Lots of cheap ukuleles

SuzukHammer

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I came back to THailand before I go move on to my next job and it seems that the ukulele world is infested (for want of a better word) with cheap cheap cra....ukuleles. It seems like everybody sells ukes now and there are so many new mysterious names on the headstocks.

The common denominator is that they seem to be cheap. So cheap, I really don't even want to touch them.

There is nothing wrong with that. But, there also is alot wrong with that. Its good to have cheap ukes for the persons with less money and there are alot of those types of persons around these days. The wrong is that it relegates the instrument back to the "toy" or "trendy" type of junk (again for want of a better word).

Am I now a snob?

All I know is : Lots of cheap junk is not fun. THere is no excitement in nonquality cra...ukuleles
 
I don't think you're a snob! It makes sense - the Makala dolphins are a cheap brand, but at least they are somewhat reliable in regards to sound and playability. They're seen as a beginner instrument, not a toy necessarily. They're also part of the Kala brand, so if they were nonredeemable pieces of junk, the entire brand would suffer - there's accountability.

However, the ones you're talking about don't sound like they can say any of that - they don't care about ukes, they're just trying to turn a profit as long as the trend lasts there.
 
I think that is due to the huge and sudden surge in popularity in Thailand.
Lots of new shops selling ukes, but they really don't know what they are doing yet.
Ribbee told me people are willing to pay double the regular price for ukes.
 
I think there's a difference between cheap and inexpensive. I would classify the Dolphin as inexpensive. I'll purchase inexpensive but tend to avoid cheap!
 
I think it goes both ways.
Perhaps in Thailand, a lot of crappy ukes are showing up.

Where I'm at in Australia, I'm seeing an increase of quality brands show up on shop walls.
Some are cheap, and brands I haven't heard of (Kealoha?!)
But they're actually surprisingly good quality. I thought it was a typical cheapo coloured uke, but the one I played absolutely sung.

I was that close to buying it, but with the utmost upper limits of my willpower, I stopped myself because I already have more than enough 'beater' ukes.
Plus there's a nice bass I'm saving up for (though the speeding fine that arrived home today isn't helping one bit~!!#!#!)
 
Probably pretty bad. It looks like plastic and I'd bet it's smaller than a soprano...

That one is plastic and is actually soprano sized rt 21". I bought one only to test paint awhile back, from a different seller, and am assuming it's the same cheap Chinese counterfeit (what else, their specialty) of a Macaferri. The two halves have visible sloppy glue smears all along the badly finished edges. It can actually be tuned up, but the tuners are very cheap, and I don't know if it can take a fully tuned set of strings without bowing or breaking the neck. It would make a fine "stunt uke" for a real Macaferri however.
 
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Lots of cheap ukes? Sounds like a trip through my local music stores.... Oh! Look! Another Mahalo!
 
Oh! Look! Another Mahalo!
Hey don't knock Mahalos! We have had 4 of them around the house. They make great starter ukes for people in our local uke group. They were all loaned out over the last year. One returned after the young lady bought a Luna Pineapple and we just don't lose sleep at night worrying about where the other 3 are or if they will ever return.
 
Maybe I should take each one of the cheap ukes for a musical stroll and perhaps I'll find one that defies logic and unlikely sounds real good or....

Maybe I should buy a cheapie with no intonation problems and slap on my most expensive strings and check out that theory. or....

Freaking fill the sound hole with something (anything artsy fartsly) after I put a pickup in it. Marbles? buckshot?? miniature coffee cups for altered acoustics??

Maybe there is an art to making lemonade.
 
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Ukulele maracas just came to mind.

"Hey, is that a pair of maracas?"

"Why yes, it is. I also put a slide ukulele on each of the maracas. Can you plug me in?"
 
Maybe I should take each one of the cheap ukes for a musical stroll and perhaps I'll find one that defies logic and unlikely sounds real good or....

Maybe I should buy a cheapie with no intonation problems and slap on my most expensive strings and check out that theory. or....

Freaking fill the sound hole with something (anything artsy fartsly) after I put a pickup in it. Marbles? buckshot?? miniature coffee cups for altered acoustics??

Maybe there is an art to making lemonade.



That's a brilliant and accurate description of where a lot of folks are who dont own a uke and no nothing about them but really like the idea of getting one, and you make a few really good points, I have spent years trying to get different sounds of of guitars with different strings, and have wasted a lot of time and money trying to make a junk instrument playable, sometimes, you have to accept the cold hard reality that you cant make a silk purse from a sows ear, and if the thing dont have some kind of musical spirit in it, its gonna be hard to breath life into it by throwing 30 dollar sets of strings at it and filing down nuts and saddles etc...., If its just a pile of badly glued together plywood, it should be plainly obvious that its never gonna be a quality item, put it back on the shelf, nod politely to the man behind the counter, and move on to another instrument.

But if the thing is half decent, mainly if the intonation is in would be my first definite requirement, you can fix the action, the tuners, the nut, saddle, everything is pretty quickly swapped around, everything that is except the frets, if the thing aint in tune, its never gonna be in tune, string it with mermaids hair and put elvis's microphone in it, it wont help.

Keep us posted on your search though, you may find a real beauty, especially as you are going with an open mind, just listen to the music, you will know what sounds bullshit and what sounds sweet.
 
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