Which guitalele/guitarlele/six string uke?

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Shakespeare

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I want your opinions on which guitalele to buy. Just to clarify, I want a six string uke which can be tuned EADGBE like a guitar or higher (usually ADGCEA), not a uke strings in courses like a 12 string guitar. I already have two Yamaha GL-1 guitaleles and love them. I play them more than my ukes, but now I am looking to buy a higher quality guitalele. I have wanted a Koaloha DV-I for a long time but think I need to hear with people think before pulling the trigger on such a big purchase. I can only afford to spend that kind of money once in a blue moon. So please, tell me what you think guys. Thanks in advance.
 
I have a Mele Guitarlele which I am very happy with. It is tuned like a normal guitar. I keep mine tuned to taropatch ( DGDGBD ). Here is a photo of it being played "correctly". ;)
 

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I second that on the Mele. Here is a link to my YouTube channel where I did a review of the Mele:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Ap...DvjVQa1PpcFOQo_YR0MWl9RgiK29nG_IRRnYWh_6qp9o=

I've owned Kala, Koaloha D-VI, and Yamaha guitarleles. The Kala was a guitarlele on a tenor scale body and didn't have much sound to it. The Koaloha had a nice sound but the geometry wasn't right for my playing style, neck was too wide. The Yamahas are just cheap instruments in my opinion, no sound at all.
 
WhenDogsSing said:
I second that on the Mele. Here is a link to my YouTube channel where I did a review of the Mele:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7Ap...DvjVQa1PpcFOQo_YR0MWl9RgiK29nG_IRRnYWh_6qp9o=

I've owned Kala, Koaloha D-VI, and Yamaha guitarleles. The Kala was a guitarlele on a tenor scale body and didn't have much sound to it. The Koaloha had a nice sound but the geometry wasn't right for my playing style, neck was too wide. The Yamahas are just cheap instruments in my opinion, no sound at all.
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I don't know, I actually quite like the Yamaha, it always surprises me whenever I play it and it looks very clean...I've been thinking about picking one up for a while now. For the price it's hard to beat, and personally I don't know that I'd buy a more expensive one because I don't think I like the sound nearly as much as a straight up ukulele.

The Kanile'a always sounds nice when I hear it, as does a D-VI...but personally I don't think I'd use those sounds nearly as much as I'd use the four string uke. Of course, until I own one and play one for a while, my opinion is null and void...
 
I do own almost all the guitarlele on the market and my 2 favorites are the Kanilea and Koaloha DV-I. It all depends of what you want. If you're looking strictly for the best sound, I would say the Kanilea has the fullest of all...But you have to consider that is has a super tenor body as well as a baritone scale neck...compare to a Koaloha that is really a tenor uke only with a wider neck but keeping the same scale as a tenor uke...

If you want to hear, the Kanilea, I do have a clip on my YT page....

Hope that helps.
 
A super-tenor body with a baritone neck, interesting! This may not make a difference to your recommendations: I would want to play classical/fingerstyle guitar on whatever instrument I choose. I have never played any ukes from this price range. My most expensive is a tenor solid mahogany islander (Kanilea). If only I could play some of these ukes first.
 
Shakespeare said:
A super-tenor body with a baritone neck, interesting! This may not make a difference to your recommendations: I would want to play classical/fingerstyle guitar on whatever instrument I choose. I have never played any ukes from this price range. My most expensive is a tenor solid mahogany islander (Kanilea). If only I could play some of these ukes first.
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The problem is that it's not that often that you will have a kanilea or Koaloha DV-I to try on!!! They are not that easy to find so you can try them..also, they perform best when you changes the strings and put your favorite classical set of strings on..then they are real performer and player!
 
bynapkinart said:
I don't know, I actually quite like the Yamaha, it always surprises me whenever I play it and it looks very clean...I've been thinking about picking one up for a while now. For the price it's hard to beat...
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I quite like my Yamaha as well. :) For $100, it's a bargain.

If you aren't ready to spend the big bucks, you might consider Cordoba's Guilele which has a solid spruce top for $200.

Here's another thread about them:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...019-New-Gutailele-from-Cordoba-called-Guilele
 
Shakespeare said:
I want your opinions on which guitalele to buy. Just to clarify, I want a six string uke which can be tuned EADGBE like a guitar or higher (usually ADGCEA), not a uke strings in courses like a 12 string guitar. I already have two Yamaha GL-1 guitaleles and love them. I play them more than my ukes, but now I am looking to buy a higher quality guitalele. I have wanted a Koaloha DV-I for a long time but think I need to hear with people think before pulling the trigger on such a big purchase. I can only afford to spend that kind of money once in a blue moon. So please, tell me what you think guys. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

If you find yourself in the market for the Kanile'a K-1 GL6 guitarlele we just recieved one today! Its rare that they come and should be on the site within a few days as well as a kala version alongside KoAloha's DV-6
 
Here is the killer: I live in the UK. Whilst I am willing to spend every penny I can scrape together on instruments the cost of shipping and taxes raises the cost of ordering from the US considerably. Whilst I love the look and sound of the Kanilea GL6, the koaloha DV-I is cheaper. I also know of one place where it is available in Europe. The Cordboba Guilele has also just arrived in Europe. I have been nagging every Cordoba distributor here for months. Whilst I can see it is better than the Yamaha GL1 guitalele it is obviously not going to be in the same league as a koaloha or kanilea instrument. No-one has mentioned the Ortega RGLE18FMH yet. Is it rare or just not favoured?
 
Just as a quick suggestion: why don't you go ahead and buy a nice smaller sized classical guitar? You'll get a much better, fuller sound when tuned to EADGBE than with a Guitalele. I'd suggest a La Patrie Motif for what you're looking for. It might take some getting used to, but the sonic benefits are going to outweigh the scale you have to learn.
 
I guess if you are in the Guitalele market, the first thing you have to consider is what scale do you want ( 17'' or 20'')
and these are the common models you will see for each scale.
17'': yamaha gl1, Grestch 9126, Kala Ka-GL-Koa, Cordoba Guilele, Koaloha D VI
20'': Islander GL6(4 models), Cordoba Mini(3 models), Mele Guitalele, Kanilea GL6

My ultimate goal is Kanilea GL6 so i wemt with the Islander GL6, which is Kanilea's baby brother. And I asked Aaron whats the best mid range guitalele, and he answered confidently: Islander GL6. So if you plan to upgrade your future guitalele to either the Koaloha D6 or Kanilea GL6, maybe you can choose something with same scales when you are shopping now!
For me the Kala sounds fine but I still prefer the Islander GL6 ( they have spruce top model as well).
Heres a video for you to listen and you can simply check the kala video on TUS.
http://www.theukulelesite.com/islander-gl6-sa-eq-new-solid-spruce-top-guilele-w-active-pickup.html

Good luck shopping ukes!
 
I've got a Favilla c-3 [dulcete guitarette] that I bought and don't play. vintage solid mahog made in the US {NY} I need to put this on the marketplace once I figure out how much I paid for it. this is a guitalele built on the Favilla baritone body. big sound in a small size. 19" scale. I think I put La Bella requinto strings on it, tuned A[I think]

Update. I need to get $400 shipped. there is one reoaired top crack and small tight back crack, one tuner that needs a bushing and the usual small dings and scratches. will post this with pics when I get a chance.
 
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One more for you to consider, the Islander GL6. Same design and size as the Kanilea, but made from laminate woods. Since I got mine, my Yamaha hasn't been played at all. I love it. I think it's going for well under $300.
 
AKuker said:
One more for you to consider, the Islander GL6. Same design and size as the Kanilea, but made from laminate woods. Since I got mine, my Yamaha hasn't been played at all. I love it. I think it's going for well under $300.
Click to expand...

It should be around $230 for the no pickup model and even though it is not listed on HMS website anymore but you can write a email to Andrew and ask him to get some for you still! It's probably the best budget guitalele you can get out there ( with HMS setup ;))
 
I have the Islander GL6 and am quite pleased with it. If they're set up properly, they get pretty close to their Kanilea archetype (which is still a lot nicer with its smooth gloss finish, rounded edges and the TRU-bracing system that is not implemented on the Islander).

If you happen to like the longer scale of the GL6, then you might also consider the new miniature guitars offered by both Islander and Cordoba (featured in UU and HMS coverage of NAMM 2015). I guess at that scale length you could indeed go down to a regular Guitar tuning (EADGBE), if that is what you want.

For myself, I came to think that in a Guitalele, I'd actually prefer the shorter scale of a Tenor sized instrument. And while many people like the wide neck of both the Islander/Kanilea GL6 and the Koaloha D-VI, to me it feels too wide and is almost hurting my hand.

Since you mentioned that you live in the UK: Both the Islander and the Kanilea Guitalele are sometimes available at the Southern Ukulele Store in Bournemouth.
 
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I got to try a Kremona Soloist S53C, which is a 20.8" scale classical guitar. Transition from baritone feel/spacing was pretty nice. I think it was around $350-$400 and I thought it was a great guitalele equivalent.

http://kremona.com/en/the-basic-series/sofia-series

Only issue I had with it (which I don't know if it affects the whole series or just the one I tried) is that the bridge seemed about 1/8" off-center, which meant the strings were all slightly slanted toward the ground, which made it easy to accidentally pull the 1st string down off the fretboard, especially when fingering the higher frets.
 
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