'Kmise' ukulele, anyone?

drbekken

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Just bought a Kmise tenor on ebay. Cost about 50 £, with free shipping to Norway! The ukulele is laminate mahogany, very well made, nice action and intonation, no tweaking required. Video in the works...
Anyone heard about this brand before???
 
yep. I saw them on Amazon , bought the Mahogany lam [$46 ]and the solid spruce top [$60]. They both played fine out of the box and in my opinion are worth at least 2x what I paid. They are not perfect, but they play and sound fine. I bought them to give away, but I liked the mahog so much I ordered one for me, and a solid top too just because [$65]. They are shipped from china, the mahog came in less than a week, the spruce took 2x as long. They have no bracing in the back, which is molded for strength. The lam is plain but has a beautiful grain and nice matt finish. The lam I just ordered even comes with a rosette at the same price! I don't know if they are selling this cheap to generate sales and then the price will go up. But that is what happened with the Islanders Amazon was selling. I did file the nut slots a little deeper on some of the strings, but definitely playable out of the box, much better than any other $50 uke I've seen. I don't know about the longevity, but at $50 what does it matter? They come with Aquilla look strings, anybody's guess if they are authentic, but they sound OK. Oh, and the bridge is an cool looking string through design, nicer looking than my Koaloha tenor! What was Koaloha thinking, going from the coolest looking to the cheapest looking, but I digress. This is a no brainer buy if they are all like this.
UPDATE: looks like the prices are already creeping up. get 'em while they're hot
 
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yep. I saw them on Amazon , bought the Mahogany lam [$46 ]and the solid spruce top [$60]. They both played fine out of the box and in my opinion are worth at least 2x what I paid. They are not perfect, but they play and sound fine. I bought them to give away, but I liked the mahog so much I ordered one for me, and a solid top too just because [$65]. They are shipped from china, the mahog came in less than a week, the spruce took 2x as long. They have no bracing in the back, which is molded for strength. The lam is plain but has a beautiful grain and nice matt finish. The lam I just ordered even comes with a rosette at the same price! I don't know if they are selling this cheap to generate sales and then the price will go up. But that is what happened with the Islanders Amazon was selling. I did file the nut slots a little deeper on some of the strings, but definitely playable out of the box, much better than any other $50 uke I've seen. I don't know about the longevity, but at $50 what does it matter? They come with Aquilla look strings, anybody's guess if they are authentic, but they sound OK. Oh, and the bridge is an cool looking string through design, nicer looking than my Koaloha tenor! What was Koaloha thinking, going from the coolest looking to the cheapest looking, but I digress. This is a no brainer buy if they are all like this.
UPDATE: looks like the prices are already creeping up. get 'em while they're hot
My thoughts exactly...thanks!
 
Great job playing and it sounds like a great bargain Uke.
 
Interesting... I see an all solid mahagony (body) concert size Kmise listed on Amazon here in Germany for 49€. Says it ships with Aquilas. Looks pretty sweet with that stringthru type bridge. Also have a similar styled solid spruce (top only) for 52€ with a bag and tuner. Crazy...
 
Interesting... I see an all solid mahagony (body) concert size Kmise listed on Amazon here in Germany for 49€. Says it ships with Aquilas. Looks pretty sweet with that stringthru type bridge. Also have a similar styled solid spruce (top only) for 52€ with a bag and tuner. Crazy...

Crazy is the word.
 
https://youtu.be/gib7CI5lUIk

Here's a sound sample of this nice ukulele...recorded on an iPhone, but it still sounds pretty good. I like this uke so much I just ordered a baritone of the same brand, for about 60 USD, including shipping from China to Norway!! Looking forward to receiving it.
 
I just pulled the ebay trigger on the laminate mahogany tenor... on the strength of your review drbekken. Thank you for the video and thoughts on these ukes.

At $60.99 Australian dollars this is a bargain indeed. I have a Makala Tenor that was setup by Music Guy Mike (RIP) it was my first uke and I am rather attached to it, so much so I don't like the idea of taking it travelling etc (sentimental value I guess). Hopefully the Kmise fills the gap and I can take it with me when I travel, rather than the precious el cheapo Makala tenor.
 
Type "Kmise" into the Chinese site AliExpress.com and you get a few hits on a number of Kmise products. Guitars and ukuleles. Given that there is a growing number of reasonable low cost ukes coming out of China, why bother with the one or two selected by Amazon buyers, why not just shop directly from a site like AliExpress based in China and see many more brands that are competitive with Kmise?

For me it's been hit or miss on Aliexpress. Sometimes I order something and it's shipped, other times the product is never is shipped and then I have to wait for a refund.
 
Hi! I have been looking into these Kmise ukuleles on amazon and ebay, they seem pretty good for the price. Especially the thin tenor ukulele with laminated zebra body got my eye. However, I am rookie with ukuleles, any thoughts on that particular model?
 
So far everything I have ordered off AliExpress into Perth has been delivered close to the date advertised.
Thanks for the sound sample, the uke sounds good.

Hi is that Perth, Australia? Or Perth in Scotland? I am in the Pilbara Western Australia.
 
That mahogany laminate top looks just like the top on my Ailesi Ovation copy. Maybe made in the same factory? The Aielsi was a little over $60 including shipping to the US. I bought direct from Aielsi.
 
Perth in Australia.

Well then, greetings from another Western Australian!

My kmise lam mahogany tenor arrived the other day. Exceeded my expectations in all areas, most importantly setup and intonation is quite good. Has a nice volume and tone, well made with no sharpness on frets. Wood has an attractive grain very uniform build quality. I do like the arch back style as I only have one other uke with that style of back. I could spend $AU60.99 in infinitely worse ways. Very nice affordable Uke.
 
That mahogany laminate top looks just like the top on my Ailesi Ovation copy. Maybe made in the same factory? The Aielsi was a little over $60 including shipping to the US. I bought direct from Aielsi.

I believe the Kmise boss responded to a Kmise review and said they have no affiliation with Caramel at all.
 
I am waiting for a Kmise baritone now. If standards match the tenor I've got, I will be one happy dude.
 
Kmise Solid spruce top concert

Just bought a solid spruce top Kmise concerto with gig bag and little cheap tuning clip machine. Hope to see it in 2 - 4 weeks. According to this site it seems to be the right choice and I wanted a concert for a long time.
The lady said (wrote) I´m quoting: "Hello friend,
Good day!
Dear friend,the side is as same as the back,and the black binding is plastic,not wood.
This ukulele is good quality and worth to buy.hope you will satisfied it.
Best regards"

Should arrive 2016-03-21 - 2016-04-13, within a span of three weeks :rolleyes:
 
Type "Kmise" into the Chinese site AliExpress.com and you get a few hits on a number of Kmise products. Guitars and ukuleles. Given that there is a growing number of reasonable low cost ukes coming out of China, why bother with the one or two selected by Amazon buyers, why not just shop directly from a site like AliExpress based in China and see many more brands that are competitive with Kmise?

Totally agree with you, Bill1! When I go to China next, I will definitely pick up a tenor from one of the many ukulele shops on Taobao.com (similar to AliExpress). By the way, have you by any chance tried the Caeser brand ukulele?
 
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One peculiar thing about those Chinese ukuleles are that it seems as though those that are more decorated or ornamented at the top seem to cost less. :confused:

From what I can see on the chinese webshops, the more decorated ukuleles can always be sold more easily. They sometimes cost less might be because they are made of a lesser material. Sometimes they are claimed to be solid top but for that price it's probably laminate.
 
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