Low action, low price for keeping in the trunk of my car

I ordered a waterman makala because no one had it locally. I was hoping it would be good to keep in the trunk of my car so I could always have a ukulele with me and not have to worry about leaving my solid spruce one in the car.

I am not happy with the waterman mainly because the action is way to high. I don't enjoy playing it. I didn't think it would sound as good as my quality uke, of course. How could it for $50? I thought it would still be fun to play when I show up early or other people are late and I can just play in my car for a bit.

So, I am going to send it back. I still want something for $50 or less (if possible) to keep in the trunk. Any suggestions? I want something that has low action, can stay in tune, and is not going to get destroyed on those occasional 100-115 degree days we sometimes get here in Los Angeles.

Would you think that most laminate ones would be ok under those conditions?

Thanks for any suggestions!

No most laminates will not be ok under those conditions. It can get up to 140 - 170 degrees inside a car on really hot days if left sitting for hours and the glue used in the construction of the uke can start to let go. At the very least it will go WAY out of tune with those huge temperature swings. I got this advice from a music store owner whom I trust, cause I wanted to do the same thing.

I have a laminate soprano for a car uke and I take it out of the car every night. I leave by the front door and grab it on the way out every morning. I have left it in the car overnight but not if the car is going to be sitting there for a couple of days, gets far too hot inside the cabin and trunk

You'll be returning a lot of all laminate ukes if you keep expecting a low action. Better off getting the uke you want and lowering the action yourself. Sanding the nut and saddle a bit is not rocket science. Remember the old adage, measure twice, cut once.

I'm sure there are many more tutorials, but here's just one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SJ32cGQzg8

My boat uke is a $15 First Act Discovery all plastic zero fret soprano from T.J. Maxx. For about $15 more, it has a Reverb tuner that stays on the headstock, an eBay sound hole strap, and Martin M600 strings.

The fish seem to like it.

I've got an Alic soprano for this. Action is fine out of the box, plastic back and laminate top for general beat-up-ability. It's been in hot cars, cold cars, tents, planes... I used to have a Korala Explore all plastic uke for this but the glue gave way in a hot car and it crumpled. No problems with the Alic yet. Obviously they go out of tune in temperature extremes but it's easy enough to retune.

Next time buy from a reputable dealer.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

Jim, I looked into the Alic, but it didn't seem to be for sale in the USA. With overseas shipping, it would end up costing too much, so I don't think that's a good choice for me.

hoosierhiver said:

Next time buy from a reputable dealer.

Click to expand...

That's an inappropriate statement. I did buy from a reputable dealer. The action on the waterman is not adjustable so it would be the same no matter who I bought it from anyway.

UkuLincoln said:

Thanks for the thoughts everyone.

Jim, I looked into the Alic, but it didn't seem to be for sale in the USA. With overseas shipping, it would end up costing too much, so I don't think that's a good choice for me.

Click to expand...

Well - that doesn't happen very often, I'm usually drooling over what's available in the US compared to over here!

I still can't get my head around keeping an instrument in the trunk of your car.

Jnobianchi said:

I still can't get my head around keeping an instrument in the trunk of your car.

Click to expand...

Nope. Asking for issues no matter the instrument.

Jnobianchi said:

I still can't get my head around keeping an instrument in the trunk of your car.

Click to expand...

My Flea soprano encased in it's "flea bag" spends a lot of time in my trunk ("boot" to some). Granted, the car spends a lot of time in the garage, but when on the road there's a bunch of time in the Florida sun. It's handy for the times the spouse is shopping and I need to retreat for a while. So far, no problems other than tweaking the tuning when the uke is released from the bag. That's why I got the Flea - durable and hardy.

UkuLincoln said:

That's an inappropriate statement. I did buy from a reputable dealer. The action on the waterman is not adjustable so it would be the same no matter who I bought it from anyway.

Click to expand...

One may believe so just as the ignition switch on the old 84 Magnas are not repairable but dont tell us that.

Is the nut solid plastic or hollow? Same question with the bridge is it solid or hollow? If they are solid which I would expect from such small areas in plastic then I would take a file to them and adjust my own action.

Good Luck