So, I started a thread a couple days ago about my 10-year-old sister learning the ukulele, in which I mentioned that I ordered a Tanglewood TU6 soprano. I know I guy who has the same model and is quite satisfied, so I went mostly for the colour, because light blue is her favourite.
It arrived today... I can't make a full review because I haven't used many ukuleles, so I can't compare the action etc. But I'll give my two cents. I wasn't expecting great quality, as it costed only 40 euros (~45$), I just wanted a basic beginner instrument that did its job.
It turned out to be way worse...
1) It comes with geared tuning pegs but they were faulty. 2 out of 4 don't work, and when I tried to screw one of them a bit further in because it looked loose, the screw broke in half. So, I can't tune it. But ok, I can change those easily.
2) The finish is pretty bad too... The colour is cute but there's some paint on the fretboard.
3) Speaking of the fretboard, it's probably the worst feature of it all, although my sister doesn't seem to notice. It looks worn out, on the first fret, like the top layer is broken. Fortunately this doesn't affect playing... In general it looks like a thin worn out slab of old dry wood.
4) The action seems pretty high on the lower frets, comparing to my ukulele, but I don't know if I can compare, cause it's a concert.
5) It's supposed to be wooden but it feels like plastic, even my sister asked me if it was made of metal. Mine is made from laminated wood as well, but it feels and looks like wood.
So, yes, I'm pretty disappointed. I was expecting cheap materials, for sure, but at least not the faulty pegs, and a decent fretboard. Now I feel bad because I wanted to make a nice present to the little one and it turned out to be crap. And I'm not rich enough to not care about 40 wasted euros either.
It arrived today... I can't make a full review because I haven't used many ukuleles, so I can't compare the action etc. But I'll give my two cents. I wasn't expecting great quality, as it costed only 40 euros (~45$), I just wanted a basic beginner instrument that did its job.
It turned out to be way worse...
1) It comes with geared tuning pegs but they were faulty. 2 out of 4 don't work, and when I tried to screw one of them a bit further in because it looked loose, the screw broke in half. So, I can't tune it. But ok, I can change those easily.
2) The finish is pretty bad too... The colour is cute but there's some paint on the fretboard.
3) Speaking of the fretboard, it's probably the worst feature of it all, although my sister doesn't seem to notice. It looks worn out, on the first fret, like the top layer is broken. Fortunately this doesn't affect playing... In general it looks like a thin worn out slab of old dry wood.
4) The action seems pretty high on the lower frets, comparing to my ukulele, but I don't know if I can compare, cause it's a concert.
5) It's supposed to be wooden but it feels like plastic, even my sister asked me if it was made of metal. Mine is made from laminated wood as well, but it feels and looks like wood.
So, yes, I'm pretty disappointed. I was expecting cheap materials, for sure, but at least not the faulty pegs, and a decent fretboard. Now I feel bad because I wanted to make a nice present to the little one and it turned out to be crap. And I'm not rich enough to not care about 40 wasted euros either.