mid-priced vs high-end ukes?

iDavid

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I bought my daughter a Bushman soprano a fews ago and just got myself a Pono Baritone and both are really great instruments.

In then near future I would like to get my wife a concert and myself a tenor. I'm been reading this forum and reviews and I am wondering if the higher-priced ukes are worth the extra money.

I live in Northern Japan, so playing before I buy isn't going to happen. I am seriously considering a Mainland, but the wife doesn't dig the rope binding. (she may have to get over that)

Do you guys have mid priced and high-priced ukes. Do you notice a difference?

Thanks

david
 
my humble opinion

I have a Bushman baritone that I love and won't sell. I also have a Kanilea tenor k-1 that I I love and bought after buying and selling a number of other ukes. I wish I had gone for the Kanilea early on. I would have saved the money I lost in resales and I would have had a greater uke early on. I had a Pono but it was too heavy for me and never had the sweetness that my Kala or Bushman tenor had. I sold the
Bushman tenor because though it was nice the Kanilea was so much nicer. I also had an Ohana that just didn't have what I was looking for.

So my thoughts, if you're a good musician improving and serious about staying with the uke, go for either a Kanilea or a Kamaka or something comparable. A really good uke lets you hear more and is worth the price.

Gambate kudasai
 
Hi iDavid. I recently read something about a good Japanese brand called Kiwaya. It might have been on this website. Maybe somebody here has one and can comment. Your local music store might have some in stock.

http://www.kiwaya.com/
 
each brand or type of uke has its own character, which may or may not be right for you, regardless of quality level. My Pono mahogany soprano (short scale) is very sweet-sounding and I wouldn't part with it. On the other hand I have some more expensive ukes that are excellent but just don't send me quite as much.

I think you do get what you pay for but you also have to consider the type of uke you want, a given brand may not be it.

By the way MGM has tons of Kiwayas.
 
I was a higher mid level owner as well as a high end owner. I love both companies. I own 2 meles now, 1 pono, and 2 koalohas. My koalohas sound a lot better than either of my imports, however my Meles sound great. The Pono sounds good as well but I want to get rid of it b/c I never play it. If you can afford one of the K brands get one. If not there is nothing wrong with owning another quality uke. I struggled with your dilema for many months. My first K brand uke was a unexpected blessing and I am afraid it might be KoAlohas for me only now.
 
In general I would say buy the best ukulele you can afford and I believe that usually the higher price bracket will yield better ukes (I'm not talking better price/performance ratio, just better, period). I am about to do a series of comparisons between a Mainland concert and a Collings concert on my blog though. Not sure if anything useful will come out of that, but it might be of interest to some.
 
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Do you ever come down to Tokyo? If yes, then think what you want and take a look in the shops here. Plenty of online shops as well. Try Kurosawa, they are one of the bigger chain stores with (at least in Tokyo) a good selection of ukuleles. Kiwaya is the standard uke shop, and their FS-1 model is the traditional first ukulele for a (slightly aged) Japanese hobbyist. On the Kurosawa website, look at "Ilikai" ukes if you want value-for-money. They are very much like the Chinese-built brands in the US, and I bought a SOP-150 model (solid mahogany) for a friend that was great. They have a budget tenor as well in that same line.

Somewhere in my post history there is a short writeup of a few stores, but I will have to dig it up.
 
...Simply put, yes I do notice a difference.

My run-in with Uke's runs the gamut, from $50 Uke's to Uke's costing about $1500 and I can say there is a difference. But what do you want to know in terms of differences, ya know?

I mean...most likely, if the Uke's price is up there with the clouds, then the wood is going to probably be Koa and if it's around the tree tops, maybe Mahogany? Simply put - the wood grain is a major difference. Thus producing a different sound (as different woods have different tonal qualities to them).

Maybe the strings as well?...But you could always buy different strings. Perhaps the tuners as well? Though I've never found different tuners (geared, friction) to be specific among certain types of Ukes (but I see geared on more Tenors than anything else)...

I have a Soprano that cost more than my friend's Tenor and mine sounds richer in sound - but his has a pick-up :( haha, so I mean...there's A LOT of differences, but the main ones to me are...wood (sound I guess too) and the quality of the product.

I think I use parenthesis's too much, haha. :D
 
Good points

I don't care what it looks like, but I prefer simple or flashy.

I guess I want to know do the higher price ukes sound "better" and do they play smoother.
 
Good points

I don't care what it looks like, but I prefer simple or flashy.

I guess I want to know do the higher price ukes sound "better" and do they play smoother.

Well...from my experience, the more pricey Uke's have always sounded better to me - and I would like to specify "pricey for their size" I guess, cause...a $250 Soprano might sound better than a $250 Tenor (to me...haha)
 
how much would one need to spend for a "better" sounding tenor?

Probably around $250+...?

MGM has THIS Kala Mango Tenor (KA-MT) for $252 (not to mention that he gives you some awesome upgrades for FREE...yeah FREE...no, he's not crazy, he's awesome)

...I just put the link in case you're interested in that. Man...starting to think about it myself actually HAHA. :cool:
 
Probably around $250+...?

MGM has THIS Kala Mango Tenor (KA-MT) for $252 (not to mention that he gives you some awesome upgrades for FREE...yeah FREE...no, he's not crazy, he's awesome)

...I just put the link in case you're interested in that. Man...starting to think about it myself actually HAHA. :cool:

Are Kalas solid wood are laminate?
 
I think it's pretty much like anything else: There is an appreciable difference between, say, a $250 uke and a $600 uke that an experienced player will discern, and those little nuances are desirable for the players in that market and, therefore, worth it.

There is, however, a LOT more difference between a $59 dollar uke and a $250 uke than there is between a $250 uke and a "high end" (?) $6-900 uke. The difference between a $600 uke and a $1500 uke? I don't know. Probably bling factor and bragging rights.
 
Its all depends what you can afford and what makes you happy and the feel of the instrument/style.
 
I'm about to sell a guitar for about 600 or so, I guess that's what I can afford.

I don't care about bling. Which brands would you guys recommend for 500 to 600 buck-a -roos?

I don't "plan" on collecting Ukes, so I would like the tenor to be my main Uke.... then again they are small, so I could fit a lot of them on my wall :D


david
 
I would search the marketplace for a good deal on a k uke for 600. You should be able to get something used if you are willing to hold out... Either that or keep saving so you have abt $900 to part with and try finding a k uke with a warranty, you said you were looking for a concert?

http://cgi.ebay.com/pikake-KOALOHA-...ultDomain_0?hash=item4ceb54aa19#ht_3349wt_958

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/names/koaloha-kcm-00-mahogany-neck-concert-ukulele--KMCU.htm

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/names/kanile'a-k-1-concert-ukulele-gloss-finish--K1C.htm

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/names/kanile'a-k-1-tenor-ukulele-gloss-finish--K1T.htm
 
David are you looking for a handmade uke? With your price range you can get a top of the line mele uke. Those are handmade in philipines and have a final set up done on maui. Much better than ponos or any of the chinese made ukes. You might even be able to find a nice used k brand. My koalohas sounds better to me than my meles but not so much that I would never play my meles again. Wood type makes differemce as well as does action and set up. My mele has a thin neck that is smoothe and easy to mnove about.
 
I'd read George's blog that he mentions. George lives in Minnesota so the weather there might be comparable to what you have in Northern Japan. If you're in Hokkaido then you're really going to have to monitor your humidity levels.

I think George had some issues with one of his high-end ukes splitting soon after receiving it.

If you decide to go with a higher-end, solid wood "K" I would get a KoAloha and make sure you buy a humidifier at the same time. Keep both receipts with the uke. If you ave expansion and contraction issues in the future then KoAloha will cover the repair. You won't get that with any other brand. Others could correct me on this if I'm wrong.
 
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