About the makala dolphin ukes

Hey guys,

As my first ukulele I was thinking of buying the makala dolphin ukulele from MGM but it seems he doesn't sell them anymore ( only in "beginner" package which I don't really need ). Are the makala ukes good anyways even if it doesn't have the MGM set up? I was thinking of buying it from a local shop.

It's up to you to try them out and judge if they are good. Set ups are still to own preferences.

Like most factory made instruments - not everything is in the same quality. So it's probably for the best if you go to your local shop and ask to try some out and pick the one that feels right to you.

Did you contact mgm? I'll bet he might have them or might be able to get them.

Give Mike at UkeRepublic a shout. He still has them, and he sets them up too.

I'd recommend buying a dolphin from MGM, Uke Republic, or Mim (if she has them), unless you can actually play a few of them side-by-side. They vary quite a bit in quality and setup. My local Sam Ash has a few, and only one has acceptable intonation. Some have pretty bad cosmetic defects in the paint along the side of the fretboard too. And if your luck is anything like mine, the only playable ones will be in the colors you don't like.

The local music store, which typically has LOTS of Dolphins, has none right now because they can't get them- it just may be a backlog kinda 'ting.

Ok thanks for the replies guys

Before last Christmas I bought 10 dolphin ukes from different sources, without any set up. Some were from local stores, and other from the internet stores. They were in short supply, so I had to grab what I could. I changed the strings to Aquila on all the ukes, and stretched out the strings for a couple of weeks. I would say that maybe 2 or 3 out of the 10 had intonation issues. All of them were playable though, with no buzzes and comfortable action. If you can try one in person, use an electronic tuner and test out the intonation on the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th fret. I had one uke that was obviously off at the 3rd fret, so I worked on the nut and saddle a bit and it got better. If it is 20 cents off at the 12th fret, you might want to have it adjusted, or choose another one. I found that 70-80% were pretty darn good right from the factory.

–Lori

Hi all, first timer here. I was gonna start a thread but decided to use this since it's on the same topic

Recently I was looking for the dolphin myself as my first uke but no stock in Oz, something about factory issue - can anybody shed anymore light on this?

Since then I got a Flea - but still looking for a dolphin for my friends, and as a second uke for myself.

If anyone got further info what's happening, would appreciate it!!

_Set

I got mine from Kent Knorr at the NC ukulele academy. I am sure he could pick out a good one for you and send it.

IMHO for the price, the Makala is hard to beat in the budget category. The difference between it and similarly priced mahalo ukes is night and day.

They can require some set up though, and work great with Aquilas

I have some nicer ukes in my collection, but have gigged with my Dolphin - loud, clear and great tone. Amazing really.

My review here - http://www.gotaukulele.com/2010/04/red-special-arrives-makala-dolphin.html