What am I missing with a $99 Uke?

I would not say you are missing anything. In fact you may have some cash I am missing from my purchases.

I read Bill's verbosity, both the original and his revised post, and I am still not sure what the point is. Anyway, it is always interesting the comments that come out of these threads.

Not missing much. If you have a uke you like, all good. I went through maybe a half dozen or so ukes in search of the right size, feel and sound. I learned a bit about my preferences. Funny though, in retrospect, my first basic laminate uke (under $100) still sounds good to me and is comfortable to play. I don't sound significantly better on my "good" ukes...could have saved a ton of dough and concentrated more on playing and less on acquiring.

SailingUke said:

I would not say you are missing anything. In fact you may have some cash I am missing from my purchases.

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This! We need a like button!

bunnyf said:

Not missing much. If you have a uke you like, all good. I went through maybe a half dozen or so ukes in search of the right size, feel and sound. I learned a bit about my preferences. Funny though, in retrospect, my first basic laminate uke (under $100) still sounds good to me and is comfortable to play. I don't sound significantly better on my "good" ukes...could have saved a ton of dough and concentrated more on playing and less on acquiring.

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I could have written that! Yes, concentrate on playing!

Got some great advice on here! Sounds like I would notice subtle differences but nothing substantial. What a wonderful instrument that for $99 you can get reasonable quality (not to mention the portability).

After reading quite a bit it seems like solids are very very generally better than laminates (or perhaps usually better made as laminates are typically the econo models), but that there are plenty of examples of poor sounding and great sounding solids, poor sounding and great sounding laminates, and in all price ranges.

I'm still planning to go to Guitar Center to try some just to fully satisfy my curiosity. I can see buying another Cordoba CM15 just to string it differently, like with the lower G metal string. Might also be interesting to get a tenor. I guess UAS is taking hold!

Appreciate all the advice!

My take is that if you're looking at the difference between a $100 laminate and a $500 laminate, you would see a definite difference. I'm less certain about a modest laminate vs. a low-cost solid wood uke. I suspect the lower cost solid wood ukes tend to have a much wider variance. On average you'd probably see a difference. However, you could be at the low end of the bell curve and get a solid wood uke that compares unfavorably with the mid-range laminates. It happened to me.

MdBoy said:

For $99, the Cordoba seems like a very nice deal, it sounds pleasent, has very pretty wood, and appears to have good craftsmanship - definitely seems above the grade of the cheapo uke class of < $50 ukes that are more like toys. But I am curious what I am missing with a more expensive uke. I'm planning to go back in to the music store and try some other models. For a budget < $500, would I find a uke that sounds substantially better?

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Others have hinted at it but you are missing some pain.

There's the pain that you feel when you buy say a $200 tenor and then realise that you don't like that size, that you will never play the expensive Uke that sounded so good in the reviews and store. Similarly there are various shapes, configurations and tone woods that will all be ideal for someone but could very easily combine to produce a Uke that you thought you'd like but, in practice, never use 'cause your love for it didn't last. All money effectively down the drain and to many people that's painful.

I've been lucky so far but I can imagine that I'd be quite pained if I accidentally left a $200 Uke on pulblic transport, drove-off with it on the roof of my car, had someone accidentally sit on it or had grandchildren and the like seize upon it as a toy. YMMV.

Don't have anything to add other than if you do in fact buy another one just like the other one, you'll miss the chance to find out more about what you like, not just in brands, but sound, playability, and size. Even if you don't like the new one as well, you'll learn that.

Play a bunch of different instruments and see how they feel and sound. Inexpensive doesn't mean intrinsically bad. Nor do expensive ukes guarantee superiority. That said, you are more likely to find quality as the care in building and selection of materials go up, and that costs more. Do the tests blind and see how that goes.

A real blind test? Just that. Put on a blindfold (or sit in a dark room), and have somebody bring you an instrument.

Strum a few chords, fingerpick a little, try the intonation up the neck, see how if feels and sounds.

Then try a second ukulele, the same size and style.

Let one of them be a $99 laminate, the other, a high-end solid wood production model, or a handmade one from a respected luthier.

If one doesn’t feel and sound better than the other, go with the laminate. If one does seem much better than the other? I'd bet that will be the more expensive one …

Be interesting to see this done with all levels of players. If I had to guess, I would expect that the better and more experienced a player is, the more likely s/he will pick the more expensive uke.

This is an interesting and informational thread.
I'm glad you found love with your $99 Cordoba. That was my 1st serious uke. I immediately fell in love, the Cordobas have great necks. I agree that they are probably the best deal in laminates for $100 or less. I would have kept mine if it hadn't gotten an annoying C and E string buzz that I couldn't get rid of. The buyer easily took care of that, and I wanted it back but he said no.
You can succumb to UAS, but I don't recommend if unless you're rich. After 15 ukuleles, I finally wound up with the right one, yes, it was a fun search, albeit a bit frustrating, but I feel cured of UAS. Dumb luck has it that we nave no more room for any more ukes.
Were I you, I'd focus less on the hunt for the next uke, and hunker down with a good cup of coffee, some sheet music or good You Tube tutorials and focus keenly on just how great you can become on that wonderful little CM15 you already have.
That's the best advice I can possibly give.
"The more we appreciate what we have, the more we are given."

Hello MdBoy!

I began playing ukulele this summer after I purchased one for my daughter and ended up playing it more often than she does. I also bought a Cordoba CM15 after reading online reviews and I've purchased a few others (for myself and her) since that time that were made by Kala and by Islander. The Cordoba is probably my least favorite ukulele of the bunch but it's still more than decent and fun to play.

I live in Los Angeles and I shopped first at Guitar Center but later found two other places (Kaye's and U-Space) where ukuleles are the featured instrument. The difference between those stores and GC (or Sam Ash) is night and day. If you have a music store where you live that features ukuleles and has knowledgeable staff I'd highly recommend that you just skip GC, I have not found that there's much to be learned there. The ukuleles that my local GC and Sam Ash carry are all similar in quality to the Cordoba that you already have.


There are many sites online where you can learn about ukes, but since you're already on here I bet you've already seen many of them!

As many have said, the Cordoba 15C is a superior <$100 laminate. It was one of my first before I got the dreaded UAS. My daughter inherited and it gets a lot more playing time than I would give it. The action was a little high but that was a simple enough fix. I liked the Cordoba enough to eventually buy the 35TS-CE at 5x the cost. Is it better? Yeah. 5X better? No way.

If you like the sound and the playability, you're lucky enough to have found a great deal on a good instrument. Extra money could be spent in replacing strings or having it professionaly set up.

Before you buy another one and try to discover the difference in higher price, make some local ukulele friends, go to a uke festival, find a great store (they are hard to find), and try on a few for size. Play, play, play until you need an upgrade to keep getting better. Then thank your lucky stars it's a Uke, and not a piano. 12 years of piano for my daughter was VERY costly when it came time to upgrade her instrument. Twice. Ouch.