Ortega RUSWB-TE Bamboo Tenor - REVIEW

bazmaz

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
5,523
Reaction score
992
Location
UK
I KNOW that looks of instruments is a highly subjective thing, but.... Just... NO

 
Let's hope that whoever is behind that design doesn't also do interior decorating.

Looking at it with a charitable eye I think there's a potentially attractive look hidden under the overwhelming tidal wave of blue. Used sparingly, with appropriate contrasting and sympathetic colours elsewhere, I could see it achieving a sort of faded beach shack look that could work really well. Unfortunately, perhaps because they may be dyeing the bamboo before assembly, it's actually blue inside and out, which is quite something.

Ortega's site shows their other bamboo line which retains the natural colouration and is also completely the one colour, so my guess is that they've essentially duplicated that but using blue dyed bamboo. They really ought to have mixed the two colours (natural fretboard, neck and bridge, maybe). Better yet, they could offer the acoustic models in natural bamboo, as unfortunately the other bamboo ukes they sell seem to be a different, electro-acoustic style.

Hypothetically, Baz, if the entire instrument had been pale natural bamboo rather than bamblue, how do you think you'd score the looks? Closer to the 9 you gave Kala's plain bamboo concert?
 
Let's hope that whoever is behind that design doesn't also do interior decorating.

Looking at it with a charitable eye I think there's a potentially attractive look hidden under the overwhelming tidal wave of blue. Used sparingly, with appropriate contrasting and sympathetic colours elsewhere, I could see it achieving a sort of faded beach shack look that could work really well. Unfortunately, perhaps because they may be dyeing the bamboo before assembly, it's actually blue inside and out, which is quite something.

Ortega's site shows their other bamboo line which retains the natural colouration and is also completely the one colour, so my guess is that they've essentially duplicated that but using blue dyed bamboo. They really ought to have mixed the two colours (natural fretboard, neck and bridge, maybe). Better yet, they could offer the acoustic models in natural bamboo, as unfortunately the other bamboo ukes they sell seem to be a different, electro-acoustic style.

Hypothetically, Baz, if the entire instrument had been pale natural bamboo rather than bamblue, how do you think you'd score the looks? Closer to the 9 you gave Kala's plain bamboo concert?
I'd have given it a 9 - I like the look of bamboo - which would have transformed the score!!
 
Top Bottom