First Uke Purchase

Hello UU,

This is a standard 'what uke should I get!' question for anyone who wants to help.

Here is my situation: I'm an active musician and music teacher, I already teach ukulele lessons (though I primarily teach piano, guitar, and clarinet). My ukulele is a loaner, which is fine, but my wife has caught the ukulele bug and now I want to buy both of us new Ukes for the holidays. She is also a beginner but a musician.

My location is west virginia, which means that 1. there are no ukulele vendors around, so playing before purchase is not an option, and 2. shipping costs and production location are an issue. It would probably be cheaper and 'better' for the instrument if it was made and mailed in the continental united states, potentially ruling out true hawaiian ukes and euro/british makers.

So, what do you recommend? (Try to answer that first before reading on to my current thoughts)

---

Looking around the internets, I'm currently leaning towards a laminate back/sides and solid wood faced Kala, probably a concert size for her and a tenor for me as I think having a slight variety in tone would make playing duets together more fun. I'm leaning towards the Concert size for her just because I appreciate the very slight increase in volume and neck length.

Here is a link to a seller I'm considering, and the model numbers that appeal to me right off the bat.

http://www.jwbosworthguitars.com/KalaPriceList.htm

KA-CEM for 123$, comes with a case (Presumably a 'firm' case, not a heavy duty hard case or a gig bag, but one of those stiff cardboard-esque deals?)
KA-TEM for 139$, comes with a case (same deal)

I have more thoughts, but this post is already novel length so.. Let me know your thoughts, forumites, and fast so that I can get my seasonal shopping done!

I have a kala ka-st that I bought from Mgm. He has tons of Kala's and you should check him out. There is a link to his e-bay site on the main page. I think he has free shipping to the U.S. on many of his items. You normally get free case, upgraded strings(Aquilas), and set up. I was very pleased with his service and am verry happy with my Uke! Shipping was very fast, even to Toronto. Shipped on a Monday, arrived on Thursday. Just a suggestion. It seems you can't go to wrong with a Kala if you don't want to spend big bucks. Enjoy!

Welcome to the forums. Kala makes a fine instrument. I have one now and had one that I sold in the past. I do not know anything about the seller you posted a link to but you might want to find out if the do any setup to the instrument before they sell. Also check out MGM on ebay. He sells alot of ukes to members and his customer service is second to none.

I think you have a pretty good plan with the solid top ukulele. My Kala is the Sprucetop Tenor and I like it but I prefer Concert ukes so it does not get to much action right now.

I might also suggest Mainland ukulele as another possible place to get a uke. A lot of people here have one or more and love them. I think they are all solid instruments too. If I don't suggest that someone will (probably will anyway).

One question that might help us direct you in your serch is what is your budget?

What part of WV?

I'm not sure if those flamed kala's have solid tops. Maybe someone who has one, or knows for sure will help you out. The sale price on your link is cheaper than Mgm. Here's what I found.
http://cgi.ebay.com/JUST-ARRIVED-Fl...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4cec36209e

replies

@deach

I'm in charleston, downtown

@rzr

I concur, I misread and the CEM and TEM do not have solid tops as far as I can tell. I think they look a lot 'sexier' than the spruce tops, but the spruce tops seem like they would have a clear sound/tone advantage. And, from the website i linked, upgrading to the spruce tops would only raise the price by 21$ (and that is with me buying 2 ukes).

I've been looking at MGM's ebay room for the past few days as well, and i'm leaning towards JWbosworthguitars site just because it does seem like it would be cheaper by a good 40 dollars or more. Additionally, MGM isn't stocking any spruce tops right now, excluding the thinline travel models and the models that include pickups and cost near 100$ more each.

Also, and this is just a personal gripe as a person who has worked in music stores and have friends who work in music stores, it bothers me a little when MGM claims the strings have been upgraded since the aquila's come standard on almost all Kala's. Also, most sellers seem to offer an automatic setup service, dressing frets and checking intonation etc.. I definitely don't hold it against MGM though, because he does seem to genuinely offer good customer service and he has to make those claims because everyone else does, and it would be a shame for him to lose business because other people are advertising 'Our ukes have Aquila's!' and he doesn't.

What MGM has going for him is a stellar track record, and the knowledge that the items I pick from ebay will definitely be in stock and get to me fast, while JWB will probably have to order and then mail, meaning I'll have to wait an extra week or possibly a bit more. I doubt JWB's costumer service is terrible though, I can't find any big complaints on the internetz.

---

So, now my choice seems to be between

Kala CEM+TEM for combined cost of 262$ from JWB, or from MGM for 325$ (wow! 63 dollar difference)

Or

KA-SC + KA-ST for combined cost of 283$ from JWB (21$ more than EM models from JWB, and 42$ -less- than MGM's price for the EM models)

Any final thoughts from the peanut gallery?

-rwp

step it up to solid wood, mainland or ohana make some of the best, cheap, solid wood ukes, and you can buy them both from the USA.

Just thought I'd throw MGM out there. I liked the look of the spruce top and that's the main reason I got it. I don't have a musical background so I wasn't to sure what to look for. I saw the spruce top cut away in a local shop and loved the look. My local shop was selling it with GHS strings which I think are standard but your right almost everyone sells with Aquilas. The case, which seems pretty nice to me, and the throw in's are what made me go to MGM. For the difference in price I would probably go with your guy. Whatever you decide, Ukulele's are awesome!


Is shipping included from your seller?

@ Rzr, comment #8

I like that you threw out MGM's name even though I've been looking at him! Even though I was aware of him, knowing that -other people- are aware of him and have opinions matters tremendously.

Shipping is free with purchases of a certain size - the spruce tops would exceed this limit, the EM models would slightly fall below it, so I would make the difference by buying some extra strings.

@ Uke., comment #7

Yes! Descent! Step up your comment though; why should I go for the solid wood uke? As a guitar repairman/seller, I can attest to the fact that cheap + solid does not always a good combination make. The advantage of solid wood is that it tends to be more resonant and especially lighter, but the cheaper the model is, usually the worse quality the wood itself is and the craftsmanship become. Bad wood negates resonance and stability, and bad craftsmanship does both and adds weight.

I'm not accusing Ohana or Mainland of these things, but I don't want to jump straight to buying a fully solid wood Uke in the price range I'm looking at. I have my doubts that being fully solid or fully laminate makes much difference when spending 125$'ish. I'm leaning towards the spruce top Uke because that is one of the few places where being genuinely one piece of wood will make a good deal of difference, regardless of craftsmanship involved.

Reading reviews of Ohana and Mainland, I lean more towards Mainland for the price range I'm considering, and am a bit wary of the Ohana CK-10S. Reviews for the cheapest Ohana's bring up lots of craftsmanship issues, especially in terms of fretting and bridge construction.

Don't take any of my ranting as malicious, I'm trying to stir up discussion. If you can provide links to interesting reviews, or sellers with good deals, go for it.

-RP

Nah, I completely understand what you're getting at. You didn't mention a specific price range, and by the way, the Ohana CK-10 is laminate, and is not from the range of Ohana's I meant.

Now, as for quality, Ohana and Mainland are outstanding solid wood ukes. Amazing craftmanship and tone, your choice isn't between a crappily made solid uke and a well made laminate, it's a well made either.

The choice you have to make, depending on what size ukulele you want, is to step up from a good laminate uke for around $150, to a good solid wood uke for $200-250, or $250-300 if you're looking at buying a solid wood tenor.

Imo, when spending a reasonable amount of money on a uke, $50 more to get something that is going to be much more resonant and clear is $50 very well spent!

Having said all that, there are some Kalas and other brands that do make great laminate ukes, it's just my opinion that you're better off spending that $50 now and having something you'll keep and treasure forever than something you'll want to replace in a few years time.

I should mention that I speak from no personal experience, I am a guitar (along with other instruments) player like yourself and am getting my first uke for Christmas. I'm getting the Ohana CK-35GS which is an all solid mahogany concert. Check out Ken Middleton's reviews (youtube) of some of his Ohana's if you're interested.

As far as Mainlands go they're around the same price, although their stock is currently quite low. Many many people on this forum own and love mainlands and the reason for the low stock is high demand.

Like I said I'm saying all this based on what I have heard and read, but this is how I view the ukulele hierachy , :

Laminate - $20-125ish
Solid top - $100-150
All solid woods (Mahogany, Spruce, Cedar etc.) $200-350(pretty rough estimate as you can pay a lot but generally at this price range buyers may be interested in a solid Koa ukulele, or a custom ukulele.
All solid Koa - $350-2309840293803498

Good luck!

@Uke. Reply #10

Well made points - I was looking at Ohana's website, and the listing said 'Mahogany top, back sides.' I do kind of wish that they'd be required to include the word 'Laminate' in there, but convention is that 'Solid' = not laminate. The more you know.

A question on the nut and saddle for several of Ohana's ukes, including the 35G - Ohana claims they are bone, and I just wanted to ask 'what kind of bone?' - Is it a synthetic plastic that is just referred to as bone, or does it actually come from an animal, and if so, which animal.. (I'm mostly just curious - I fit most guitars with Graphtech and Tusq saddles and nuts, and I've toyed with the idea of pursuing bone as a material but I've never followed through. To and curious ukies reading this, btw, I wouldn't worry about graphite nuts and bridges on ukulele's, I don't think the friction issues with Nylgut are as pronounced as steel strings on guitars)

I didn't give price ranges at first because I was fishing for answers, curious to see what people would say without a full set of restricting parameters. Your confidence and affection for Ohana makes me want to give them another shot, but for this purchase and this year I'll be going Mainland or Kala I think. There is still room to sway me, but I'm trying to decide fast to make sure I'll have the ukes in time for the holidays. Really, the only reason I'm more likely to get a Kala instead of a Mainland is because I might not be able to get in to the store in Nashville Indiana to try some out.

---

Price Range: 250-450$ - I'm buying two ukuleles, one tenor and one concert. As such, a 50$ difference between a laminate and a full solid is magnified to 100$. Additionally, I haven't been able to find as much of a discount on Ohana's and Mainland's as I have the kala spruce tops. It is looking like that alone would account for another 100$.

If I purchased a CK-35G for 309$, and a TK-35 for 339$, I'd be spending 648$ and probably an additional 30$ shipping and handling. As it stands, I'm leaning towards two KA spruce tops for 283$, post-shipping costs. That specific model of Ohana would be costing me 240% the price of the Kala... But let me back up right there and say I do believe in the quality of the Ohana.

I need to acknowledge this comment:

"you're better off spending that $50 now and having something you'll keep and treasure forever than something you'll want to replace in a few years time."

God knows I've had to deal with guitar students playing on garbage instruments, where a parent purchases a 100$ guitar from walmart and then is shocked when their child hates to play on their guitar because it hurts their fingers and sounds bad. There is truth in your words. Part of the reason I'm here at this forum is to ensure that I'm overcoming the beginners-instrument hurdle, getting something nice enough to really feel good playing. From what I can tell, the Kala Spruce Tops will suffice and then some, without breaking the bank. I don't know I'll be keeping them for decades or passing them down, but the flip side of this is that I can feel comfortable selling them to a friend in a few years and use that money to upgrade, or sell them to a friend if I need to move, and I won't be losing a hard earned heirloom.

---

This comment is officially 7x too long, which is my style. Uke, thank you for replying and talking about your uke buying philosophy.

Other people still reading this, come on and sound off some opinions for me to write epic tomes about. Who out there has settled for a laminate and been disappointed, who has settled for a laminate and been delighted, who has settled for a solid wooded body and found it wasn't what they'd hoped, who has gotten a solid wooded body and had it exceed their wildest hopes?

-rwp

Just one thing to mention, you said the CK35GS is $309, because that's what they list it as on the site but on eBay and other music sites they are usually $249, they're $249 from MGM (eBay and a member here) with a free case (valued at $50), which is an awesome deal.

I think the TK35 is $279 or $289, can't remember.

That's the last I'm going to say, I promise!

Uke, I like it when you have things to say It is interesting and informative.