Over the years I have had the fortune to try out and play a huge number of ukuleles from all parts of the planet. I have lost track of the number of brands and types of ukulele I have played, but the Shimo ukuleles remain in my view the very best.
I have known of Shimos work for a number of years after visiting the excellent Ukulele Mania Store and buying my first Shimo ukulele, The LAX. I actually have a record of this purchase on video below
Since then the Shimo ukulele family has grown to 7 members including the new ukulele resonator below
This is very different from any reso and any instrument I have played to date. As with all Shimos it plays brilliantly but is more sweet sounding and with more bass than any uke reso I have come across. It also looks terrific.
The other surprise purchase was the Simo ukulele “Mammy” which was built in 2008 and I spotted in Tokyo store. I almost missed it as I had no plans to buy a second instrument on this visit, BUT this was too good to pass up. This is a concert and the first 2nd had Shimo I have come across.
It sounds terrific and Shimo was good enough to raise the action, so we can now hear the full sonic capability of the instrument. It also has a DTar pickup which I have only come across via Shimo and this makes for a brilliant plugged in sound. I suspect this will get some live use as well as being a great recording instrument along with my faithful Shimo Comet 3.
The Comet is one of the biggest investments I have made in an instrument, but I have recorded 30 tracks with it to date. All the Shimo ukuleles play brilliantly and sound fantastic. They are simply the best constructed and sounding instruments I have found. There can be a wait for custom builds, but in my view its well worth it!
Below is the “Mammy” concert.
I’ll be back in Japan in 2019 to speak at a major medical conference, so you can expect to see at least one more member of the Shimo family!