Oscar Schmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele

One night I'm watching Joe Versus the Volcano... and Joe is afloat on his steamer trunks playing the Cowboy Song on his ukulele... and it hits me: I want to learn to play the ukulele just so I can play that song! I've played guitar casually for many years, but I had no clue about the guitar's little cousin. I knew that I wanted something better than a toy ukulele, but also knew I had no plans to play this professionally. After looking around online, I decided to order the OU-5 Oscar Schmidt by Washburn from Amazon.Summary: I could not be happier. This is a wonderful instrument for both the first time user and the semi-serious amateur. The ukulele is beautiful. The woodwork is gorgeous. Everyone who has seen it says "wow". It sounds just like a ukulele should. And it is a blast to play!The worst thing about this ukulele is the product description page. The description provided by Amazon is terrible. At the time of this writing, there is no photo of the product (I bought it on faith based on reviews of a couple others here). The product description is a single, incomplete sentence and uses the word "founf"... and the description is so bad, it's not at all obvious that you're getting an OU-5 (look in the item details under model number), but that is what you get. But please, don't be fooled by what may be the worst page on Amazon's otherwise wonderful site... this is a great product.One user complained about the strings not holding their tune, and I've seen at least one complaint about the tuners. Well, the ukulele comes with nylon strings, and there is a fair amount of stretching before it will stay in tune. My first couple of attempts were frustrating... the top string would be badly out of tune by the time I had tuned down to the bottom string. It took a couple of days of constant tuning before the strings were properly stretched. There's probably some trick to pre-stretching nylon strings, but I just kept at it and eventually prevailed. Now it stays in tune comparable to my guitar. The chrome tuners appear to be of good quality. They are solid and have a good feel.The Koa wood is stunning, and has a wonderful finish, especially for an instrument in this price range. The detail in the inlay really makes this uke visually impressive.I grabbed a chord chart off the internet to learn chords and fingering... there are plenty out there. I decided to learn to play songs from movies featuring the ukulele. A quick search and I found the chords (all two of them) for Joe's Cowboy Song... awesome! It sounds great! Tonight You Belong to Me by Steve Martin was next, followed by Forgetful Lucy featuring Adam Sandler on the uke. I suggest looking for ukulele performances on YouTube for inspiration. You haven't really, truly played a string instrument until you've played Rawhide on the ukulele.

I’ve played the guitar for years but have only recently gotten into the ukulele. For this purchase I wanted something that would look and sound good at a budget under $200. I did a lot of research both online and in stores and eventually narrowed my options down to the Oscar Schmidt OU5.PriceThis ukulele tends to go for $120-130 which puts it above the cheap ukuleles and into the midrange for beginner/intermediate ukuleles. As an aside, I would recommend skipping over the bundle unless you really want everything that it includes since it doesn't save any money compared to buying everything separately.AppearanceThe OU5 is one of the prettiest ukuleles you will find under $300. The koa laminate is very attractive and the abalone rosette and purfling make this model appear much more expensive. Based on the pictures I had mixed feelings about the moustache bridge and less traditional headstock but after seeing them in person I have no complaints. The fretboard is slightly darker on the edges than in the center which gives a more natural look that I find quite nice. I do wish that the fretboard dot inlays were abalone or a more interesting shape, diamonds perhaps, and I think the tuners would look better with nicer buttons but these are nitpicks.Build QualityFor this section I have to add a disclaimer. I was concerned about buying an instrument at this price without getting to see it first so I ordered two with the thought that both were good then I could sell one to a friend at cost and if one was bad then I could return it. As it turned out I had to deal with the latter. One of the ukuleles arrived with many noticeable issues that affected both the appearance and the playability so I shipped it back. The other ukulele was in much better shape and my review is based off of it. Some reviewers have complained about this model being overbuilt but I appreciate the solid construction. There were some minor finish issues, mainly around the inner rim of the sound hole, and there was also some excess glue right above the sound hole where the fretboard meets the body. One small piece of the abalone for the purfling about 2mm wide is missing . Thankfully these issues are all small enough that you won't notice unless you look closely. The fretboard was pretty dry but nothing a dab of fretboard conditioner can't fix. I’d prefer a bone nut and saddle over plastic though this is common among the price range. The Grovers are a nice touch as is the limited lifetime warranty.SoundMine came with Aquila strings and sounds great . I would describe it as slightly mellower than a typical concert ukulele but still pleasant. It doesn’t get as loud as other models but resonates well, at least below the 12th fret.PlayabilityThe factory setup was well done. Intonation is accurate across the frets and the action, while a bit high, is acceptable. This model is slightly heavier than most ukulele in this range but is still very comfortable to hold and feels well balanced. The neck is also comfortable.OverallI would consider this ukulele to be one of the best beginner ukuleles and one of the best ukuleles for the buck on the market. To get a considerably nicer instrument would cost considerably more money. The quality issues with the one I returned are concerning but if you can play before purchasing or buy through a site with a reasonable return policy then I would definitely recommend the OU5.