...

i don't believe their is a standard - it entirely depends on how much money you have I think.

Put more precisely - I know some people who genuinely think £100 is expensive for a uke. I personally don't see the point in spending much over £1,000 - but they are just two very different points of view which are probably 'correct' in the minds of the individuals.

For me - mid range is about £300-£500 UK pounds - some cheaper Pono's, higher end far eastern ukes like Big Island brand perhaps.
 
Pretty sure it's subjective. To me, inexpensive/low-end = Mahalos, Diamond Heads etc.; midrange = anything from Chinese factory brands to factory K-brands; high-end = top-name customs and some of the deluxe/custom options from K-brands and similar (i.e. Collings). All of my ukes are Kamakas; I don't consider them high-end. Well, maybe the Ohta-San, if I use my completely arbitrary criteria that any uke with an MSRP that is more than my monthly rent in one of the most expensive cities in the US is high-end :)

I've heard/played $100 ukes that sounded amazing; I've also heard/played $2000+ ukes that just didn't do it for me. Thinking of it more in dollar terms than labels, over the years I've been playing I've consistently noticed there are a lot of under-$200 ukes that can surprise me with how good they are; it's the $200-$900 range that consistently underwhelms. But again - completely subjective, and what pleases my eyes and ears might not please another's.
 
I think OP is trying to get at what we, as individuals, use as our criteria. I think that in most industries, goods are made to appeal to certain price points. And for the mass producers of ukuleles that is also true. Decisions get made about what tuners to use, what material to use for nut and saddle, whether to have a cutaway or slotted headstock based on trying to hit a place in the market. So entry level becomes the cheapest item they make, high end the most expensive and mid range in between.

However, on a personal level I think of mid-range as ukes in the $500 - 1000 range.
 
Well, one person's floor is another person's ceiling, and any time you use imprecise terms -- a "modern" building, a "big" front yard, a "mid-range" model -- you either have to narrow those definitions or they are too broad for any realistic meaning. A hundred bucks is what some folks drop on a sushi lunch for two; I know people who drink wine that runs a thousand bucks a bottle. Probably most of us don't go there real often.

I think we can take a stab at ukulele "mid-range," though.

While there doesn't seem to be a consensus as to how little you can spend for something playable, for the sake of this discussion, let's set that at $100. Stipulate that there are some that cost less that will sound okay, but also that such are apt to be the exceptions and not the rule.

This is all unscientific and just based on my experience, but the more expensive production ukuleles, such as the K-brands, the range seems to start around a $1000, to, say, $1500.

A gander at custom-made one-off ukes by professional luthiers show that these tend to straddle the high-end production makers prices, some lower, some higher, but, again, for the sake of this discussion, say $1000 to $3000.

If a hundred bucks is the low end, and a thousand is the start of the high range, then the mid-range is going to be halfway between the two. So say that is $500, plus or minus.

Plenty of wiggle-room. Of course there are exceptions. Somebody doubtlessly has a sub-$100 uke that sounds pretty good, and somebody else will have spent five or six grand on a master-grade-woods-with-bling-hand-made-by-a-top-luthier model, but looking around, I would say a mid-range ukulele, based on the markets I have seen, would be somewhere in the $400-800 ballpark.

If somebody asked me, that's what I would say. Insofar as price goes. Quality is another whole discussion ...
 
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I love my Opio, but I would price it in the lower end of the mid-range of price. I think it is a bargain at HMS's price of $369.

It is probably underpriced for the beautiful sound quality, but ssshhh... don't tell anyone.

I think there is a $50-$200 range (laminates, some solid top, an occasional solid), a $200 to maybe $500 range (where you start getting mostly solid and better built laminate), a $500 range to $1k (better internal bracing etc,), and then all the rest are lumped in together to me, since that is outside of my price range.
 
I was amazed to learn something about myself after reading this thread. I am very uncomfortable talking to people about my money. I'm really surprised at my self. I consider myself to be a very open person.

Anyway, $165 is the average (store) price of all the Ukes that I've bought except for my two Banjoleles. I would say that below that price is the inexpensive range, and any other Ukes I buy from now on (except a Blackbird) will be in that range. Mid-range would be up to $500, I guess, and that includes my Banjoleles. Then up to $1500 would be expensive. Above that would be professional grade.

Another interesting thing that I learned is that we seem to have funny ideas about what we buy. I was looking at a travel brochure that AAA sent me yesterday. One of the trips costs around $1300 for one person for a week, which seemed like too much to me (though not to my wife). But that's about the same price as a Blackbird Ukulele! Weird!
I think one could buy a season pass to watch Baseball for about the same price as one of my Banjoleles. Yet, such a pass would be a waste of money to me.

Well, there it is. I talked to people about my money, and nothing happened to me . . .yet! :eek:ld:
 
I guess I would consider mid-range between $300 and $600. Mainlands I consider mid-range. K brands I consider high-end. Customs? Crazy level for the most part. But not all customs really are crazy expensive, though.

But I don't really shop for ukuleles, so what do I know?
 
I too believe it is subjective and depends on what YOU consider low, mid, high. To me, anything over $500 for a uke is high end ... my mid is $250-499 ... I've settled my UAS with some recent purchases of quality used ukes, and hopefully next summer when cash flow kicks in, I'll spring for a concert in the $700-$1000 range ... which to me is WHOA! What startles my UAS is great deals for $200-300 on UU and Craigslist ... that's where the swapping out begins, which I enjoy. Currently, satisfied with my small collection.
 
Mid-range I think is around $700-$1000.
 
A year a go I thought anything over $300 was high end. That soon changed and $300 became my mid range. Now that I find myself looking at the "K" brands my new definition of mid range is the mid range of the manufacturer I happen to be looking at. So mid range when I look at a Kala is about $250. A $900 Kanilea is low end (low end for a Kanilea). It doesn't make sense mathematically but it sure makes shopping for "K" brands easier.
 
I don't use the term I use Cheap, Reasonable, Expensive, and Really expensive. And I adjust those categories depending on what someone's production costs would be. Each of those categories have infinite sub categories of how I perceive it ie:

A. Cheap
1) It won't work might fall apart at any minute so dont buy it
2) Amazing value for what it is
3) Might fall apart at any minute so I better get two of them cuz I really like it.
4) Amazing how they can give it away at that price how do they do it?

B) Reasonable:
1) Thats nice I should get one of those
2) It looks and sounds nice but it does't fit me right... (example)

C) Expensive
1) How can they charge $100 for something made of plastic?
2) It might be worth it but I am not getting on a waiting list so I can find out.

Other than C-1 there isn't a dollar value attached until later. When I picture myself owning it I put a mental price tag on it. -- It is not based on real MSRPs ie: the nicest ukulele I ever held was 1000's of dollars and I put a mental price tag on it of $650 but I imagined the value of the "really expensive" could go up to almost twice that. (to me) This is from the perspective of someone who does not make a living primarily by using an ukulele - for those that do I would think it could go up to 10 or 20% of the annual income it produces. The higher paid might pay closer to ten or less and the lower paid might pay closer to 20%. -I am not applying business sense, just hypothetical nonsense incase you have not noticed.
 
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My simple rule-of-thumb for high-end ukes: USD800 and above, which is what qualifies for free shipping internationally at HMS.
 
Interesting discussion! As others have said, the differentiation is wholly subjective and depends, I think, on one's disposable income and value placed on musical instruments generally.

In my world:

low-end sub-$200. (plastic ukes, mahalos, asian factory laminates etc)
mid-range $200-600. (broadest category, difficult to generalise. solid wood factory brands, some custom instruments)
"high" mid-range $600-1000. (spec custom builds, high end factory ukes - eg. some K brands)
high-end $1000+. (highest quality factory ukes - collings, national, K's etc, custom orders)
 
I am a relatively in-experienced uker with a healthy dose of UAS. I have a good ear, adequate disposable income and am value conscious. I generally rate Ukuleles on two criteria: Sound and Price. Construction is an additional criterion but that gets lumped into the first two categories. I base pricing on 60% of the manufacturer's list price, new! This means I consider an S1 Martin a $300 uke and an 1T IZ Martin a $1200 uke. And that's what I paid for them.

I differentiate between cheap ukuleles and low-end to midrange ukuleles. A cheap ukulele is one I would not worry about getting a Hardshell Case for. A low end ukulele sells for under $200, exclusive of case. Midrange Ukuleles must have at least 14 Frets. They sell for under $900 inclusive of case. High-end Ukuleles cost more than $900. You will notice there is a lot of case sensitivity here!

I buy ukuleles with deliberation. Tone woods, tonal qualities, scale length, tuner type, design and Sound Quality are all factors. With few exceptions I will not buy an Ukulele that my ears don't like the sound of. The limited exceptions are for ukuleles I want to try for a specific reason but can't obtain one to try-out.

My ear does not like the sound of the Flukes and Fleas I have played. I would not buy one unless that changed. I think they are fine instruments and I approve of their manufacturing techniques. Their price is iffy. I would however pay for an Outdoor ukulele. It is a cheap plastic ukulele. It has only 12 frets. It has a hollow neck suitable, (I think), for conversion to a Jaegermeister flask. I do work campfires and play under rough conditions. It is a special case! BTW Its Darwin Day, Hey guys watch this! Hold my uke for a minute?
 
$500 to $1000 seems reasonable for "mid-range"

My idea may sound too simple and silly, I see ukuleles in two ranges, "Ukuleles built by luthiers with their passions", and all other "Nice ukes out there".

There is no surprise that some mid-range factory made ukulele could sounds as nice as a low-range one. So the price tag has not much meaning, than actual feel and listen the uke.
 
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I have the following spectum in my head:
(Each level MAY *include* features and brands from previous level)


  1. up to $ 50=cheap, crappy, slipshod construction, wallhanger art, disposable without mercy (mahalo, diamond head, stagg, schoenhut)
  2. $ 50-$120=budget, starter, low-end, disposable but basically playable, sounds like ukulele (makala, kala, kohala, lanikai, oscar schmidt, luna)
  3. $120-$200=nicer starter, disposable but more playable, sounds better (makai, ohana, gretsch, cordoba, fender)
  4. $200-$300=step UP from starter, some solid tops, more wood options, more bling (fluke, flea, mainland, goldtone)
  5. $300-$600=lower-mid to mid-range (kamoa, sailor brand, martin, loprinzi, godin)
  6. $600+=start of high end non-K-brands
  7. $1k+=start of K-brands & some customs
  8. $2k+=OMG I won the lottery, customs and top K-brands
 
For me mid-range is a good quality factory instrument that isn't a K brand, possibly with some solid wood parts (usually the top) and possibly with some laminate parts (often back and sides). By quality I mean good intonation, construction and tone. So generally brands like Kala, Ohana, Mainland, Lanikai etc. For most ukulele players - who like me don't have a fortune in their bank accounts - I dare say that these are pretty good ones and should definitely not be classified as low-range.

Kiwaya has mid-range ukes (the KS1 for example) but high-end ones as well (the KTS7 etc). Pono is a bit in between. Kala has both low and mid-range. Mahalo, Vintage and other 20 quid ukes are low range. KoAloha, Kamaka, Collins, Martin etc are high-end in my books. Some might disagree but I reckon that a uke that costs you two months of rent doesn't qualify as mid-anything. Then come the custom-made ones... but bespoke anything are a different beast all together, ukulele or not.

Mid-range ukes tend to cost somewhere between 150 and 300 quid on average so that's where the price bracket is for me. There's a bit of a jump in price after that when you reach higher end ukes, so that makes quite a clean cut between the ranges, as I see it.
 
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I've heard/played $100 ukes that sounded amazing; I've also heard/played $2000+ ukes that just didn't do it for me. Thinking of it more in dollar terms than labels, over the years I've been playing I've consistently noticed there are a lot of under-$200 ukes that can surprise me with how good they are; it's the $200-$900 range that consistently underwhelms. But again - completely subjective, and what pleases my eyes and ears might not please another's.

Interesting comment - I'm gradually coming to that feeling as well - I didn't notice until you said it, but I've recently reformed my uke collection and eliminated most of the $200-900 range.

Is the mechanism for this that at the low end there is very little "editing" of the ukuleles produced, so surprisingly good happens, while in the mid range the "editing" is more about cosmetic and playability issues rather than about tone? In the high end, I suspect that most manufacturers also "edit" for tone.
 
"over the years I've been playing I've consistently noticed there are a lot of under-$200 ukes that can surprise me with how good they are; it's the $200-$900 range that consistently underwhelms."

I've thought about this over the years too. Sometimes I'll pick up something like a $45 Makala Dolphin and be blown away by it. Someone will show up at our uke group with some off-brand surprisingly cheap uke, and I'll be amazed at how good it is. There is no guarantee that a $1000+ uke will be great. But there is a certain consistency to most of the $1000+ ukes. (It's the luthier made and boutique ukes that I find vary wildly and can be truly great, and occasionally truly pretty terrible).

It's the stuff in-between that I find most problematic.
 
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