Cheap guitaleles?

Jerwin

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Hello,

I am considering a purchase of a cheap guitalele to hike with. Yamaha GL1 seems to be the only available choice. Is there anything similar to that in the market? For instance Mahalo guitalele looks nice but it does not seem to be available anymore. Any tips? Ideally for EU market which is different a bit.

Thanks!
Petr
 
Oh my goodness, yes. Córdoba Mini M- $199. Great sounding and easy to play. I have one and love it- got it for the same reason you said you want one- hiking and traveling. But, sounds so good, I often pull it down off the wall to strum in bed or the back porch or... Check out the description Hawaii Music Supply gives them and check out YouTube videos. Some good videos out there, including the Guitar Center one. Oops, just reread your post and see that you're in Europe. Still, bet Cordoba Minis are relatively easy to obtain there- get such rave reviews.
 
to the OP: what scale length do you want, what nut width?

There is NO standard for EITHER on a guitalele.

On full size 4/4 classical guitar is 25.5" scale standard, and 2.1" (52mm) nut width standard.

With guitalele's BOTH dimensions are up for grabs. FYI MOST acoustic and electric guitars have nut width of 1.67" (43mm).

The Yamaha GL-1 is 17" scale and 45mm nut width and coming from full sized classical guitar it is VERY uncomfortable to play, the only saving grace is that I got it on sale for $60, but will likely replace is with a Cordoba MINI, which is 20" scale and 2" nut width.
 
I bought an Alulu on fleabay a year or so ago. I had to sand the the saddle down a bit to get a better action, but besides a small stable grain crack that developed, it sounds remarkably sweet. It sits next to my lounge chair and gets played multiple times a day. I would say it is a great value at a very nice price point. Take a look!
 
to the OP: what scale length do you want, what nut width?

There is NO standard for EITHER on a guitalele.

On full size 4/4 classical guitar is 25.5" scale standard, and 2.1" (52mm) nut width standard.

With guitalele's BOTH dimensions are up for grabs. FYI MOST acoustic and electric guitars have nut width of 1.67" (43mm).

The Yamaha GL-1 is 17" scale and 45mm nut width and coming from full sized classical guitar it is VERY uncomfortable to play, the only saving grace is that I got it on sale for $60, but will likely replace is with a Cordoba MINI, which is 20" scale and 2" nut width.


What do you think makes it unconfortable to play, the scale lenght? I spend most of the time on an acoustic 24,9" with 1 3/4" nut (OOO body). So I thought GL1 might be quite ok (has great reveiws too). I know this is matter of personal preference and the feel of the instrument can't be judged from numbers only. I'll probably check out Cordoba mini in a store too. The intrument rly seems lovely but is 3 times more expensive than GL1. I was hoping to find more choices at price point of GL1.
 
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the gp100 is a diff animal from the mini. it's similar to the gl1, including nut width. the mini is clearly a much nicer instrument than either.

the mini-m has a 50mm nut width (1.96"). islander/kanilea are the same i believe.

if op is used to 1 3/4" (mid 40's) nut width the yamaha will do fine. i see several gl1's for 80usd on local craigslist. they really should sell them for 60usd though.
 
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the gp100 is a diff animal from the mini. it's similar to the gl1, including nut width. the mini is clearly a much nicer instrument than either.

+10000

I tried the gl1 and the old cordobo gp100.
The cordoba mini has sooooo much better tone.
If you're coming from uke, or classical guitar, the mini just feels better.
If you're used to a steel string guitar, then the gl1/gp100 might not feel so awkward.

I just wish it was tenor scale instead of bari but I do like the sound of the extra length.
 
IIRC, Andrew from HMS has said that they had problems with both the Cordoba and Luna 'guitalele's' (NOT the Cordoba Mini)...

IIRC something about both/either not being brace well enough and the top having dishing/bellying from the bridge rotating the top, and thus they sent back the samples units and refused to carry them in the store. YES, these issues were with NEW units. I dunno if it was resolved by Cordoba/Luna, but with the Mini doing very well in sales, I'd think that they might consider their 'guitalele' a throwaway product, but I had no hard data, and this is just opinion.

OTOH, I have put 'extra-hard-tension' string on my GL-1 in an attempt to get EADGBE tuning (prior to the availability of certain other string sets) and while I only went up to 'G' or 'Terz' tuning, saw no issues at all with my GL-1, and it seems to me that they are built like a tank.

I frequently see them for sale NEW for $69 @ Guitar Center / Musicians Friend / American Musical/ Austin Bazar, so you might want to shop around....

ALSO Kala has a guitalele: http://cargo.ukerepublic.com/product/kala-ka-gl-koa-spruce-koa-guitarlele

but it is $300

KalaGuitarlele.jpg
 
Well, certainly Cordoba mini looks gorgeous, I will definately visit music store to check them both in person (I have to travel 150km to get there).

I actually regret starting the topic a bit. I was going to treat myself with GL1 now I am seriously considering the "bigger" purchase. I would need to sell my Pono MTD first, but apparently it looks to be unsellable in Europe :(.

I definately will get my hands on both to see the difference myself. I just have a feeling that it's too much money for me to spend, considering the purpose I want to buy it for. Camping, hiking, cycling, whatever. The instrument may suffer during these activities. Although if the instrument does not feel comfy, it's worthless anyway. Thanks for suggestions, any further comments will be appriciated.
 
Well, certainly Cordoba mini looks gorgeous, I will definately visit music store to check them both in person (I have to travel 150km to get there).

I actually regret starting the topic a bit. I was going to treat myself with GL1 now I am seriously considering the "bigger" purchase. I would need to sell my Pono MTD first, but apparently it looks to be unsellable in Europe :(.

I definately will get my hands on both to see the difference myself. I just have a feeling that it's too much money for me to spend, considering the purpose I want to buy it for. Camping, hiking, cycling, whatever. The instrument may suffer during these activities. Although if the instrument does not feel comfy, it's worthless anyway. Thanks for suggestions, any further comments will be appriciated.

The mini M comes up fairly regularly on evilbay used/blem for $150 delivered. I dropped mine (it was on a chair, and fell off) and damaged it a bit, and have considered replacing it, but really, it still plays ok, so I haven't jumped on it.
 
The mini M comes up fairly regularly on evilbay used/blem for $150 delivered. I dropped mine (it was on a chair, and fell off) and damaged it a bit, and have considered replacing it, but really, it still plays ok, so I haven't jumped on it.

For instance, not a single guitalele in Europe at Reverb.com... I have to pay taxes and duties when when ordering from the US. And if anything is distributed here, the price is usually like 25% higher because of taxing and dealer profits.
 
I've found a used guitarlele for half of the price of new GL1. It says it's wooden Koralala guitarlele. I can't find anything about these.
Any info?

korala.jpg
 
I've found a used guitarlele for half of the price of new GL1. It says it's wooden Koralala guitarlele. I can't find anything about these.
Any info?

View attachment 92382

All of the Korala ukes that I've seen for sale are made of ABS plastic, not sure about the one in your photo, can you post the link to it from the seller where you saw it?.

(just copy and paste anywhere in your reply)

Speaking of which, I've seen this one by Clearwater on both Amazon and eBay for a similar price:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TRAVEL-GUITAR-POLYCARBONATE-CLEARWATER-UKULELE/dp/B00NMHO04A

the eBay one was also being sold by RUMC (UK seller), but they are not showing any listed now:

http://stores.ebay.com/THE-REALLY-USEFUL-MUSIC-COMPANY
 
I’m not familiar with a Koralala brand. It has an interesting body shape. Is the seller close enough for you to try it out before buying?

Very few of us are familiar with shopping options for the Czech Republic.

I think “guitalele” is a trademark of the Yamaha company. You might try searching for guilele or guitarlele or half size guitar, or even requinto guitar.
 
I have a Ibanez EWP15LTD. It has steel strings and narrow nut width like electric and fork guitars. Sound is similar to fork guitar. I like it very much. Rakelele has a quite good review in this forum.
 
as for the korala...ABS plastic plus wounds doesn't sound like a very good combination. probably best to avoid that. As I mentioned earlier, if the OP doesn't mind a narrower nut, the yamaha gl1 is still a good choice. Especially if it's going to be a beater of some type.
 
I have the GLI and the Kanilea Islander. Much prefer the latter for the scale length, but with the neck was about 1/8" narrower.
 
All of the Korala ukes that I've seen for sale are made of ABS plastic, not sure about the one in your photo, can you post the link to it from the seller where you saw it?.

Korala do make wood ukes. They range from "cheap and cheerful" to quite reasonable. My first reasonable uke was a Korala with a solid spruce top and laminate back and sides and cost me £100. It was good for the money with nice tone and played well. I eventually sold it on to a friend who is very happy with it.

I don't know about the instrument shown. I think Korala are a UK brand name for a range of Chinese made instruments. I suspect the same instruments may be sold in the USA under some other brand name.

The Really Useful Music Co. are based here in Durham, UK. They specialise in "cheap and cheerful" instruments.
 
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