Best budget ukulele?

Garrett151 · #1 11-25-2011, 10:11 AM

Anyone have any experience with a good ukulele under $150? I'm looking for solid build quality and (obviously) good sound.

Garrett151 · #2 11-25-2011, 05:13 PM

no fans of the uke here?

pie_man_25 · #3 11-25-2011, 06:09 PM

To be honest, I have very little experience with BUYING ukes, I've generally found I enjoy building them more. I will recommend Kala as a brand - I've seen their mahogany plywood model and was very impressed by it. Unfortunately there aren't too many solid wood options (if any) at $150, but there are plenty of good mahogany/sapele ply models that are weatherproof and still sound great to boot. If you want you could check out my thread on building a cigar box ukulele - I'll post the link tomorrow, I've got to load out in a couple minutes so I must be quick.

You could check up on WaverlyStreet Design Ukulele Site and see if they have anything you might want to splurge for, his ukes are very nice, and at a price that can't be argued with in terms of solid wood ukuleles.

Lastly, I recommend Aquila Nylgut brand strings - of course everybody's got differing opinions on strings, but as far as soprano uke strings go these are the best I've heard so far. Strings are very important - if you have a mediocre or bad uke, you can greatly improve it's sound simply by changing the strings - usually at a cost of less than $10!

Bard2dbone · #4 11-25-2011, 07:23 PM

I'm a little confused by ukeleles. My daughter says she wants to learn uke. But I don't know what to get her. I'd like to be able to play whichever she gets to be able to jam with her, or if she doesn't stick with it.

So I know there are different sizes to correspond with the different voice ranges. Obviously the biggest one would be a baritone. But which is which on the smaller ones? I think whatever that smallest one is would be too small to get because I can't play something that little. The second smallest is just a bit bigger and just barely big enough for me to play.

So what's the second smallest size? And who makes a decent starter version of it?

Johnny Alien · #5 11-25-2011, 07:34 PM

I have played quite a few budget ukes. IMO one of the best budget lines is Lanakai. Well made, set up well and come with Aquila strings stock. For slightly more I would look into Ohana too.

Garrett151 · #6 11-25-2011, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bard2dbone

I'm a little confused by ukeleles. My daughter says she wants to learn uke. But I don't know what to get her. I'd like to be able to play whichever she gets to be able to jam with her, or if she doesn't stick with it.

So I know there are different sizes to correspond with the different voice ranges. Obviously the biggest one would be a baritone. But which is which on the smaller ones? I think whatever that smallest one is would be too small to get because I can't play something that little. The second smallest is just a bit bigger and just barely big enough for me to play.

So what's the second smallest size? And who makes a decent starter version of it?

I think it goes soprano, tenor, and baritone. Baritone is tuned like a bass and has rubbery strings. I think. I'm kinda in the same boat as you.

superfunk47 · #7 11-25-2011, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Alien

I have played quite a few budget ukes. IMO one of the best budget lines is Lanakai. Well made, set up well and come with Aquila strings stock.

This - I've had my Lanakai (~$60 IIRC) for almost three years, and it's served valiantly. Aquila strings, like Johnny said, and not one breakage yet. Even stays in tune pretty well. (There is a bit of a limit, it seems, with ukes.)

Bard2dbone · #8 11-25-2011, 08:20 PM

There is another size and I think it's either just bigger or just smaller than the soprano. But I don't know the name and which is smaller.

Baritone fits my hands best, but I guess a tenor would make more sense for my daughter.

Actually if she HAS to do something like this, I'd wish she'd follow the Neko Case road and get a tenor guitar. They kind of look like the baritone uke.

Johnny Alien · #9 11-25-2011, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bard2dbone

There is another size and I think it's either just bigger or just smaller than the soprano. But I don't know the name and which is smaller.

Baritone fits my hands best, but I guess a tenor would make more sense for my daughter.

Actually if she HAS to do something like this, I'd wish she'd follow the Neko Case road and get a tenor guitar. They kind of look like the baritone uke.

Soprano > Concert > Tenor > Baritone

I would suggest Concert size as the way to go for most first time uke players.

Johnny Alien · #10 11-25-2011, 08:32 PM

I really like this uke for a lower budget model. It comes with a really nice gig bag too.

Lanikai LU-21C Concert Ukulele: Shop Folk & Traditional Instruments & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend

fourstringdrums · #11 11-25-2011, 09:19 PM

UKE Republic - Authorized Ukulele Dealer, Online Store, Atlanta Showroom, Worldwide Shipping is a fantastic site and I've bought a few uke's from there. They don't make budget ukes but Mainland is fantastic.

But for budget you can't go wrong with Ohana.
UKE Republic — Ohana SK-22Z Spruce/Zebra Wood Soprano and it's a beauty to boot.

This one is nice as well. I have a Tenor model with gear tuners. http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/ohana-sk-50wg

pie_man_25 · #12 11-26-2011, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bard2dbone

There is another size and I think it's either just bigger or just smaller than the soprano. But I don't know the name and which is smaller.

Baritone fits my hands best, but I guess a tenor would make more sense for my daughter.

Actually if she HAS to do something like this, I'd wish she'd follow the Neko Case road and get a tenor guitar. They kind of look like the baritone uke.

there are four main sizes of ukulele which are, in order of smallest to largest: Soprano, Concert, Tenor, and Baritone. Mind you, some luthiers might make a sopranino or bass ukulele. The Baritone ukulele is NOT tuned like a bass at all, it's tuned DGBE, exactly like the four highest strings on a guitar. The Soprano, concert, and Tenor are all tuned GCEA as standard, however, the soprano is normally tuned with a "re-entrant" G-string, meaning that C is the lowest string, and the G-string is an octave higher than the G-string on some concert ukes and most tenor ukes.

EBodious · #13 11-26-2011, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Alien

Soprano > Concert > Tenor > Baritone

I would suggest Concert size as the way to go for most first time uke players.

hooray for a uke thread! tho i imagine it belongs in the misc forum...

i have been playing for about a year and actually have started gigging with the 'club.' i have a concert size and it definitely feels better than a soprano for my big hands. you can get the big ones, but if you're gonna play ukulele, isn't the point to squeeze your fingers up and fly thru the chords?

i think there are a whole lot of options in budget ukes now cause they are really popular. they will not be solid wood at the $50-200 range, but they can still be pretty good. one brand not yet mentioned is oscar schmidt. they have a good rep too.

my one warning is to watch out for 'toy' ukes. much like small scale, starter guitars, they aren't really instruments. by this i mean they don't hold tune and they have bad intonation (one chord is in tune, another is not, incredibly frustrating to me).

i went with a solid wood acacia uke (true ukes are koa, which is acacia from hawaii and now very rare. there are different acacia species on all the different south pacific islands. mine is a different variety of acacia and thus cheaper). i spent about $300. i got it form an ebay seller in hawaii (i think 'musicguymic'). came with a good case, a tuner, and the aquila strings. definitely worth getting those strings. he also did a set up. i love it and it does project really well as compared to some of the other ukes in my club. i plan on owning it for life so i went with the best i could afford at the time. solid wood will age far better than the laminates.

good luck and have fun! there are plenty of resources out there. ukes rock!

btw, after years of showing up at gigs with a 10 lb 4-stringer and over 100 lbs of rig, walking into the club with a uke and nothing else is pretty darn sweet!

Garrett151 · #14 11-26-2011, 11:39 PM

so should I go soprano or concert?

jumbosilverette · #15 11-27-2011, 12:39 AM

Go concert and get a Makala off of ebay for 50-60 bucks. Trust me, I have eleven ukes from Martin to Koaloha, G String, Flea, Fluke, and Mele. It's a cheapy but sounds really good with replacement strings (Worth or Aquila).

oldrookie · #16 11-27-2011, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jumbosilverette

Go concert and get a Makala off of ebay for 50-60 bucks. Trust me, I have eleven ukes from Martin to Koaloha, G String, Flea, Fluke, and Mele. It's a cheapy but sounds really good with replacement strings (Worth or Aquila).

This. Can get a nice one for less than $50. Nice enough to keep playing after you learn, cheap enough that you won't be upset if she doesn't stick with it.

My daughter has one and it has a very nice sound to it. Soprano for $35.00.

A baritone is tuned like the top four strings on a guitar.

Check out Ukuleleunderground.com for a similar environment to Talkbass.