Help with which model ukelele to buy .

I'm new to ukulele and I would like to get 1 soon. There's 2 particular ukulele model i love but I have no idea which is better . Those 2 model are KALA KA-SRT and KALA KA-ST . Which one is better in terms of tone .

I would personally choose the rosewood body, but I'm partial to rosewood to begin with. I think either way, you will enjoy the instrument very much. They both look really good.

I am biased in favor of the rosewood bodied, solid spruce topped model.

RainBowSkt said:

Which one is better in terms of tone .

Click to expand...

I don't think there will be much of any noticeable difference in tone. It is the top that mostly determines the sound, and they're both solid spruce, which generally has a bright/crisp (and loud) tone.

The back/sides of both models are laminate, so the type of wood is less influencing than if they were solid.

All things being equal, personally I would go for the rosewood because I like the look and it's less common on ukes (although it's the most popular B/S for classical guitars).

I think it all boils down to which one you prefer the look of. I think either of them will be just fine, especially for a first uke.

The back/sides of both models are laminate, so the type of wood is less influencing than if they were solid.

What do you mean by less influence ? Or what's the difference between solid and laminate

Budget models of guitars and ukulele tend to be all laminated or have laminated back and sides. Laminated means in layers similar to plywood. According to various threads hereabout there are some nice sounding ukulele of laminate construction. One advantage of laminate being that it is reputedly less sesceptible to humidity variations. Although because of where I live extremes of humidity are not a problem so I'm not the one to advise you on that.

Ukulele that don't use laminate and are made from "solid" wood are also available but tend to be more expensive.

RainBowSkt said:

The back/sides of both models are laminate, so the type of wood is less influencing than if they were solid.

What do you mean by less influence ? Or what's the difference between solid and laminate

Click to expand...

pritch pretty much explained it about laminates. They are a form of plywood.

So while with a solid wood B/S a really discerning ear MIGHT be able to tell the difference between mahogany and rosewood. Might. But with laminates the veneer wood (mahogany or rosewood in this case) will not really make much of a difference.

Like I said, it's the top that "drives" the sound of the uke. Both of the models you mentioned have solid spruce tops.

Regardless of which one you choose, I would highly encourage you to buy from a dealer who does a full set-up. When I started I did not do that, and had too high of an action which almost discouraged me from playing/wanting to play. So buy from HMS / MIM / Uke Republic if you can. It makes a difference even if you have to pay a little more vs. just buying it off amazon.