Mainland cedar soprano or Kala concert

Hello all,

Very sorry about posting another this or that thread... I've been reading a lot of posts here on UU and it helped me tremendously in my choice of a ukulele but I'm a little stuck

I've been playing a cheap uke for a couple of months and love it so want to upgrade. After reading many comments here and trying some mainlands and kalas at a local store in Ottawa Canada my preference would go towards the Mainland cedar concert. Unfortunately ordering a Mainland cedar concert would be over my budget (390$ CAN including taxes and I have a budget of 300$ CAN).

They didn't have the cedar concert but I tried the cedar soprano and really loved the sound. I also tried some Kala concert ukes, I think they were acacia and they would be around 150$ (200$ with pickup). They sounded good but not as full and loud as the Mainland soprano. But I might be mistaken. I like the option of having more frets although it will take a really long time before I learn to go this high on the uke. I also like the added spacing in the frets.

So, based on your experience, should I go for a Mainland soprano or Kala concert?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Joël.

My vote would be for the Mainland without a doubt. Both of my Mainland sopranos (mango and mahogany) are far louder and have much nicer tone than even the solid Acacia Kala ukes, and there simply isn't even a comparison with the Kala laminated ukes.

If you absolutely must have a concert scale then at least buy from a dealer who will set the Kala up properly as they are often pretty poor straight from the factory.

Oh...and give Mike at Mainland a call or drop him an email - he might well have a blem concert that would be in your price range. I have two or three Mainland blems and the stuff Mike calls blems I wouldn't even have noticed if he or Tookta hadn't pointed it out to me.

John

+1 for the cedar Mainland.

+2 for the Mainland. I love my Mainland cedar/rosewood

I have a red cedar Mainland soprano and it's a fantastic uke.

There's a mahogany Mainland concert for $185 in the Marketplace.

Ditto on the Mainland

It has arrived

OldePhart said:

My vote would be for the Mainland without a doubt. Both of my Mainland sopranos (mango and mahogany) are far louder and have much nicer tone than even the solid Acacia Kala ukes, and there simply isn't even a comparison with the Kala laminated ukes.

If you absolutely must have a concert scale then at least buy from a dealer who will set the Kala up properly as they are often pretty poor straight from the factory.

Oh...and give Mike at Mainland a call or drop him an email - he might well have a blem concert that would be in your price range. I have two or three Mainland blems and the stuff Mike calls blems I wouldn't even have noticed if he or Tookta hadn't pointed it out to me.

John

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Thanks to everyone for your advice, and thank you john for your recommendation. I just received my red cedar concert from mainland today and I'm in love!!!

Stay tuned for my intro post...

Joel.

Congratulations! I am sure you will love it.

Congratulations! Give us a review on your uke when You can. I'm thinking about a Mainland someday...

Jojobou said:

Thanks to everyone for your advice, and thank you john for your recommendation. I just received my red cedar concert from mainland today and I'm in love!!!

Stay tuned for my intro post...

Joel.

Click to expand...

Yay! Looking forward to your intro post!

John