Kala KA-15S vs Lanikai LU-11

ukeenan

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I am a beginner looking to buy my first ukulele. I am willing to spend £50 as I heard the cheap, colorful Mahalo ukues were not good at all. Should I buy a Kala KA-15S or a Lanikai LU-11. Are they better than the Makala MK-S? How do they compare to their big brothers, the Kala KA-S and the Lanikai LU-21?
Thanks, John
 
Welcome to UU. First of all, do you have any shops near where you can try the different sizes- Soprano, Concert or Tenor ? If not, I think starting on a soprano may be a little bit of a challenge for a beginner-just my two cents. I have a Lanikai LU-21P pineapple soprano similar to the LU-11S. It's a piece of junk! One thing you will learn if you stick with your goal to learn this instrument, you will need a decent beginner uke. Kala is not a bad brand to start. Not sure what the shipping charges are in your area, but several dealers in the states -Hawaii Music Supply, Uke Republic and Mimm's Uke's are all good places to buy and they offer to properly set up the instrument. Here is a link that explains set up - http://www.theukulelesite.com/ukulele-setup.html. Good luck and have fun.
 
If you haven't already, check with Southernukuleles.com. They offer ukes in all price ranges, properly set up and have a great reputation. They have both the Kala and Ohana sopranos in your price range. If properly set up, either will be good starter ukes. They come with Aquilas strings, which generally benefit all laminate ukes. The Makala is a fine starter uke, but I don't care for the plastic tuning peg bushings. I have been unable to determine the composition of the nut and saddle on these lower priced models. While many have been lucky, I am not a fan of Lanikai. Also, check the link at the top of the Beginner's Forum on buying a ukulele. Also, while most may consider the Kala and Ohana equivalent models more or less equal, I would personally choose the Ohana SK10S over the Kala 15S. Others may choose differently. Good luck.

http://www.southernukulelestore.co.uk/Category/33effc66-bcb6-4dc5-829a-e08afc61aca9/Up-to-£50?page=1
 
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Thanks for your replies. I am in Ireland so there are no specialist ukulele stores. I haven't been able to find any shop that sells entry level ukuleles apart from mahalos near me so I will be ordering online. The shop that I will probably buy my ukulele off does set up the ukes before they ship them. I will look at Southern Ukulele Store and hopefully they ship to Ireland.
 
Southern Ukuleles provides Shipping to these areas for a nominal fee:

These postcode areas qualify as Highlands and Islands:
BT(1-99); IM(1-9); GY(1-10); JE(1-4); IV(01-99); HS(1-9); FK(17-21); AB(36-38); AB(55-56); KA(27-28); KW(1-17); PA(20-49); PA(60-78); PH(19-26); PH(30-41); PH(42-44); PH(49-50); ZE(1-3); PO(30-41); TR21; TR25

This website currently provides shipping options only to the UK, UK Highlands and Islands and the EU. If you are outside of these zones, please contact us for a quote for shipping. We can send packages almost anywhere, but we need to quote individually for each parcel as the rates vary dramatically.
 
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