, 2020 10:22 pm

gishuk wrote:
Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:35 pm
Plugging it into my pedal board is interesting too, I think theres potential for a lot of non-traditional Uke stuff to be done there.
This. This is exactly the kind of thing I think about when I hear traditional stringed instruments that tend to be acoustic. Putting them into an electric realm where you're able to add effects and amplifiers is SUCH a neat idea.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
Bradley-Jazz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 794
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:00 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:10 am

I also bought it because I'm shallow and thought a mini JM was cute :D
Yes, absolutely me too!

But you’re dead right about the potential with effects. I think it’s a nice little instrument in its own right, but there’s loads of potential for fantastic weirdness - I’ve been enjoying big filthy low fi reverb and delay noises with mine!
All the cheeses....

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Sep 23, 2020 2:29 am

Bradley-Jazz wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:10 am
But you’re dead right about the potential with effects. I think it’s a nice little instrument in its own right, but there’s loads of potential for fantastic weirdness - I’ve been enjoying big filthy low fi reverb and delay noises with mine!
My daughter kind of fell in love with a tenor ukulele, and I thought having a piezo pickup installed in it might be really cool.
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

User avatar
Bradley-Jazz
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 794
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 12:00 pm
Location: Sheffield, UK

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Bradley-Jazz » Wed Sep 23, 2020 3:58 am

Have you seen these...
I've never tried one, but if you're not sure about having the pickup installed, could be worth a try. Needs a tie-on bridge, I think.
All the cheeses....

User avatar
Shadoweclipse13
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12435
Joined: Fri Feb 07, 2014 9:22 pm
Location: Stuck in the dimension of imagination

Re: NUD - Fender Fullerton Jazzmaster Ukulele

Post by Shadoweclipse13 » Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:45 pm

Bradley-Jazz wrote:
Wed Sep 23, 2020 3:58 am
Have you seen these...
I've never tried one, but if you're not sure about having the pickup installed, could be worth a try. Needs a tie-on bridge, I think.
That is awesome! Thanks for the heads-up!!!
Pickup Switching Mad Scientist
http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=104282&p=1438384#p1438384

Post Reply