Makanu Mahogany Concert Ukulele - REVIEW

New brand to me - fairly new on the market. Makings of a half decent beginner ukulele, but terrible setup

http://www.gotaukulele.com/2017/07/makanu-muk-maho-c-mahogany-concert.html

Yes - big shame. I've played enough ukes to know that there is something good in this body that it could be made to play well. Sadly - they are only available on Amazon direct, so unless you have the tools and knowledge you are NOT going to get one with a setup guarantee off the bat.

Isn't it a pity that beginner players need to know how to set up a uke from the get-go?

Well I think this instruments shows extremely well how the addition of a good dealer is well worth it. These are cheap because they have no middle man checking them over, but that means (at least in my example) that you might get a total lemon.

bazmaz said:

Well I think this instruments shows extremely well how the addition of a good dealer is well worth it. These are cheap because they have no middle man checking them over, but that means (at least in my example) that you might get a total lemon.

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^this^

a thousand times and again is what I tell folks who want to buy from a drop-shipper for cheap, and they usually dont get it, and then ask me to 'fix' the $40 ukulele-shaped object.

I am NOT a luthier, nor pretend to be, and I've begun to tell folks like this that I will charge $100/hr for setup work, mainly to prove the point that they should get a uke from the right dealer that does the setup in advance of shipping it.

Some folks might be shocked, but when I was working as a consultant, $100/hr was my lowest non-contract rate, so I felt it was a good starting point for my time spent.

Thankfully, and most recently, more folks that ask me about buying an ukulele have opted to buy from Elderly, MIM's, Uke Republic or HMS as per my advice, and thus I'm not tasked with the hassle of working on a cheapo and trying to correct it's flaws, although it would be nice to be getting paid $100/hr again, but I'll find another way for that, so no worries there...

and kudos to you Baz for another great review, thank you!

The whole point of this 'charging $100' for setup (in theory) is to let them see that it does NOT pay to buy a $25 Mahalo that is unplayable out of the box, and then ask ME to do a setup on it when they can buy even a lowly Makala MK-S from Uke Republic, or Ohana SK-10 from MIM's Uke for ~$60 that INCLUDES a setup done by a professionial who does this work 40+ hrs per week as part of a FULL TIME ukulele business.

Penny wise and pound foolish was the point.

Me 'telling them' I would charge $100 was meant as punitive to show them the error of their ways and if they DID actualy try to give me money, I'd tell them to call a luthier to do it, as I really dont want to be held accountable for other folks willful ignorance, and I mean willful ignorance as in this:


source: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=willful ignorance

Dean Beaver said:

$100 per hour, wow ... Now I'm really glad, when I first started learning Guitar as an Adult I purchased The Guitar Handbook, and began learning about them as an instrument.
I started off playing Drums since mid-teens so dismantling and setting up was just a normal thing to do
I figured it made sense and I've just always thought it was the normal thing to do, to learn about an instrument if you play one.
Obviously I was mistaken to think so, but I don't consider it a mistake to learn nonethelss, and now I'm glad I did, I've probably saved myself as much money as I've spent on instruments over the years. But I suppose for someone making $100 an hour then spending time on instruments must be a financial loss.
I fixed a split across the Soundboard on someone's Rosewood Uke not long ago, after they had put a Guitar D string on for low G and caused excessive and irregular strain, I didn't receive a cent for it I think that will be the last time I ever do any repair work for anyone for free

Anyway , ... Happy Ukeing ...

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Booli said:

Me 'telling them' I would charge $100 was meant as punitive to show them the error of their ways and if they DID actualy try to give me money, I'd tell them to call a luthier to do it, as I really dont want to be held accountable for other folks willful ignorance, and I mean willful ignorance as in this:

"willful ignorance, (noun)
The practice or act of intentional and blatant avoidance, disregard or disagreement with facts, empirical evidence and well-founded arguements because they oppose or contradict your own existing personal beliefs."
​

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I agree, I did tell the guy to take his Uke to the local luthier but he didn't want to pay $100 to have it repaired, it was actually a nice Uke, so I offered to fix it for a fraction of the cost (I received nothing but a quick word of thanks in the end) .. However I did explain to him that it's no benefit to put Bass Strings on a Guitar (speaking to an ex-guitarist), and in the same way it's no benefit to put Guitar Strings on a Ukulele, I think he got the point, but regardless if it ever happens again I won't be fixing it.

I agree with you, I've got my own Music to learn and practice, as well as other aspects and other things in my life, and my own instruments to work on occasionally, and spending unwarranted time on other people's instruments due to any amount of ignorance is not a good use of time for me personally.
I also have come to realise, as I've said before, that I'm most likely just one in a minority who does like to learn about working on my own instruments.
I don't know why, as I said I always just considered it normal and probably never gave it a second thought, but still it seems to remain a fact nonetheless.
I think a lot of it comes down to that sense of normality though.
Fact seems to be that it's more complicated and time consuming to learn to use a computer and other technology than it is to learn to adjust your Action on a Ukulele, it seems it's a lot about perspective, as well as facts, in a sense it's all relative

I gotta admit, there's one thing that really annoys me personally, and that's poor care in workmanship, or roughly finished Frets on an otherwise well made instrument ,.. Ok, maybe that's potentially two things , depending on circumstances or perspective

Happy Ukeing ....

Bringing this conversation back home to Baz's review...

The main point is getting lost while you and I Dean are riding this Ferris Wheel of our personal histories.

That main point being, that Baz has been saying is that it is a SURPRISE when a cheap uke is playable out of the box with no setup, and FOR BEGINNERS with a smaller budget, that it is better to save up another $30-$40 and buy from a vendor that does inspection and setups as standard operating procedure.

You and I, and a handful of other folks that are NOT in fact luthiers, that know how to and have the tools to perform a setup, that includes smoothing fret ends, leveling and crowning frets, adjusting nut slots and saddle compensation for proper intonation and comfortable string height, we are IN THE MINORITY.

Beginners who just want to learn to play the damn uke do not need these roadblocks of learning about and HOW to do setups, they have enough trouble learning to fret and strum, learning to tune, and learning scales and chords, and all of this constant discussion about how much fun it is to learn to do setups is NOT going to help someone who has no clue even how to hold the uke in the first place, or is just all thumbs with tools.

These kinds of things are only going to frustrate them and the end result is that they will never learn to PLAY because the instrument is badly made and needs work and is impossible to tune or hurts their hands.

It's wonderful that YOU enjoy the tinkering, and I myself did for a while, but beginners need an instrument that is very playable and intonates well from day one, out of the box.

Fancy woods, or just basswood, or gilded gold-leaf veneer matters nothing for a student or a PLAYER if the uke is defective coming out of the factory in China.

A key factor of the reviews that Baz has included from the start is how the uke comes to him, supposedly new, out of the box from whomever sent it, which hopefully is the same condition that a buyer might find a random specimen of the same model out in the wild somewhere.

I am happy that you enjoy the tinkering, bit I feel it is unreasonable to expect a complete beginner to take on the study of tinkering before they can begin to play.

And for beginners that know nothing of setups, that get a uke with nut slots too high that screws up the intonation in the first 5 frets, they will never develop an ear for being in tune, and Heaven forbid they start making YouTube videos with such a uke - it sounds bad, very bad, and should they sing with such an instrument, they are training their voice on top of a foundation that is not in tune, and therefore always singing off-key despite their best efforts.

I cannot listen to these videos, it's just too painful for me, and most of them have lots of negative comments, but a uke with bad intonation will NEVER play chords in tune, EVEN IF the open strings are perfectly on pitch with a tuner.

Anyway, I am weary from this discussion now, so I am going to unsubscribe from this thread, and will NOT be checking further replies here, so folks can get a message to me via PM, but future posting here after this message I am writing right now will never be seen by me after I submit this message.

Dean, thanks for the conversation, and all that matters is what makes you happy with your own instruments, and each of us has our own path to follow.

Mahalo.
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.
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Don't disagree with any of that. That's a huge part of the point of my reviews - out of the box set up. Sure you 'might' get a better one, or.... you might not. One thing IS for certain - if you buy from specialist shops that at least take them out of the box from the factory BEFORE shipping or selling them, the chances of one of the bad ones getting out into the wild are massively reduced.

Somebody said on here a while back that a 'bad setup is a good lesson for a beginner to learn about setup'. After I picked myself up off the floor having read that, it's a massively condescending point of view - assuming that everyone - including children and elderly people have the tools, time, inclination or skills to fix a ukulele up. Sure - if you intend to have a career with uke - performing or teaching you SHOULD learn setup. Otherwise? You cant apply that to everyone. And anyway - why bother when there are stores like Mims that offer a wide choice at prices comparable to amazon WITH a setup. The reason she doesn't sell absolute junk is because she would be sending more back than she sold as being not worth the hassle of fixing.

I bought my first uke off ebay for £18. It was a preowned banjo ukulele and possibly the worst instrument for a beginner to pick up. I gave up after buying a new bridge and strings and failing to set it up well enough to make it playable. I put it back on ebay and made a profit. This put me off ukuleles for some time. I then decided to go to my local music shop and see what he had on offer. This is a reputable dealer with knowledge of guitars and a whole host of instruments. I asked for a ukulele with geared tuners...I knew very little about them at the time, so I happily handed over my hard-earned cash for the Ready Ace ukulele that he sold me...need I say more?
I have since ditched the offending piece of heavily varnished tat and bought quite a few other cheapies off ebay. I've been very, very lucky so far.
Where I live, there aren't any specialised ukulele dealers, so the easiest way to buy them is online.
The only advice I would give is to read as many reviews as possible on as many ukuleles as possible and spend some time learning about setting up a ukulele. It's not terribly difficult, but I would agree that a badly setup Ukulele could definitely put someone off learning to play.

BazMaz thank you for your review. I found it very helpful.

The Pashmeister said:

..........Where I live, there aren't any specialised ukulele dealers, so the easiest way to buy them is online.....

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There are many online vendors that specialize in doing setups so you don't run into problems.

This forum has discussed and recommended The Ukulele Site, Uke Republic, Mim's Ukes and a few others, over and over again in similar discussions.

Also, there is a sticky thread here with a very long list of uke-specialist vendors, and most if not all have a web site and doing online sales and ship to around the world.

Go to this thread and look, http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?16519-Ukulele-Stores-USA

I live in the north of England. There isn't the same online expertise here.

The Pashmeister said:

I live in the north of England. There isn't the same online expertise here.

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So do I - I buy ukes online from Southern Ukulele Store, Omega, World Of Ukes and Eagle Music - all in the UK and all come highly recommended. They wont sell you rubbish.

bazmaz said:

So do I - I buy ukes online from Southern Ukulele Store, Omega, World Of Ukes and Eagle Music - all in the UK and all come highly recommended. They wont sell you rubbish.

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I'll offer a +1 for Eagle Music, as I've bought from them twice and I'm in the USA (NJ), and Royal Mail had the parcel to me in 7 days from payment, which included a weekend in the middle. US dealers did not stock the items I wanted to buy. Painless transaction with Eagle Music for me.

I've heard nothing good things about the other dealers Baz mentioned, specifically from UU members in London and Cardiff.