Mele Ukulele

molokinirum

molokinirum

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Aloha!
Looking into purchasing a Mele Uke. I would love to hear any feedback about the Mele Ukes, sound, craftsmanship, quality in build and finish etc. I plan on buying a Koa wood (solid) made in Hawaii while on a future trip.
Mahalo!!
 
My husband and I both have Meles that we bought in the store on Maui-He has a concert and I have a soprano. We have been happy with them for the 3 and 6 years we have had them. They are made of several different woods; I can't remember which ones exactly. They sound great, though, and I would purchase one again.
 
I now have four Meles and may buy another one next week when i go visit Mele. I just purchased a solid koa double puka tenor that i did a review on and a comparison with my solid koa top mahaghany back and sides tenor. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FA5r5JpyWZc


Good Luck and you can not go wrong with a Mele IMO.
 
How's the quality on a Mele? Can it compete with say.. a KoAloha or Kanile'a?
 
haolejohn said:
I played a kanile'a at the swap meet and my Mele sounded just as good and the construction appeared to be the same. I noticed no difference.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to agree and disagree. I own two meles, and they are both very nice instruments, made with great woods and the construction is solid. My mele koa top, mahogany sides/back tenor is also a real player. And I'm not just being brand-myopic when I say this, but, for me, there is a distinct difference when I pick up my Mele compared to when I pick up my KoAloha or Kanilea. All of the above are good sounding, fun to play ukes. But theres a certain feel to the hawaiian K-brand ukes, possibly because of a finer attention to detail, that I don't get from the Meles.

That all said, I've had only good experiences with my Mele ukes, and love playing them. And I've been thrashing on my tenor, and it is still going VERY strong. The thing stands up to abuse almost as well as a Fluke.
 
experimentjon said:
But theres a certain feel to the hawaiian K-brand ukes, possibly because of a finer attention to detail, that I don't get from the Meles.

That all said, I've had only good experiences with my Mele ukes, and love playing them. And I've been thrashing on my tenor, and it is still going VERY strong. The thing stands up to abuse almost as well as a Fluke.
Click to expand...

I haven't yet gotten a hold of a koaloha yet. but I like the kamaka and would buy one and will buy one one day but the Kanile'a just didn't impress me. Now not to say it wasn't good it sounded great but i just kept looking at that price tag and wished it was $150 less.

Ok. I'm being biased I want one of all of them.
 
specialmike said:
How's the quality on a Mele? Can it compete with say.. a KoAloha or Kanile'a?
Click to expand...

I own 3 Mele's all of them are Solid Koa and have Paua inlay and sound great. But you just can not compare the attention to detail and the overall quality put into building a Kamaka or the other K's. The wood used on the Mele tops, are OK, but the backs are usually a lower grade. The Mele is a great sounding uke for it's price and is definitely an extremely good value. If you compare the sound to any uke within the same price range, the Mele will win hands down. The bottom line is you get what you pay for.
 
Meles are in the same general price and build bracket as Pono, Honu, some of the Kalas, Mainland. get some comparisons with owners of these brands - it's not really fair to compare them with the upper end K lines. Bit too much like comparing a Jaguar with a Ford.​
 
Mele Ukuleles

I just bought a Mele "Guitarlele" and couldn't be happier...The instrument is built well, has an understated beauty, and plays and sounds great...It is all solid mahogany with ebony binding on the top and back, ebony fingerboard and bridge, and ebony nut. It has rope purfling around both the top and back of the sides. It was strung EADGBE as a guitar but I changed it up to ADGCEA tuning and it really brought the sound out...Here is a link to a review I did on it...:)

http://www.youtube.com/user/WhenDogsSing

My only qualm with the ukulele is that I don't like the Mele decal they put on the headstock...the instrument would look a whole lot better without the decal...:(

Overall, it's a keeper...:)
 
Funny,
If Mele makes a especific line of his ukuleles in Asia, the whole line is overrated mele. Now, many ukuleles koalana Koaloha made in Asia and nobody stopped valuing their ukuleles.
 
My very first uke was a Mele soprano. Nice sound, very thin neck, low action, sharp looking. The fretwork is really shoddy, though--the fret ends aren't clipped straight and they're overly square in profile. Could be an isolated incident though. Also, there's a good deal of finish checking (like one sees on a vintage Martin) for an instrument that's only 5 years old. But again, your experience may well be different (I'm not known for being gentle with my instruments).
 
Aloha Molokinirum,
I have a older Mele 4 string tenor double puka Koa top with Mahogany back and sides..with a fishman pick-up...It is the model made in the phillipines....Nice great sound...little distinctive if you play them side to
side..otherwise unnoticable....worth every cent and probally more.. I'd say between upper middle level to premimum ukulele....I enjoy mine very much...Hope it helps...Good Luck!!! MM Stan...
 
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Coconut Willie said:
I'm confused too!!! :confused: :confused: :confused:
Click to expand...

yeppers. Anyways I went back and read some of my earlier posts. I was very inflicted with KAS when I was posting thast I prefered my Mele to the Kanile'as that I played. I must've been jonesing for that KoAloha that I got a few days latter.

I got to play another kanile'a and I think my next K brand is going to either be a ko'olau or Kanile'a soundmonster, unless I get a crown bridge koaloha:)
 
Those $300 koa pineapple soprano's on ebay were giving me a serious case of buy it now finger.......but I didn't bite I think because there's not alot of info to be found on them.
 
I briefly had a soprano Mele, and was very disappointed. So much so, I returned it. Mele not only made me pay for the return shipping, they also deducted from my refund the original shipping to me :mad:
My observations of the soprano Mele sent me:
- poor, uneven, overall finish with multiple blemishes
- sharp crude frets
- cheap, ugly "Mele" sticker on the headstock
- sounded absolutely dead (even after I changed the cheap stock strings to Aquillas)
 
Wow...that sux! I have only heard Mele ukes on sound clips, but the reviews are usually pretty good. Their return policy does not bode well for next purchase, especially spending $400 and up!!!
 
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