$50 Ukulele vs $1000 Ukulele Comparison

Hey guys,

Here is a fun comparison video I made today between a $50 Ukulele and a $1000 Ukulele. Let me know what you think!

Read my opinion and review here: $50 Uke vs $1000 Uke



Cheers,

Andrew
http://RockClass101.com

Good video and for my money, I'd go with the Soprano.

A question,when comparing two ukuleles, baxed on price,wouldn't it be better to compare a soprano with another soprano?

it must be super emphasized that the 50usd uke must have a setup done. the nut slots need to be taken down and possibly the saddle will need to be lowered. And there's a chance the ukulele itself has soe menuf defect such that the intonation isn't fixable.

No reason to encourage a beginner to go order a bottom barrel uke expecting a player out of the box. Its a good way to set someone up for failure.

Of course I own and play several ukes under 50usd. Every single one required a setup, a couple of them needed several hours over several days (gross adjustment followed by fine adjustment). Another required a substantial bridge move.

The best one (a butler music lu21p) just needed the nut slots taken down. That one is out on loan. Someone else on the forums bought one from the same batch that was a dud.

Two of them (a mahalo and another I got a refund on) will never be properly playable. The schoenhut stock played fine but frets were wearing very fast.

I guess that puts me just over 50% success on cheap ukes.

*if* you happen to get a good one they are fine. but its worth it actually getting QC for a little more $$

Great points guys. The soprano had a setup done to it by the store I teach at (mom and pop). It plays great and the intonation is pretty decent. After owning and playing the soprano for over a year, I knew I needed a bigger uke. Yes, a same size comparison would have made more sense, but this is what I own.

You also need to allow for the fact that the audio sounds as though it was recorded with a poor quality mic, or more likely whatever is built in to the camera/webcam.

I was going to say something along the lines of "+1 for the unfair comparison vote", but this isn't really a comparison, is it? Other than the fact that they're both roughly ukulele-shaped, that's where it ends. You might as well compare a cat and an elephant, based on them both being 4 legged mammals.

I should perhaps also say, you presented the video very well, you just need to pick your subject matter a little more carefully. The world is still waiting for the ukulele's answer to PewDiePie

Maybe it could be you...

If all I did was listen to the two sound samples I would pick the $50.00 uke every time. But as has been stated very well above the Kanilea is brand new and still has to find it's voice.

As an interesting aside.......because the soprano is so much louder, has greater volume, it will be perceived as the better sounding uke. Only with high quality recording equipment can you really hear the complex sounds and overtones the high end ukes usually have.

All that being said I like what you did, it added value and an educational element to this site. Thank you for your effort and taking the time to do that, enjoy your new Kanilea for many years.

Thanks to the OP for this post.

I agree with bnolsen regarding the need for a decent setup on the inexpensive instruments, but that's really true on all instruments including the higher priced ones.

The fact that folk want to try something new with inexpensive stock is not new. How many of us learned to drive on a luxury or top-end sports car? My first car was half my age with well over 100k miles. Every first attempt at a new type of instrument was at a low rung in the price ladder.

Expecting Ferrari performance from a Fiat-priced car is not realistic. Neither is expecting Martin-like sound from my Diamond Head soprano, however a decent sound can be attained with some setup effort. Somewhere along the way, common sense should prevail.

It's safer to go with a 100usd to 150usd ukulele than a 50usd one.

Just to be clear I've never spent serious time with any ukulele that costs over 300usd new. But in my limited experience a more expensive ukulele can be played out of the box with no adjustment at all and might need only a slight tweaking to the nut slots and/or saddle. The cheap ones I've worked with required substantial amounts of material to be taken from the saddle and nut slots to get them to be nicely playable.

The Big Kahuna said:

You also need to allow for the fact that the audio sounds as though it was recorded with a poor quality mic, or more likely whatever is built in to the camera/webcam.

I was going to say something along the lines of "+1 for the unfair comparison vote", but this isn't really a comparison, is it? Other than the fact that they're both roughly ukulele-shaped, that's where it ends. You might as well compare a cat and an elephant, based on them both being 4 legged mammals.

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I used a Shure condenser mic to record the audio. I'd love to have the PweDiePie pay check Not sure if I am crazy/funny enough to be the uke version of him lol.

Maybe try for JackSepticEye, I prefer him to PewDiePie

bnolsen said:

It's safer to go with a 100usd to 150usd ukulele than a 50usd one.

Just to be clear I've never spent serious time with any ukulele that costs over 300usd new. But in my limited experience a more expensive ukulele can be played out of the box with no adjustment at all and might need only a slight tweaking to the nut slots and/or saddle. The cheap ones I've worked with required substantial amounts of material to be taken from the saddle and nut slots to get them to be nicely playable.

Click to expand...

For crying out loud...it's a ukelele. It is a cheap and fun entry into the musical magical adventure ..come on stop dissing the cheap end of the market because that is what most starters will buy...and most will just strum the darn things and then WHEN and IF they want to carry on to other methods of play they will buy a better one .....all this BS about setups and intonation ....get off it .....BN I am not having a pop at you,per se ...

but there is so much nonsense spouted on this forum sometimes ..... setting up ukuleles pthh..!! what is to adjust ...if the nut slots are too shallow or deep and so much so that even a basic C chord is unplayable then that's a manufacturing problem and you want your money back,

There is nothing else to adjust ,maybe shim the saddle ...like your average beginner is even going to know how to do that anyway....as long as it says GCEA on the tuner then that is what they need to get started.

Now on an an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar..yes they have adjustable and floating bridges , they have a longer scale and intonation over that scale is a problem if not set up right ...on a ukulele that is being played in a strum and sing group it isn't going to be a problem. By the time it might become a problem then the player will have wanted to move onto a better uke anyway .

All this does is makes people afraid to buy .

CeeJay said:

For crying out loud...it's a ukelele. It is a cheap and fun entry into the musical magical adventure ..come on stop dissing the cheap end of the market because that is what most starters will buy...and most will just strum the darn things and then WHEN and IF they want to carry on to other methods of play they will buy a better one .....all this BS about setups and intonation ....get off it .....BN I am not having a pop at you,per se ...

but there is so much nonsense spouted on this forum sometimes ..... setting up ukuleles pthh..!! what is to adjust ...if the nut slots are too shallow or deep and so much so that even a basic C chord is unplayable then that's a manufacturing problem and you want your money back,

There is nothing else to adjust ,maybe shim the saddle ...like your average beginner is even going to know how to do that anyway....as long as it says GCEA on the tuner then that is what they need to get started.

Now on an an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar..yes they have adjustable and floating bridges , they have a longer scale and intonation over that scale is a problem if not set up right ...on a ukulele that is being played in a strum and sing group it isn't going to be a problem. By the time it might become a problem then the player will have wanted to move onto a better uke anyway .

All this does is makes people afraid to buy .

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Yes, it's a ukulele, not the Holy Grail.

Last time I checked the NAMM annual report, the worldwide annual sale of ukuleles was somewhere around 2 milion units. The price range per unit ranges from next-to-nothing to sky's-the-limit.

On this forum the dialogue about various ukulele brands/models covers the entire price gamut, with good and not-so-good comments occurring. Lately, the number of Waterman and comparable posts have been fairly high, indicating the <US$50 market is alive and well.

I agree that the "setup" topic gets a lot of bytes, and I'm guilty of over-commenting about setups as anyone. Simple adjustments of a uke (the nut and saddle specifically) are not hard or mysterious. The fact that some stores do them and others don't is just a fact of business - not much different than the auto dealership which pre-sets the radio channels or fills the fuel tank prior to customer drive-away. Even then, the customer will still change settings (e.g., uke action) to personal comfort levels which will be different than factory/store settings.

The pricetag of the instrument does not matter, as folk will spend what they want when they want to do so. The uke is not a life-necessity. How much of one's expendable (e.g., entertainment) budget one wants to commit will probably be based on the fun factor, and whether the expenditure is for one (or a few) high-ticket ukes or one (or many) lower-ticket ukes doesn't matter. It's still a fun thing!

When it all stops being a fun thing and switches to an ego trip or a profession, then the factors change from fun to either image or business. Ego and image (look at me and what I have!) speak for themselves; profession and business (it's a tool, and I need reliable and durable tools) are no different.

As a rank amateur (and happy to be one), when it stops being fun, then off I go to something else. Six-string guitar stopped being fun when the left hand couldn't handle the fret span anymore, and that led to the four-string-based instrument world. Yes, it's a ukulele.....

ubulele said:

That's the point: regardless of the price of the instrument, a good setup makes a big difference in its playability.

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I think you are wrong there , a good uke doesnt need a " setup ". Some ukes are toys , some ukes are playable toys ,and some ukes are musical instruments.
The musical instruments should not need a " setup" .

In my experience, most of the more expensive ukuleles I've bought new have needed no modification to be playable, most of the less expensive [cheap] ukes have, [sharp fret ends, nut slots cut deeper, saddle shaved] Lets face it, one of the reasons the uke is cheap is the manufacturer is saving $ on labor costs, [and using cheaper materials] Every once in a while they are OK, a few are gems,but not usually. You usually get what you pay for.

I do think we need to also look at who is buying what .

Someone who has NEVER played any instrument and simply wants to dip a toe and find out ...get a cheapy by all means...

Look at it as a loss leader IF you decide to move onwards and upwards ....keep your cheapy in the loo, office , car where-ever.

If you find that your ouevre is strum and sing in a strumming and singing band then this first little uke may be the best you'll ever need.


If , however you have come from another fretted and plucked stringed instrument like classical guitar then you have some knowledge and understanding of what playability is and what you want.


And "unplayable" can be a fairly subjective term depending on your ability.....To be honest I don't think that a beginner is going to try and play Bach's Air For The G String on a £10 / $30 Lazy Palm.......no , idiots like me are going to try that .......and fail miserably.......lol

Surely ,if it can't play three basic chords in first position it is NOT unplayable .......it's broken !!!:rofl:

My only concern is that we don't put people off buying the cheaper ukes as tryouts and that they never try one out because they don't want to pay / can't justify a more expensive uke as a tester.

Pukulele Pete said:

I think you are wrong there , a good uke doesnt need a " setup ". Some ukes are toys , some ukes are playable toys ,and some ukes are musical instruments.
The musical instruments should not need a " setup" .

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If there ever was a procedure that's mislabeled, it's "setup."

When done at a factory, it's "final adjustment" to meet the quality assurance standards for shipping. That usually means a high action, since the lower the action, the greater the QA reject rate (which impacts cost-per-unit). The result is how the instrument plays "out of the box" direct from the factory.

When done at a store, it's "generic customer adjustment" to meet the average customer's expectation for action feel. The store's goal is to reduce the return-rate and make customers happy (so they will be repeat customers). The result is an instrument double-checked by the store to be playable and tweaked to the "average customer" standard.

When it's done by the musician, it's a "custom setup" to make the instrument more responsive to the particular individual's touch and feel. What one musician prefers, another may not. The result is an instrument further tweaked beyond from the "average customer" standard to "personal preference."

So, "setup" is based on whatever one expects and is satisfied to get, have, pay for or do.

I agree with #18. Sometimes a ukulele doesn't need anything special to be needed.

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...lo-sweet-Mahalo&highlight=mahalo+sweet+mahalo