Help needed for a newbie who's an oldie that just ordered his first Ukulele

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stonz22

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Greetings, here is my dilema , I ordered from An ebay respected dealer a
Kala KA-MK-B Makala Baritone Ukulele Bundle w/ Hard Case,Tuner & Polishing Cloth but when the uke arrived it was an oscar schmidt aloha baritone ou52 and case bundle. This confused me, did they short change me or did they upgrade me , I need your wealth of experience on this to know what to do ?
Thank you in advance for your expert opinions as what to do i.e.
Is one better than the other?
I know they are not high end ukes but for my first uke or any musical instrument on pension , I had to start with what I could afford , this is a bucket list deal, play music before I die .....
Thanks
Stonz22
 
Ha, same thing happened to me with my first uke. I ordered a Luna concert for about $95 and they sent me a $200 uke! Now I don't know much about either of these ukes, it seems like the one you got goes for just a little bit more. As for sound quality, I'm sure someone else could give you a better answer. What I would do though is play the one you got and see if you like the sound. If not, contact them and switch it.
 
by doing a google search, it looks like the going price for a Makala is about 79.99 and the Oscar Schmidt $89.95, so if you like it just keep it, if not tell them to send you what you ordered!
 
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If you play and like it, I say keep it. If it isn't what you want, contact them. I've played Oscar Schmidts and Kalas, but neither in baritone size. I like the Oscar Schmidt brand better.
 
Thank you to all those who responded

Ukejenny said:
If you play and like it, I say keep it. If it isn't what you want, contact them. I've played Oscar Schmidts and Kalas, but neither in baritone size. I like the Oscar Schmidt brand better.
Click to expand...

I like the look of The OU 52 and the sound well thats my fault Im working on that and will need help from this great forum
Thanks for this initial help ...
 
I think Oscar Schmidt makes good ukes. I have an Oscar Schmidt tenor cutaway acoustic/electric spalted maple that is one of my favorites. I also like the look of your Oscar Schmidt over the Kala. If judging by small details, the Kala has fewer fret markers than the Oscar Schmidt, might not mean anything.
 
stonz22 said:
I like the look of The OU 52 and the sound well thats my fault Im working on that and will need help from this great forum
Thanks for this initial help ...
Click to expand...

Ukulele Underground has helped me so much. Such a wealth of information here.
 
Call them and let them know that you didn't get what you ordered. Let them know that you'll send it back if they will pay the shipping costs. Chances are, if they are good business people, it will be less cost to them to let you keep the higher priced uke.
 
stonz22 said:
...did they short change me or did they upgrade me
Click to expand...
Either way, the fact is they did NOT send you the item you ordered. To me, that is completely unacceptable. If they had contacted you to say the Kala is out-of-stock, we can substitute this (slightly more expensive) OS in its place, and you said okay, that'd be another story.

You said you bought from a "respected seller" on ebay. I would contact them and let them know of their mistake. Feedback is everything to ebay sellers, and one of the factors is how accurate was the item description. In this case, it was not accurate at all and I would point that out to them.

Rather than going through a return (where they would have to eat shipping both ways) as well as inconvenience you, they may offer you a partial refund to appease you.
 
I would contact the dealer, because someone else probably got the Makala that was meant for you. It is easy to mix up orders if you don't triple check everything before shipping. At the very least, the dealer can be prepared for another surprised customer, and possibly figure out who got what.

–Lori
 
I don't know anything about either uke. But, technically it doesn't matter, they didn't send you the uke they advertised. So in that sense, it should be returned. Strange--and no respected dealer would just do that. Even if it's an upgrade, you should have been notified and/or given the chance to get the uke you ordered.
 
The Oscar is probably prettier, and a little heavier. The right strings will make all the difference in this instrument and it would benefit changing the plastic nut and saddle for bone. The Makala is much lighter and may be a little less fussy about strings. I don't care for the plastic bushing on the tuning machines and would change them to some Grover's as well as bone nut and saddle. The OS has a lifetime guarantee. Can't lose either way....each has many fans.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHJjhBnXfjE - OU52

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jczI9wIL6g - Makala
 
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