There are a couple of people who play well on it, but they have to be extremely creative. In general pretty much anyone can learn it fast. George Harrison was an a avid collector but even he did not sound great on one.
especially you can buy a cheap plywood uke for 500nt they sure aren’t going to pay 1000 to have it set up.
Most of them are basically toys.
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I did see a Taiwanese lady teaching a Ukelele in Mac Donalds. Yes, truly in Mac Donalds!
@Taiwan_Luthiers
What is your view on customizing a cheaper instrument with better parts compared to just buying a more expensive ready made one?
Buying a new one always of course means the old one can be a reserve but apart from that. Say for example you have a 400$ instrument but now want to buy a 1000$ one, or instead pay a few hundred for upgrades? I mean US$
It depends on the instrument.
If it’s a Fender Stratocaster clone then it’s probably a good idea as most the sound comes from the pickup, then the strings, and then the fingerboard, as well as the bridge. You can replace the bridge with something better, same with pickups and volume pot. Fretwork matters a lot too, so getting good fret work done on it matters a great deal.
On acoustic guitars aside from changing the nut and saddle to bone and having the fret leveled, there isn’t much to upgrade. So for acoustic guitars just buy what you want. On electrics even set neck like les paul clones you could still get a lot of improvement by changing the pickup.
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For 3 finger style, sure. But there is a massive renaissance in clawhammer playing these days as well. The banjos for clawhammer tend to be very different (no resonator, different tone-ring, etc.), and there are a ton of luthiers around who specialize in them is the States. Any clawhammer questions feel free to send my way.
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The guy from The Dead South plays some pretty good clawhammer, although he switches it up song to song