Cheap Ukes on ebay etc.

S

Still Water Weapons

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
107
Reaction score
0
Location
The warm SW Desert
I'm sure this has been discussed before but...

What's with the cheap ukes I'm seeing on ebay that seem to mostly be Chinese? Are they worth the money? Total crap shoot?

I'm looking for an inexpensive tenor to keep at the office, that's where I do most of my practice anyway. One of these that are $60-$80 just might fit the bill, but only if they are not garbage. Some say they have solid tops, hmmm.

So what do you guys think of them? Anybody here have any experience with them? Suggestions of brands that are a better bet than others? I have seen a discussion on here about the Caramel brand, I think I understood that they are worth the money. I don't really need electronics.

Thanks for your insight.
Chris
 
Why buy a piece of crap when 80 bucks can buy you something reliable and set up from Mim, Uke Republic, or HMS?
 
I was on HMS earlier and their least expensive Tenor is $119. I'm not knocking them at all, I bought my Kala from them. But that's double the cost, of some of these other ukes. If they are 80% of the sound, it could be good economics for the purpose I have in mind.
 
If you get a cheep uke o e-bay get a caramel. THey are pretty good. Smooth frets great intonation and can be had with a pick up for under 100 bucks.

THey used to be known as Rubin you can hear many people singing their praises here with a search for Rubin or Caramel.
 
Brian1 said:
If you get a cheep uke o e-bay get a caramel. THey are pretty good. Smooth frets great intonation and can be had with a pick up for under 100 bucks.

They used to be known as Rubin you can hear many people singing their praises here with a search for Rubin or Caramel.
Click to expand...

+1 for Caramel
I've bought six of them, three to give away. All of them were pretty good and since they changed to Caramel, the setup was better than good. Although I did have the set up by my local Uke shop. The last two were only $10 to adjust for Low G and touch up. I have noticed that they are raising their prices, so maybe they were 'loss leading' to get a marketing position. My neighbor bought one of the spruce top tenors and it is very bright, the Zebra wood ones are mellower laminates.

Right now they have some of the earlier non electric sopranos still listed for real cheap ~$32-40.

The Gloss Zebra wood Thin line tenor for $65 is a good deal. I have one and other than being kind of quiet sounds good and is very well made
 
Last edited:
Still Water Weapons said:
I'm sure this has been discussed before but...

What's with the cheap ukes I'm seeing on ebay that seem to mostly be Chinese? Are they worth the money? Total crap shoot?

I'm looking for an inexpensive tenor to keep at the office, that's where I do most of my practice anyway. One of these that are $60-$80 just might fit the bill, but only if they are not garbage. Some say they have solid tops, hmmm.

So what do you guys think of them? Anybody here have any experience with them? Suggestions of brands that are a better bet than others? I have seen a discussion on here about the Caramel brand, I think I understood that they are worth the money. I don't really need electronics.

Thanks for your insight.
Chris
Click to expand...
Aren't most ukuleles made in China?
 
Still Water Weapons said:
Wow, thanks for all that info on the Caramel, I will have to look closer at those. Have you noticed any differences in prices on ebay vs amazon?
Click to expand...
I have three Rubins (now Caramel) they all came from E-bay and from the Rubin e-bay account it had free shipping Amazon probably would as well. Amazon just has so many different prices for the same thing I never know which to click on.

Rllink said:
Aren't most ukuleles made in China?
Click to expand...

Not as much anymore. They say there are really only a handful of companies that make guitars (some say 4) and everyone uses the same factory. THat may be true but if you compare a Kohala with a Kala you will find that they are very different even though both are made in China. THere are also big differneces in some brands like Lanakai. Although they may come from the same factory that does not mean that the factory has the same specifications. If you get a Peavy soprano from China unless you really like the design silkscreened onto it you are probably not going to be as satisfied as you would be with a Tom soprano. But everyone I know who bought a Peavy "Composer" or Jack Daniels model concert ukulele (not guitarlele) has been very satisfied.

But many "low end ukes" come from Indonesia (Mahalo used to be made in China and now in Indonesia) I think the Les Paul Guitar Ukes come from Indonesia I have a Dean ML made in Indonesia I think Ibanez is as well. Mitchell is made in Mexico. And the Romaro "tiny tenor" ukes I think are made in Vietnam.
 
Last edited:
I am not sure I would call it a "low end Uke" but the $450 Lanikai NKTU-T Solid Koa has Indonesia as it's country of origin.
 
ZappCatt said:
I am not sure I would call it a "low end Uke" but the $450 Lanikai NKTU-T Solid Koa has Indonesia as it's country of origin.
Click to expand...


My LU 21CE still has its made in china sticker on it and came to me shipped for $63.00

So like I said Lanikia has a lot of differences in their own brand.

This is the same concert model sold at Guitar Center for $100 or more but Guitar Center is a different model # with gold colored tuners (I assume so they don't have to price match it)
 
Last edited:
I think as well, that some ukuleles are built in China, or somewhere in the pacific far east for those who want to differentiate between Chinese, Indonesian, Malaysian, or whatever other third world dirt cheap country where they make them, and then they are assembled here in the US. I would guess that means that the tuners and strings are put on them here. I think Mainlands are that way, but I'm sure that they are not the only ones.
 
cheapest I've seen is the $9.99 Disney 4 string "guitar" in Walgreens . the tax will bring it to almost $11 though. Doesn't look like it's even worth that. I could be wrong.
 
+1 on the Caramels. I and friends have now bought, and owned for a while, several Caramel ukes and they have all been surprisingly good. We all went with amazon. They have free shipping on most. I have been noticing some significant price increases on some models. I want to by several more to be honest with you. They are just such a great value.
 
strumsilly said:
cheapest I've seen is the $9.99 Disney 4 string "guitar" in Walgreens . the tax will bring it to almost $11 though. Doesn't look like it's even worth that. I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

I bought that one at walgreens... I bought it to take it apart. And taking it apart is much easier than taking apart the micky/minnie mouse first act ukes from last christmas but the tuners are not as good - the walgreens uke is even less playable but I wanted to see if I could put a real fret board on it and put a wood top on... It might be possible but you'd have to find some sort or glue that would stick to wood and plastic and put in some pufling. It ended up being more than I wanted to deal with before the holidays :)

The 4 strings are really only two pieces of fishing line and looped over they are all just line (not leader) the tuners won't hold tension (not that I planned for them to) but the thing is not playable.
 
Thanks UkieOkie, I can't believe how popular those Caramels are! It seems everyone has one, and more importantly seem happy with the purchase.

Brian - LOL that seems like a big project with minimal, if any, reward. Almost seems easier to build one from scratch. I admit I laughed when you described the strings being looped over and not individual strings. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Captain Simian
Show off your cheap ukes!
4 5 6
Replies
117
Views
7K
mountain goat
mountain goat
uketanzon
  • Locked
wanted: CHEAP..$$$ beginner ukes for kids uke group
Replies
2
Views
246
PhilUSAFRet
PhilUSAFRet
Q
Cheap Aiersi Ukes
Replies
3
Views
1K
quietosprey
Q
Z
Anyone heard of Alulu? How are all solid wood ukes so cheap?
Replies
14
Views
7K
'ukin'smilin'
U
Griffis
Can we talk plastic ukes again? Or very cheap laminates perhaps?
2 3
Replies
58
Views
5K
VoiceofTJ
VoiceofTJ
Top Bottom