I've been looking for a go-anywhere soprano for a while, and finally bit on a Bugsgear marked down to $30 a few weeks ago. It's the first soprano I've owned, and while I'm still getting used to it, I am quite impressed with it overall.
Tuners are cheap but pretty serviceable, and the slots under the bridge are easy to pop strings in and out of when you're changing them. As with most of these plastic ukes, the nut and bridge and frets and really everything is molded into the body, limiting the amount of set-up that you can do compared to a "normal" uke. Luckily, the action here is low but not too low, the intonation is very good, and there's no buzzing or other nut/saddle problems, so it's quite playable straight out of the box.
The design is something that will probably engender a lot of "love it or hate it"-style debate. Mine was marketed as "Mello Yello" color, but would be better described as anything but "mello." Maybe "highlighter" or "high-vis jacket." The offset soundhole and cutaway shape are also polarizing. I honestly don't care what it looks like, and if anything, it's nice to know I will never lose this for lack of visibility. You could probably see it for miles!
People have remarked on the fit and finish in other posts/reviews, and I will say that it's pretty bad. Glue marks, a few edges on the body that aren't quite aligned perfectly, scuffs/scratches despite being brand new, etc. These are primarily cosmetic issues, though, and none of them seem to affect the structural integrity of the instrument or the sound. The key for me is that, unlike a lot of cheap ukes I've tried out, the things that matter like the frets, nut, saddle, etc. all seem to be well set.
The strings that come on it are actually not terrible, but they sound much better in D than in C. In fact, I think this is true of the Aqualele as an instrument. I actually switched out the strings for fluorocarbons, hoping to play in C, and they just didn't sound right. So the original strings went right back on, tuned up to D, and I'm pretty happy with how they sound, play, and intonate. I've heard multiple people say that sopranos "like" D tuning better, and at least for this one, I'm inclined to agree.
With that D tuning, it's quite punchy and bright. I'd compare it to a banjo uke without the banjo edge; high on attack when strummed but low on sustain, and much of the sound dies if you're trying to do delicate fingerpicking. As a frequent busker who mainly strums, I think I could take this out to a park or less-busy street corner and be heard with no problem, but if you're a fingerpicker this would be in the "quiet practice uke" camp.
I have a confession to make: I do not understand the infatuation here with the Makala Dolphin/Shark ukes. I have tried more than a dozen of them in various shops, including uke shops in Hawaii, and always found them lacking. Bad intonation, not great sound, high action, all the normal complaints about cheap ukes. I'm sure that the ones set up by Mim and other ukulele-centric sellers are better, but none of the ones I've tried have been worth the $50-ish dollars they go for. I've had similar issues with the dozen-ish Waterman ukes I've tried, and I don't think I'm alone in that regard.
I say that just because those seem to be two of the go-to suggestions for a cheap beater/camping/kids'/travel/beach uke on this site and others. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Bugsgear for those purposes, and have been using mine in a similar way. Regular price seems to be around $40, and mine came with a pretty decent gig bag.
Tuners are cheap but pretty serviceable, and the slots under the bridge are easy to pop strings in and out of when you're changing them. As with most of these plastic ukes, the nut and bridge and frets and really everything is molded into the body, limiting the amount of set-up that you can do compared to a "normal" uke. Luckily, the action here is low but not too low, the intonation is very good, and there's no buzzing or other nut/saddle problems, so it's quite playable straight out of the box.
The design is something that will probably engender a lot of "love it or hate it"-style debate. Mine was marketed as "Mello Yello" color, but would be better described as anything but "mello." Maybe "highlighter" or "high-vis jacket." The offset soundhole and cutaway shape are also polarizing. I honestly don't care what it looks like, and if anything, it's nice to know I will never lose this for lack of visibility. You could probably see it for miles!
People have remarked on the fit and finish in other posts/reviews, and I will say that it's pretty bad. Glue marks, a few edges on the body that aren't quite aligned perfectly, scuffs/scratches despite being brand new, etc. These are primarily cosmetic issues, though, and none of them seem to affect the structural integrity of the instrument or the sound. The key for me is that, unlike a lot of cheap ukes I've tried out, the things that matter like the frets, nut, saddle, etc. all seem to be well set.
The strings that come on it are actually not terrible, but they sound much better in D than in C. In fact, I think this is true of the Aqualele as an instrument. I actually switched out the strings for fluorocarbons, hoping to play in C, and they just didn't sound right. So the original strings went right back on, tuned up to D, and I'm pretty happy with how they sound, play, and intonate. I've heard multiple people say that sopranos "like" D tuning better, and at least for this one, I'm inclined to agree.
With that D tuning, it's quite punchy and bright. I'd compare it to a banjo uke without the banjo edge; high on attack when strummed but low on sustain, and much of the sound dies if you're trying to do delicate fingerpicking. As a frequent busker who mainly strums, I think I could take this out to a park or less-busy street corner and be heard with no problem, but if you're a fingerpicker this would be in the "quiet practice uke" camp.
I have a confession to make: I do not understand the infatuation here with the Makala Dolphin/Shark ukes. I have tried more than a dozen of them in various shops, including uke shops in Hawaii, and always found them lacking. Bad intonation, not great sound, high action, all the normal complaints about cheap ukes. I'm sure that the ones set up by Mim and other ukulele-centric sellers are better, but none of the ones I've tried have been worth the $50-ish dollars they go for. I've had similar issues with the dozen-ish Waterman ukes I've tried, and I don't think I'm alone in that regard.
I say that just because those seem to be two of the go-to suggestions for a cheap beater/camping/kids'/travel/beach uke on this site and others. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Bugsgear for those purposes, and have been using mine in a similar way. Regular price seems to be around $40, and mine came with a pretty decent gig bag.
