Good $500 - $600 (USD) Ukulele

beginnerukeman143

beginnerukeman143

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just wondering what you guys would reccomend for that price range.

and please don't give me the "save more!" lecture :p

thanks everyone
 
Just sold a nice mint Nalu Hokua tenor that would have been a great choice for you for $525 shipped. It was a nice player. But it's sold.
 
The first ukes that spring to mind:

KoAloha soprano (or soprano pineapple). Great ukes, right in your price range.

Black Bear soprano (luthier-built on the mainland, for sale over in the Flea Market Music marketplace).

Used Kamaka. Patience required for one of these.

Loprinzi is another mainland luthier that builds ukes. Check them out at uke republic.
 
You can get a pretty good uke for that price but the size you want will affect the cost quite a bit.
KoAloha Soprano's start at $550 so you're in the range of a K-brand uke. If you play a Tenor you're looking at $1k so size will really make a difference.

If you play a concert sized uke, you're just on the verge of a Ko'olau concert that goes for around $695. So it's something to consider. Brad Donaldson if you are able to get him to build you a uke it's something to consider. I've never played one of his instruments but he's in you're pricerange and for a custom uke, you really can't go wrong.

For less than $600 or really less than $500, there are quite a few good uke's out there there to choose from. Pono, Mainland, Kala...
I have a Kala tenor with a solid Cedar top that goes for around $400 that's a very nice sounding uke. Either way you are sort of in a limbo area where you're just over the price of most factory ukes and just under the cost of a higher end uke.
 
Kamoa makes some solid wood ukes in that price range and they sound great. You could also get a Nalu.
 
mr moonlight said:
For that price range I'd go with a KoAloha Soprano. If you want a concert, I'd save up $95 more and get a Ko'olau KC concert.
Click to expand...

yeah only thing i just thought about is that the Shipping here could cost alot, so if i do go for something ill probably just get that soprano but those are still handmade right?
 
If you were on the mainland or in Hawaii, I would say that with some work, you could probably find a used KoAloha Concert in your price range.
 
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be patient and get yourself a used one. you need to decide what you want though. if I only had one size it would be a concert. then have to decide on the wood. if Koa, you can't go wrong with a K brand. I really like my KoAloha, but they are all nice and you should be able to find one in your price range. If you want mahogany, maybe a Kiwaya. I got mine used and it's really nice. probably my favorite. You can also get a vintage Martin in your range, a good one of those are hard to beat.
 
I'm also in favor of your getting the black bear soprano on fleamarketmusic.com. Although I haven't played one, I know people who have and people rave about duane heilman's handiwork.
 
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Loads of good suggestions here. I'd definitely focus on one of the hand-made models (KoAloha, Kanile'a, Ko'olau, Kamaka, Mele) if possible. If you're in a hurry or just can't seem to get one of these, keep the upper-eschelon Asian made models in mind as well, such as Kiwaya, Big Island, or aNueNue.

At your price point you can pretty much get anything aside from a new custom build.

Best of luck!
 
Get a New Style Kamaka soprano...keep checking the marketplace here and FMM...or buy a new one.. you won't regret it..happy strummings..
 
Honu or Big Island concert about 500 with a hard case for the plain jane models. They are great IMHO.
Mele makes several concerts in this range.
Soprano''s take your pick of standard models.
 
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