Best inexpensive uke that plays in tune?

One of the first Ukes that I bought was a Kala KA-15S from MGM. They are around $50 and once the Aquila strings settled in it was a great sounding uke. You couldn't beat it for the price. I'd give this model a hard look-see....
 
I've experienced a similar thing. I've bought 3 dolphins, the blue is awsome [kept that one] , the yellow was good , and the black was fair-poor. Maybe it's the color. I read in a poodle book that the different coat colors had different attribute ratings , and the Black standard rated the highest. could this be the same in ukes, only in reverse!!!!!

You're right on the poodle theory! We had two standards--the black was a GREAT dog and agility champ, bombproof (we recently lost her :-( and the BROWN we love but is a total nut-job poodle! Recessive-recessive. Maybe the Dolphins are the same?
 
Thanks for all the feedback.

I'm considering upping my price, or buying a few beaters and trying to luck out and get a great one. I once had a green mahalo that was great. I gave it away, thinking that I would find another one. Have not yet.

Here are my latest thoughts...

cheap way (less than $100)
rogue soprano or makala soprano, a little work and some worth strings (I like them better than aquila's)

medium way (less than $200)
flea with worth strings
tallgrass bamboo with the sound hole

Not sure I like the rope binding on the mainland ukes or I would consider one of them.
 
Here is what you do...

Take the advice of potential ukuleles given here, but...

...buy a digital tuner, then go find a ukulele in person from the suggestions that meet your intonation requirements. If you really want to do a bang up job, buy an automotive feeler gauge with various blade thicknesses and you can measure first string height, 12th fret height, you can even measure how much neck relief (not that you can do anything on that one).

John
I second the above. Carefully check out the intonation, don't play down any problems you observe in the shop. Intonation problems will just sound more and more annoying as the days, weeks and months go by. On the other hand - if the intonation is perfect you may actually love the sound of the instrument more and more as you learn how to make its particular sound shape work for you. But you'll never get used to bad intonation -- that works the opposite way because you'll get better and better at noticing it.

I've bought a number of stringed instruments and the above is the most important advice I can think of. As an example, I bought a very cheap Ibanez small thinbody acoustic guitar for my niece. When I tried them in the shop the sound was a bit thin and boxy. But I managed to find one example with perfect intonation. Bought it. At home I replaced the factory strings with Elixir nano-webs (they gave me a set in the shop) and the sound lost its boxy, cheap quality. Because of the thinbody its sound is very different from my own guitars, and it's a very nice instrument to play - my niece moved elsewhere so now I'm actually looking for one of these cheapies for myself, the problem is to find one.. I obviously can't buy them online because then I would be unable to check the intonation.

In short: I would prefer _any_ cheap, laminated plywood instrument with perfect intonation over any ultra-expensive, super-sounding solid wood instrument with intonation problems. The latter will get more and more on your nerves while with the former you will find how to use it to its best.
 
I don't know about color being a factor. I had 10 dolphins that I re-strung before giving them away, and the metallic black one was pretty good. I had an assortment of colors too, and two each of the pink burst, purple burst, and three metallic blue. One each of green, metallic black, and lt blue burst. The one that was the most "off" was one of the pink ones. I think it depends more on who was doing the final set-up work at the factory that day. That is going to be pretty variable.
–Lori

I was being facitious about the ukes, but not about the poodles, I have one, and the black ones are really smart, but SNEAKY.
 
Not sure I like the rope binding on the mainland ukes or I would consider one of them.

Don't let the binding stop you. I'm one of those who, with great trepidation, bought a Mainland in spite of the fact that I really dislike the rope binding. I'm very glad I didn't let the binding stop me. The uke is good enough that I would replace it in a heartbeat if something happened to it. I can't say the rope binding has grown on me, but I will echo what others have said by saying it's not as gaudy in person as it looks in pictures. In any case, I play that uke than more than any of my others - even my KoAloha.

Having a uke with great action and intonation, good projection, and very good tone is far more important to me than having one that is my visual ideal!

John

PS - remember, when you're playing, you don't have to look at the purfling! LOL
 
I ended up buying a Makala MK-C Concert. It was on sale as a return at the local guitar center. $39.99.

It plays in tune up the whole neck.

I also bought a luna tatoo concert for $89 but I'm going to return it because the makala sounds better.

I can't wait to put on some worth strings.

Thanks for all your advice and helpful tips.

-- Andy
 
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