I think I made a decision...

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Larry Offner

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I'm want to purchase a tenor uk. I want to spend less than $200. I'm looking at Kala KA-TEM. So what cha think?
 
This may not be the popular opinion, but unless you don't have an 'ukulele yet, I'd recommend you save more money and wait so you can buy something better. Perhaps a solid wood uke. You can find new solids (like Mainland, Sailor, Pono, Islander) for about $100 - $200 more, and if you have even more patience and are able to save up to around $500 you suddenly can find some pretty sweet used koa tenors.

I'm just tossing that out there for you ...
 
I agree you really can't go wrong with Kala, and at the low end I think ( and have heard several others say ) that their Makala line sound better, I've got quite a few solid, and solid top ukes and my Makala is still one of my favorite players. And as mm stan said the Makai uke's are a great value, I think their solid spruce top line is well within your price range.
 
Been hearing some "glowing reports" about the Kanilea Islanders....even the all laminated ones are supposed to sound super and compete with the Kala's
 
What about a dealer? I found a good price on a Kala package at Austin Bazaar. Any opinions?
 
Larry, it's been said many times on UU that buying from a Brick and Mortor store that's not exclusivley a uke dealer can be risky, unless you are sure that someone in the store KNOWS how to "set up" a ukulele. Most of them, particulalrly the less expensive ukes, are not all that playable out fo the box. I learned the hard way buying my $100 Cordoba at Sam Ash Music. I love SAM, and got lucky, because my uke isn't horrible, but it was much more playable after Mim of Mim's Ukes set it up for me. There are other major ukulele dealers around that set up the ukes they sell before they go to the customer, also. Happy hunting!
 
That's a nicer Ukulele than the KA-TEM.

I had the KA-TEM and it looked nice and everything but, compared to my Kala KA-ST Spruce top, it sounded kind of dull with the same Aquila strings.

That Zebrawood will be a very nice choice!
 
Last edited:
Larry Offner said:
Just placed my order. Kent at Ukulele Academy was very helpful and agreed with my selection. He will do the set-up personally and ship. Thanks for all the input.

Regards,

Larry Offner
Click to expand...

Congrats! Enjoy!
 
Larry Offner said:
Just placed my order. Kent at Ukulele Academy was very helpful and agreed with my selection. He will do the set-up personally and ship. Thanks for all the input.

Regards,

Larry Offner
Click to expand...

Congrats. Kent is great, and that is a beautiful Uke, you should be very happy.
 
That's a beautiful uke indeed, I'm loving the zebrawood and the white binding! Congratulations!
 
Thank you Larry-hope you're enjoying the new ukulele!
 
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