Buying my first ukulele

Which Ukulele is the superior one?

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Oven

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I have $94.67 on an Amazon.ca gift card that I plan to use towards my first ukulele, I've done a bit of research and narrowed it down between the

Kala KA-MK-C Makala Concert Ukulele

and the

Oscar Schmidt OU2 Concert Ukulele

both of them are the same price, I plan to use the left over money to get some Aquila strings. My question to you guys is, which one should I get or should I get something completely different? I'm looking for a concert ukulele.

They also have the Kala on it's own and it's $66 vs $80, should I get that instead and just use my phone as a tuner? Or is it worth it to get the bundle with the tuner+gig bag+cloth?

Thanks
 
I have $94.67 on an Amazon.ca gift card that I plan to use towards my first ukulele, I've done a bit of research and narrowed it down between the

Kala KA-MK-C Makala Concert Ukulele

and the

Oscar Schmidt OU2 Concert Ukulele

both of them are the same price, I plan to use the left over money to get some Aquila strings. My question to you guys is, which one should I get or should I get something completely different? I'm looking for a concert ukulele.

They also have the Kala on it's own and it's $66 vs $80, should I get that instead and just use my phone as a tuner? Or is it worth it to get the bundle with the tuner+gig bag+cloth?

Thanks
 
They are both entry level ukes although with a good set up, they will be ok. The concern is, that buying off Amazon you will not in all likelihood get any kind of set up at all, so you would need to set aside extra funds to have a luthier set the instrument up for you, or you might never enjoy playing it if the set up is awful. Both of those ukes are laminates but reasonable with a set up - you do need to factor in having a uke-savvy friend or a luthier take a look at the uke out the box though, as it will need a set up.
 
It looks like they are both sold by Austin Guitar through Amazon. Maybe you can contact them to see if they can do a setup for you and still buy off their Amazon site.
 
The Oscar Schmidt you listed was my first ukulele and I am very pleased with it. My wife purchased it for me from Amazon for my birthday and it is playable as it arrived but it could use a setup.

If you are are going to purchase from Amazon you might also look at this http://www.amazon.com/Professional-...cal-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1396450124&sr=1-7. I just received mine yesterday and am very impressed. The setup out of the box was superior to the OU2 making the Tom much easier to play as well as more accurate intonation according to my tuner. The build quality is very good and it has a nice mellow sound that I really enjoy plus it looks great.

There are a lot of people on the board with much more experience than me who will be giving you some great advice but I just wanted to share this option with you. Whatever you decide hope you have as much fun as I am learning to play.
 
I'd go kala, just a nicer feel and brand imo. As for the tuner you will probably be ok without purchasing one. Have you thought of other strings? trying something different than aquila might be beneficial to your uke
 
Condor said:
They are both entry level ukes although with a good set up, they will be ok. The concern is, that buying off Amazon you will not in all likelihood get any kind of set up at all, so you would need to set aside extra funds to have a luthier set the instrument up for you, or you might never enjoy playing it if the set up is awful. Both of those ukes are laminates but reasonable with a set up - you do need to factor in having a uke-savvy friend or a luthier take a look at the uke out the box though, as it will need a set up.
Click to expand...
I definitely want it to sound as good as possible, I don't expect anything amazing for the price though. This might be a stupid question but is it possible for my to set it up on my own? I think it would be cool to learn how to do it and I'd like to play around with it to get it to how I like it. Worst case scenario I have a music store not too far, and I could try taking it there but I'm unsure how much experience they have with ukes, I know they do a lot of guitar stuff.

actadh said:
It looks like they are both sold by Austin Guitar through Amazon. Maybe you can contact them to see if they can do a setup for you and still buy off their Amazon site.
Click to expand...
I know that the ones that say "Shipped by Amazon" can't do this because they are already in Amazon's warehouse. Maybe an option if I get one of the ones that isn't being shipped by amazon

CJay said:
If you are are going to purchase from Amazon you might also look at this http://www.amazon.com/Professional-...cal-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1396450124&sr=1-7. I just received mine yesterday and am very impressed. The setup out of the box was superior to the OU2 making the Tom much easier to play as well as more accurate intonation according to my tuner. The build quality is very good and it has a nice mellow sound that I really enjoy plus it looks great.
Click to expand...
That looks like a good option and I would probably go with it but I don't think it's on the Canadian Amazon which sucks.

kwall said:
Have you thought of other strings? trying something different than aquila might be beneficial to your uke
Click to expand...
I was under the impression that Aquilla strings were pretty much the best, is their a better option for my uke? I'm stilll pretty new to all this so I'm not sure.

Thanks for all the responses, nice to see that the community is so active.
 
I have had and I have Kalas. I had an OU2. Though the OU2 was a nice uke for the price, I'd go Kala and buy a Snark clip on tuner separately. Just buy the least expensive Snark and you'll be fine. You're going to want a tuner.

And I think I'd add $10 and go with the Kala KA-C.
 
Last edited:
Oven, setups are not something you want to do on your very first uke, I think, unless you are knowledgeable about uke luthiery! Even guitar shops have little knowledge of setting up ukes, quite often - you really do need someone who actually knows what they are doing. I am sure you can learn the technicalities yourself in time and with experience though - adjusting nuts and bridges etc - but good luthiers are specialists in this area.

As for strings - everyone has their own personal choice, but to be honest, Aquilas sound pretty decent on a Kala and you can always experiment later with different strings. Just get rid of cheapo black nylon rubbish and Aquilas will make a huge difference to them!
 
My vote is for the Makala.
 
I don't have experience or exposure to either but quality-wise, they're probably pretty much a toss up. I'd choose the Makala based on looks alone, I don't like the shape of the headstock or the logo/"aloha" on the Oscar Schmidt.

Based on my experience, I'd skip the Aquila strings and get either Oasis or Martin M600 strings.
 
I am not voting, as I don't have paying experience with both of them. A member of our local uke group has the concert Oscar Schmidt and it is really nice. Sounds very nice.
 
I voted for the Oscar Schmidt. I haven't owned either but I do own an Oscar Schmidt Willie K laminated uke that came straight from the factory (via Amazon) very nicely set up. Don't know if they set all their ukes up that well but I do know that setups and sound quality from Makala are pretty spotty. Therefore, I'd have to figure a slightly better chance of getting a good Oscar Schmidt.

John
 
It's all about what you want. I wouldn't really leave this up to a vote. Have you heard any sound samples of them both?
 
Sorry for the double post, I posted this thread earlier but it never showed up, so I re-posted without the poll (http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?94593-Buying-my-first-ukulele), this one just showed up now (a few hours later).

Thanks for the replies guys, seems like they are both around the same quality, going to be a tough choice. I'll do some more research on the strings the Aquilla strings seem to be the most popular. Haven't heard any samples, I'll see if I can find some on YouTube.
 
ukemunga said:
I have had and I have Kalas. I had an OU2. Though the OU2 was a nice uke for the price, I'd go Kala and buy a Snark clip on tuner separately. Just buy the least expensive Snark and you'll be fine. You're going to want a tuner.

And I think I'd add $10 and go with the Kala KA-C.
Click to expand...
Yeah I was thinking I would probably get a tuner anyway just because it's more accurate than a phone. I'd like to go with the Kala KA-C but it's $200 on the Canadian Amazon which is too high off budget.

Condor said:
Oven, setups are not something you want to do on your very first uke, I think, unless you are knowledgeable about uke luthiery! Even guitar shops have little knowledge of setting up ukes, quite often - you really do need someone who actually knows what they are doing. I am sure you can learn the technicalities yourself in time and with experience though - adjusting nuts and bridges etc - but good luthiers are specialists in this area.

As for strings - everyone has their own personal choice, but to be honest, Aquilas sound pretty decent on a Kala and you can always experiment later with different strings. Just get rid of cheapo black nylon rubbish and Aquilas will make a huge difference to them!
Click to expand...
Yeah that's what I thought. Hopefully once I pick up the basics I'll have some more money that I can use towards testing different strings.
 
Last edited:
I'm guessing that Condor is a luthier. I'm not sure what a luthier does but as somebody who just recently started playing the Uke, I'm not sure why buying something from Amazon isn't sufficient. There are TONS of options for tuning your uke. Personally, I have a piano at home and can easily tune from it. I also have an Android app that makes tuning the uke effortless.

Perhaps I just don't have an appreciation for what a luthier does but if it's just tuning a sub $100 uke, I'm not sure the value. Happy to learn differently.
 
aquila's aren't bad but they come on the ukulele anyways so why buy another pair of the same item. Search on this forum there r tonnes of threads about strings. Ive only tried aquila so you are asking the wrong person :) :p.
 
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