Mahilele 3.0 Skulls soprano review

Ziret

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Mahilele 3.0 soprano review

I wanted a uke to keep in the car and take on picnics, camping, etc. I tried the Vorson all plastic, and the Waterman, but they disappointed. With camping and picnic season nearly here, I resumed my search and found this Italian uke, which completes my accidental Axis Powers ukulele collection. (Along with a German Bruko and Japanese Kiwaya.) Yes, it’s really made in China, but humor knows no national boundaries.

Barry Maz reviewed its label twin, the Alic, over two years ago, and it’s had an upgrade to 3.0 since then, so I thought it was time to do another. New to the model is a plastic neck which is lighter than the previous wood one, and is textured to “feel like wood.” Also new are silver colored frets and, I presume, a harder plastic for the fret board, as unlike Barry, I cannot mark this one with my fingernail.

Nor is the silver paint wearing off the frets. I don’t know about the wood feel. Once I’m holding it, I forget about how the neck feels, but I think that the slight texturing is nice. The neck is about the same thickness as my Timms. The nut is slightly wider than the standard 1 ⅜ inch nut width--I’d say 1 7/6--and it has a zero fret.

As before, it an ABS roundback with a laminate top. The top seems a good thickness for something that’s going to see use in places other ukes can’t go. It’s not too thick, but not so thin it’s in danger of cracking. And playing it causes pleasant vibrations on the back and all up the neck.

It has an non removable, but compensated saddle, and that, combined with the zero fret, has resulted in perfect intonation all up the neck. The 15 frets are as thin as those on my Kiwaya, and the uke is set up perfectly. It's a joy to hold and to play. I installed strap buttons, but it’s comfortable without using a strap. It has top fret markers in the shapes of flowers and a butterfly, and side fret markers that are small white dots.

The tuners may have been upgraded as well, because they are really nice. At one point I forgot which uke I was tuning and thought they were Grovers, they’re that good. They are not, however, Grovers.

And mine has skulls! At first I thought the illustrations of the top and headstock were some sort of sticker, but further investigation finds they are not. I’m not sure how they’re applied, but they aren’t coming off. Of course, you can get these in a zillion colors and with a variety of illustrations and soundhole designs.

Certain models, including one with a horse painted on the soundboard, have a wooden fretboard, for about $100. It's not mentioned in the description, but I checked with the company to verify this. I've thought about getting that, but the plastic fretboard is great, and the easy care is part of this uke's charm. No humidification issues or fret sprout.

I haven’t played a Fluke or a Flea, though I’d like to. If this does sound like one, I can see why Flea owners like them so much. No, it doesn’t sound as good as a Kiwaya or Timms, but it sounds great in its own way and it’s as easy to play as anything I own. I wanted it to live in the car exclusively, but I find myself bringing it in several times a week to play it. It’s just fun.

I was concerned about taking a uke on vacation and finding it such a chore to play, or sounding so terrible, that it wouldn’t be worth the bother. That’s not going to be a problem. I’d almost be happy with this as my sole uke. It would be great for children, but I wouldn’t limit it to them. In fact, if you get one for a child, I bet you’ll get one for yourself as well.

I think the knowledge that I can’t really hurt it adds to the joy of playing this. If it somehow damaged, though, I could buy a new one for about $70, which is what I paid for it, with shipping, from Amazon USA.
Comes with a decent gig bag/dust cover. A great bargain for a sweet uke.
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Very interesting, actually. I had wanted a plastic uke a while back and bought the Waterman, which really was a let down for me. Haven't tried to find another one since. I'm intrigued by your review and the mention of flawless intonation up the neck, which is rare enough with cheaper ukes and probably a first with a plastic one. The Bluebird 3.0 model looks wild. Hmm.. hmm... :)
 
I'm consistently surprised by this thing. Let me know if you get one. I like the Bluebird too, but I actually kind of want the horses! Why be dignified? It's a uke.
 
Hi Ziret. Nice review! You seem to know a bit about ukes so hope you don't mind if I ask you a question. I'm in Brisbane QLD.

I am looking for a soprano uke (currently play an Eddie Finn tenor) with on-board electronics so that I can plug it in to a church sound system. My big concern is that I want it to come through the sound system so that it sounds like a soprano uke, NOT a guitar. Currently I can use a mic in front of my Eddie Finn and it sounds OK so long as I don't move around at all - even the slightest movement away from the mic impacts on the sound quality.

Do you have any suggestions please on what might be an affordable (say $300 AUD) soprano for this purpose please?

Hope it's OK to post this question here. Sorry if I have hijacked your thread mate.
 
Thanks, Pauli. I really don't know that much about ukes and I know zero about the intersection of ukuleles and microphones. I think there are areas on the forum where your question will get lots of great, knowledgeable, answers, though. I think there are boards for tech, performing, and recording equipment. Why don't you ask at one of those? Offhand I'd say get a pickup installed on your uke or get a different uke with a pickup, but others will know. Good luck.
 
Great review Ziret. I had seen this ukulele on Amazon and was tempted by it but didn't pull the trigger. I do have a Flea. I would not leave it in a car in summer or winter. It sounds as if the Mahilele would be fine in a car, I don't know for sure, and I don't know if I'd leave a uke in my car anyway.

It is crazy what quality you can get for $70. My wife bought a laminated Kohala soprano at Guitar Center when she was out of town and found herself without a uke. That little uke costs $70 also, I think. With the exception of one tuner which won't keep the e-string in tune, it sounds and plays really well even in comparison to my Martin C1k and my Flea soprano. I think I may sell the Flea off soon.
 
Great review Ziret. I had seen this ukulele on Amazon and was tempted by it but didn't pull the trigger. I do have a Flea. I would not leave it in a car in summer or winter. It sounds as if the Mahilele would be fine in a car, I don't know for sure, and I don't know if I'd leave a uke in my car anyway.

It is crazy what quality you can get for $70. My wife bought a laminated Kohala soprano at Guitar Center when she was out of town and found herself without a uke. That little uke costs $70 also, I think. With the exception of one tuner which won't keep the e-string in tune, it sounds and plays really well even in comparison to my Martin C1k and my Flea soprano. I think I may sell the Flea off soon.

Great review Ziret. I had seen this ukulele on Amazon and was tempted by it but didn't pull the trigger. I do have a Flea. I would not leave it in a car in summer or winter. It sounds as if the Mahilele would be fine in a car, I don't know for sure, and I don't know if I'd leave a uke in my car anyway.

It is crazy what quality you can get for $70. My wife bought a laminated Kohala soprano at Guitar Center when she was out of town and found herself without a uke. That little uke costs $70 also, I think. With the exception of one tuner which won't keep the e-string in tune, it sounds and plays really well even in comparison to my Martin C1k and my Flea soprano. I think I may sell the Flea off soon.

Thank you, Bike mech! A friend had a Kohala pineapple soprano, and I played it last week and enjoyed it. Another bought a Kala laminate for $38 and said it shook up his entire idea of what you have to pay for a decent uke. He also compared it favorably with his Flea. I think we're in a sort of golden age of uke construction. The next will be materials.

I'm not sure how hot this one can take in my car either. I'm interested in finding out. I'll let you know.

It's crazy that a $70 uke is in the same ballpark as a Martin. Diminishing returns. Please let me know what you think, if you decide to get one of these. I'm seriously considering a second so I don't have to retrieve it from the car
 
Thank you, Bike mech! A friend had a Kohala pineapple soprano, and I played it last week and enjoyed it. Another bought a Kala laminate for $38 and said it shook up his entire idea of what you have to pay for a decent uke. He also compared it favorably with his Flea. I think we're in a sort of golden age of uke construction. The next will be materials.

I'm not sure how hot this one can take in my car either. I'm interested in finding out. I'll let you know.

It's crazy that a $70 uke is in the same ballpark as a Martin. Diminishing returns. Please let me know what you think, if you decide to get one of these. I'm seriously considering a second so I don't have to retrieve it from the car

Let me just say that it is not the equal of the Martin but it doesn't shame itself either. And the intonation is not on par with the other ukes. Maybe I was gushing too much in my previous post.
 
Let me just say that it is not the equal of the Martin but it doesn't shame itself either. And the intonation is not on par with the other ukes. Maybe I was gushing too much in my previous post.

LOL.. I've done that.
 
LOL.. I've done that.

I think it's normal -- it's always such a nice surprise when an inexpensive instrument is unexpectedly good. :) Compared to a high quality instrument it will probably still fall short, but sometimes the gap just isn't as large as the price difference might suggest. (Occasionally this works the other way around too. I had a more expensive tenor here that I sent back in part because it just didn't sound as good as my Barron River tenor, at least to me.)
 
I made recordings of my three soprano
S this morning. It was interesting. On the other side of the ukulele, there's not that much difference between my two more expensive ukes. And many times the Mahilele is hard to tell apart too. There most certainly isn't hundreds of dollars difference between it and the others. Just listening, you might think $50-100. I can't post the recordings, my playing is crap.
 
That's great that you're so happy with this cute uke!

I'm sure you'll enjoy taking it everywhere with you,
 
That's great that you're so happy with this cute uke!

I'm sure you'll enjoy taking it everywhere with you,

Thanks Belle, it's nice just being able to switch things up once in a while and not have the "switch hitter" sound awful. I had to attend a funeral three hours from home on Friday, and drove up with my son and brother. I was grateful for the chance to talk to both of them, but at the same time was thinking, "There's a ukulele less than three feet from me and I can't play it!"
 
I'm sorry for the circumstances of the funeral, Ziret. But I completely know what you mean about the itch to play and having to wait. So close and yet so far! That's how you know you're really got the bug.
 
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