Just a little over a month until I hit my one year mark. I planned on posting my last on the Makala on that day, but felt like giving an update today, just because I was playing it and thinking about how well it is treating me. The Makala is going strong. I've gone through three sets of strings, and just installed my fourth set a couple of weeks ago. For you cheap ukulele maligners out there, I will just say again, intonation is spot on, and continues to be spot on. The more I learn about ukuleles, and the more ukuleles I play, the more I appreciate the Makala.
My biggest thing to post about right now is durability. It has been a rough winter for the Makala. It has been going out a lot. It has gone to the beach, got sand in the tuners, gotten rained on a couple of times, and has been subjected to salt air twenty four/ seven for the last two months. It has been out on the streets, and hauled around. I've had to give the tuners a little bit more attention here to keep them from corroding, but minimal attention. I think that if someone made stainless tuners, that would be a good thing.
So far though it seems to be fine. I don't know what they use to finish Makalas with, but it is hard to scratch. There is hardly a scratch on it, and I have not been trying to avoid them. I play it every day, with few exceptions, and there has been no wearing of the finish. The fretboard at one point started showing some light areas where I was playing a lot of chords, but some furniture polish I found under the sink restored it to brand new. As far as the body is concerned, I've done nothing other than wipe it off with a dry cloth on occasion, and with a damp cloth when I come back from the beach. It is still very shiny and no worse for wear.
So at this point, I'm very happy with it, which is evident. I honestly do not have one complaint. I'll post again the first part of April, with my one year report. Until then, keep on strumming.