Solid Mahogany Top, laminate sides and back (any wood)

Being fairly new to Uke thing, and on a budget, I was looking for a solid top instrument with laminate sides and back. Why? I want to keep it as close as possible to "traditional" sound and get best sound for price and from what I've read, assumed this would be a good combination. I've seen the Cordoba 20TM but that is just about it. Any suggestions would be welcome. Of course, if I'm off in my thinking, I'm happy to take any other suggestions. BTW - I have a Cordoba 15CM and also wanted a different brand for a second uke. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

The top gives a uke most of its voice, so solid tops are almost as good as a full solid uke.

Have a look at Kala & Ohana, both have reasonably priced solid top ukes.

(They also have reasonably priced solid ukes, as does Mainland, might be worth your while checking them out as well.)

Caramel offered a solid topped Mahogany and the price was very attractive. They only sell thru E-Bay and Amazon and it take 10-12 days to get here from China, but their customer service is good and they have a good reputation for most of their ukes.
I have many of their Zebrawood ukes and like them very much.

islandstrings said:

Being fairly new to Uke thing, and on a budget, I was looking for a solid top instrument with laminate sides and back. Why? I want to keep it as close as possible to "traditional" sound and get best sound for price and from what I've read, assumed this would be a good combination. I've seen the Cordoba 20TM but that is just about it. Any suggestions would be welcome. Of course, if I'm off in my thinking, I'm happy to take any other suggestions. BTW - I have a Cordoba 15CM and also wanted a different brand for a second uke. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

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Solid anything is a proxy for quality, but a proxy is all that it is; from what I’ve read here and otherwise learnt over the last few years it’s no more than an indication that a Uke will sound better than another. IMHO the build of a Uke is arguably more important than whether it’s solid or laminate - Kiwaya make some very well thought of laminates. All that said the the simplest and most reliable way (IMHO) of getting near what you expect is to buy a solid top from the likes of Ohana who produce a widely respected and readily available range of Uke's. Visit a shop and check out on YouTube before you buy if at all possible.

I tested (and still have) the Aklot AKC 23...solid top, laminate sides. If you are looking for a cheap but good instrument—start there. Here’s Aklot’s code for a 35% discount (not a referral link for me) which makes it $43 on Amazon.

I'd like to throw another brand into the ring - Laka. I have a Joe Brown Concert model and a VUS50 soprano. Both have solid mahogany tops and laminate sides and back. The concert has Grover tuners and is about £120. The soprano is about £90. Both have a warm sound, the concert has bags of sustain.
I really like them, but there doesn't seem to be many reviews online.

I'd say check out Ohana for sure. The 20 series.