Higher Priced Mahalo Ukes

SamWise

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One of the Ukes I've got for review is a Mahalo U320, which is apparently all-solid mahogany, and comes for £40 including a hard case. It actually seems quite good - the intonation is ok (not perfect), it will stay in tune, and it's loud, though the tone is not magnificent. I haven't tried the low-end Mahalos, but this seems like good value for £40.

What I wondered is, has anyone tried either the cedar topped Mahalo, or the Mahalo mahogany tenor? My impression with the U320 is that with decent strings, it could be a very playable Uke, that you might use as a beater for the car, the beach etc. I'm wondering if these other two are better?
 
Figured I would throw out the currency conversion for those reading.

40pounds = 72.38dollars
= 88.43 australian
= 50.74 euros

Conversion rate as of 9/28/08

Personally I have never played a mahalo so thanks for the review. Or should I say mahalo. ;)
 
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Sorry, no, it's laminated. My mistake.
 
The tenor (the only Mahalo one I can find) is about £40 too, whilst the Cedar and Koa soprano is around £65. That sounds like a fabulous price for an all-solid soprano, and I love cedar tops on guitars, but it would need to be better built than the U320 in order to edge the Ohana out of the running.
 
thats true.. boy i would love to get stuck on a soprano, the size is amazing.. too bad im not too good at em. lol
ohh well, i sstill love my tenors

ive heard some bad feedback on ohanas but then again, its personal pref.
 
I have the 320T and, for the price, it's not bad but does leave a lot to be desired. The finish on mine is very poor with evidence of over-sanding along some edges and messy glue marks here and there. The sound isn't great - it's a quite dead sounding, aquilas improve it a great deal over the standard strings. Mine also came with a slipping tuning peg, the retailer sent me a new one. To set the uke up I had to take down the action at the nut and saddle, but then I find I have to do this with every uke I buy, I also had to file down the third fret a bit as the A string was buzzing on it.

It is definitely not solid too, mine is a laminate for sure.

All that said I’m reasonably happy with it now, it’s the only tenor I have and I’ve strung it low G which gives me a bit of variety from my applause soprano. It will never be my favourite uke but it is enjoyable to play, particularly with picking melodies. For £50 you can’t really complain too much.
 
True. I wonder whether the U320 soprano I have is really solid? It seems unlikely for the price, and it doesn't sound very full. I wonder what advantages it really offers over the cheaper ones? It comes in a hard case, which I guess is enough to account for the extra £20-25 on its own......
 
The hard case with my U320T is really quite decent, looks solidly built and fits the uke well. It also provided the ideal place for ukulele underground sticker to go!
 
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