Oscar Schmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele

by Washburn

Product Features

• It features select Hawaiian Koa body and top with gloss finish
• It has Abalone binding and rosette on top
• It features Nyatoh neck, rosewood fingerboard and bridge
• It has Grover chrome tuners
• It has lifetime warranty

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 24 x 3.5 x 12 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B000A39GUC
• Item model number: OU5
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #844 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)
  • #14 in Musical Instruments > Folk & World Instruments > Stringed Instruments > Ukuleles

Product Description

A beautiful concert ukulele with select Hawaiian Koa wood construction, Abalone binding and rosette, Grover chrome tuners, and plenty more, hand-crafted for years of playing enjoyment.

A beautiful concert ukulele hand-crafted for years of playing enjoyment. Click to enlarge.

OU5 Ukulele Features Size: Concert Top: Select Hawaiian Koa Back/Sides: Select Hawaiian Koa Binding: Abalone Rosette: Abalone Neck: Nyatoh Frets: 16 Nut/Saddle: ABS Finish: Natural Gloss Tuners: Grover Chrome

Concert Ukeleles
There are four common types of ukes out there: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. The soprano was the original, followed up quickly with the concert size uke. The 15-inch scale length and slightly larger body size deliver a deeper tone and a bit more volume, while maintaining the sweetness and instantly recognizable ukulele sound.

The Oscar Shmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele
The OU5 concert ukulele features a select Hawaiian Koa top, back and sides, which look striking in the natural gloss finish. The abalone binding and rosette are the icing on the cake, for an instrument that's as beautiful to look at as it is to hear.

The OU5's Nyatoh neck features a 16-fret rosewood fretboard, and Grover chrome tuning machines ensure you stay in tune.

Oscar Schmidt instruments feature a lifetime warranty, and each ukulele is inspected and adjusted in the USA by a skilled technician--your assurance for smooth fret ends, precision low action and resonant sound quality.

About Oscar Schmidt Musical Instruments
The Oscar Schmidt Company was founded in 1871 and incorporated in 1911. By the early 1900s, the company had five factories in Europe and a factory on Ferry Street in Jersey City. They made all kinds of stringed instruments, guitars, banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, zithers, and Autoharps.

The company prospered through the early 1920s. Oscar Schmidt instruments were sold in many rural parts of the country where no music stores existed. Salesmen distributed the products far and wide, making them available in general, small town furniture and dry goods stores. Country guitar pickers and blues musicians living in areas of the South and in Appalachia, far from the city, frequently played Oscar Schmidt instruments because they were both inexpensive and available locally. But equally important, they were often chosen solely on merits of their superior tone and volume.

Today at Oscar Schmidt, premium woods, quality hardware and modest prices create an ideal instrument. Each is inspected and adjusted in the USA by a skilled technician, your assurance for smooth fret ends, precision low action and resonant sound quality. Unequalled standards in easy playing comfort and tone response creates the perfect value... Oscar Schmidt.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Rating from a Marginally Qualified Rater, January 18, 2006

By 

C. Smith "thrummin'" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

I bought my first beginner ukulele only six months ago, but enjoyed enough that I decided to move up from the toy class to something a little better. The OU5 was on sale at under a hundred dollars, but I have to say that the leap in quality and sound far outweighed the $70 price difference between this and my first ukulele. Like others who have rated Oscar Schmidt products, I have been impressed by the beautiful finish of this instrument, but it's the improved action and sound quality that totally won me over. Go ahead and buy your $20 Rogue instrument to see if you like the ukulele, but when you're ready to step up to the next level (but perhaps aren't ready to shell out $250), this is a solid stepping stone. I'm really happy with this instrument. Keep your really cheap one to take to the beach, though. You'll like this one enough that you won't want someone grinding sand into the finish or spilling beer on it.

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Ukulele, November 12, 2007

By 

WT "the woodshow" (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Oscar Schmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele (Electronics)

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.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect for an average guitar player!, August 8, 2006

By 

Charlene Ceballos (Vallejo, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I have been playing guitar for almost 5 years and to be quite honesty, I'm still not as great as Carlos Santana or Slash. I'm just pretty much an average player. When I wanted to learn how to play the ukulele, I was skeptical on which brand/type I should get. After three months of debating, I finally wised up and bought this one. It looked like the one I borrowed from a friend and the brand name sounded familiar to my ears. After much anticipation for four days, it finally arrived and it is an incredible ukulele. I couldn't be more satisfied with it! The frets are placed perfectly for someone that's familiar with playing the guitar, not to mention someone that's beginning, it's easier to place your fingers when you can see them (the soprano ukulele is really small compared to this concert size). Overall I love my uke. I suggest getting this if you know how to play guitar already.