Sawtooth Soprano Pineapple Ukulele Review

UkeStuff

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Here is a review I made of the Sawtooth Soprano Pineapple Ukulele, which was introduced to me by another UUer (Tracie). It comes from walmart.com, and apparently there are 3 left at $17.08.

This is not a Kamaka...and requires some lemon oil, different strings (in my opinion) and fret end work. After all that, I would probably rate it higher than my Makala MK-CE (a little better build quality), but I’d give Makala’s laminate pattern and tuners a better rating.

Anyone have Grover geared tuners (entry level) they’d be willing to sell for cheap?

https://ukestuff.wordpress.com/2018...ps-mahogany-pineapple-soprano-ukulele-review/
 
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Thanks for the detailed review Chris.

I'm sure this info will be of benefit to those on a budget or not wanting to spend too much and willing to put in a little elbow grease.

3 yrs ago, I bought a $29 Melokia soprano on Amazon, with both low expectations and the intention of practicing my setup skills, and this one needed EVERYTHING fixed/tweaked. Serves me right LOL.

No complaints though, since after about 10 hrs of labor to correct all the flaws, the Melokia plays like a dream and I'm happy for the chance to hone my skills. Does not sound too bad either for basically a balsa-wood-bodied instrument.

Sounds like this Sawtooth brand might be a step up in overall quality from the Melokia.
 
I love that you're willing to review the cheapies, Chris.
How do you think it sounds compared to your $30 camp uke (forget the name).

Since the cheap pineapples at WM are gone now, I am willing to tentatively "recommend" the Sawtooth soprano shape at $25, purely for the surprising sound and build of this ultra cheap lam uke.
Buying on Amazon (same $25 price) instead of Walmart might procure one that doesn't have the dried out fretboard (the one I bought a couple years ago didn't) compared to the Walmart stock, but that is not as easily returnable either...
 
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Now that the ukulele has had a bit of attention given to it...oiled fretboard, new strings, and a lot of fret end work, it is a very nice little ukulele—for a laminate instrument. The only negative is that my time is worth much more than the ukulele was worth—but it was a fun experiment. Thanks for recommending it!
 
Anyone have Grover geared tuners (entry level) they’d be willing to sell for cheap?
I have a couple of sets - one fairly old and the others fairly new - let me know
Ian
 
Two things...

1) I am buying some Groves from Ian (frianm)

2) I turned my Sawtooth Pineapple over today, and one of the screws had fallen out of the tuning mechanism! It still works...but even more reason to upgrade the tuners to Ian’s old tuners!
 
Two things...

1) I am buying some Groves from Ian (frianm)

2) I turned my Sawtooth Pineapple over today, and one of the screws had fallen out of the tuning mechanism! It still works...but even more reason to upgrade the tuners to Ian’s old tuners!

Was it one of the screws that holds the tuner into the wood on the back of the headstock?

If so, and you found the screw, you can just insert a toothpick and then break it off or cut it even with the metal plate of the tuner, and then thread the screw back in.

However, if it is the screw that hold the gear wheel to the tuner post where you wind the string, that will eventually allow for the gear itself to fall off, once enough friction has wiggled it off the end of the tuner shaft.

IIRC, StewMac has replacement screws for these and they are cheap enough to keep a few packs on hand. I think they are under the TUNERS section and then SPARE PARTS.
 
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