Okay which of these three and WHY?!?

All of which are from MGM on ebay. I want the best sound and best ease of use. Let me start by saying I am a beginner with ukulele AND guitar, but I am practicing all the time. I bought my first uke last week and it cost $30 and it sucks pretty bad, but I still love it cuz it's a uke. So far I like playing uke more than guitar.

My concern is that the quality of these three guitars won't be much different and I can save a couple bucks and buy a tank of gas instead of paying the extra money that will ultimately make no difference.

Ohana SK-35 Soprano Ukulele - this is solid mahogany and costs $160 + $19 for S&H which equals to $179. I read that solid wood ukes are a great choice because of the sound. It does not have geared tuners which scares me a bit. I don't want to have problems with it going out of tune. Why would friction tuners be okay?

Kala KA-S Soprano Ukulele - This HAS geared tuners which I like and costs $110 + $18 for S&H which equals to $128. Also Kala is a company which I see more often which means that it is more reliable? Plus I can save 50 bucks.

Kala KA-MS Soprano Ukulele - This one is the most expensive, my guess is because it looks prettier. It costs $200 and free shipping, which is sweet, however I don't want to buy this uke if the main difference is because it looks pretty. Will this sound better and have better all around qualities than the first two ukes?

Please help me!

I don't know anything about the Ohana.

I have 2 of the KA-S (it was my first "Good" uke) and play them everyday, for the $$$ you cant go wrong with one.

I am waiting for a Mango Soprano to come to me, Never played one but have played the Concert size quite a few times (my uke guy keeps telling me to by it) and liked it enough to order one. The sound is different from the KA-S, warmer and very pleasing to me, as far as the playability/build between the Mango Concert and KA-C they seemed the same the major difference being the sound and finish the Mango is a gloss and the KA-' a satin finish.

Hope this helps.

Ohana. It's solid wood. I've never played one but I have given several away and I've gotten only positive feedback about them. Don't let the friction tuners scare you.

I would go for the solid mahogany Ohana for the sound (although the KALA's aren't bad either).

As far as friction vs geared tuners, I have ukes with both and it doesn't really matter to me. The geared tuners are a little easier to tune (more precise) but I find myself re-tuning my ukes less often since the strings are already settled.

Either way you can't go wrong with MGM since he does the setup and adjustments on each uke before he sends them out. That's just awesome service.

ok i think the ohana is out of the picture, after watching that dude video review the ohana, he talks about the high action that it possesses. that's an immediate turn off.

mybirthdaypony@gmail.com said:

ok i think the ohana is out of the picture, after watching that dude video review the ohana, he talks about the high action that it possesses. that's an immediate turn off.

Click to expand...

If you get it from MGM, this is one of the services he provides . . .
FREE setup

• fret dressed and polished
• fingerboard oiled and waxed
• nut and saddle adjusted
• strings upgraded to premium Aquila Strings

I'd go for the Ohana. Ask MGM if he can take the action down for you.

Well, I was recently in the same boat as you. About a month ago I ordered both a Ohana tenor solid mohagany, and a Kala laminate uke in concert.(one for me and one for my son) I will say both ukes are nice, and I don't think either would be bad for a starter uke. I prefer the sound and feel of the ohana, it is warmer in tone(strung with low G) and just feels right to me, although I came into this with some guitar background. The kala is very nice too, though and I wouldn't hesitate to recomend it. MGM is definitly the way to go.

Sark

ohanas do come with very high action. when i was at giacoletti's shop in oceanside, i asked why the action was so high, and it was because some people actually prefer it that way. so by selling with a higher action, it gives the customer the option of setting it up the way they want it.

personally, since its not biggie for me to do, i dont care much if i notice the action being too high. ive bought some stringed instruments that already had pretty low action and have lowered them even more to fit my taste (i like it as low as my electric). but to each their own.

get in contact with MGM and let him know what kind of action you are looking for and see if he can do that for you.