Mahalo Telecaster Ukes

I'm in 'eat my own words' mode here!

Generally when anyone's asked me what uke they should by I've always said Kala/Makala depending on budget. NOT a Mahalo and NOT anything shaped like an electric guitar.

However at the weekend I was looking for a uke for my brother's birthday. The shop I was in had a pretty poor selection but the guy there insisted I should try one of the Teles. Well, here goes nothing I thought but I was very pleasantly surprised! It was very well set up with nubone bridge and nut. Decent strings (I think aquila but not sure) and absolutely spot on intonation. Sound is on the thin side but not at all unpleasant and it's extremely playable. In fact I think I'm going to keep it. It's that good!

Quality control on the finish a bit hit and miss as the first one I picked up had some shoddy paintwork here and there but the second one out of the box was near perfect. For a £35 uke at least. And they both sounded good anyway.

Aloha AD,
Congrats on the purchase of your uke...any pic's...Happy Strummings..MM Stan

congrats.. how about some photos and a sound sample!

yep, I'll get onto that later!
At work now.

The Mahalo acoustic-electric Les Pauls and Teles can be really good... or not quite so good.
It's a bit of hit and miss.

The strings "look" like Aquila, but I think it's possible that they're not genuine Aquila. Kinda hard to tell, but when I put concert Aquilas on one, it drastically improved the tone.

The electronics are usually the biggest hit n miss part. A lot of them are not well balanced... with the middle strings (C and E) being amplified a lot louder than the outer strings (G and E). Though with a bit of fiddling around with the saddle, you can make it somewhat playable. The newer models have improved the electronic compartment though, accepting a 9V battery and a reinforced jack.

However, they're just so gorgeous to look at. And if you're lucky enough to find a good one, or you have set one up yourself to be decent, they're absolutely lovely travel ukes. I think a Soprano acoustic-electric is quite versatile, and it is sad there aren't many soprano ukes out there that come standard with a pickup like the Mahalo does.

If it weren't for the Mainland plastic-back uke with electronics installed that I'm purchasing from Mainland soon, I might have considered getting another Mahalo tele or Les paul.

Ah, no electrickery in this one just acoustic. Yes, strings may well be aquila-like rather than the real thing. Seem pretty good though. No doubt a real set would kick out a bit more volume but I'm quite liking it's slightly understated voice at the moment. Oh - compensated bridge too BTW.

Ambient Doughnut said:

yep, I'll get onto that later!
At work now.

Click to expand...

Should be in a few hours then...ha ha

Here you go, bit rough 'n' ready but you get the idea.