"Go anywhere" ukulele

Hello friends!

I am in search of a decent little "go anywhere" soprano. I have a wonderful Kanile'a K-1 that I don't think would fare well if I, say, brought her on a picnic and then had to leave her in the car. I want something that I don't have to worry about temperatures or humidity (within reason).

I've seen a lot of reviews on Kala Watermans, any fans of those, or any other recs? My fingers are quite hypermobile and not very strong, so low action and generally being easy on the fingers are key for me. After that, I guess sounding listenable is good

Thank you for your wisdom!

EDIT: I somehow managed to leave out a key word... BEACH!!! I love going to the beach and worry about the sand/salt/moisture. Thanks all!

I have a Waterman. It won't win any awards for tone, but it's playable and cheap, and pretty impervious to weather. If you're willing to go up a few bucks, I tried an Outdoor uke recently, and it was head and shoulders better than the Waterman.

I found the fluke to be really handy and very robust. Handy cause you can keep it on the floor and it will stay up, robust cause it construction is a lot of plastic and laminate wood for the sound board, the neck is cherry I think. I have travelled and camped with it, still sounds and plays nice!

Hi, why not take a good ukulele bag or case wherever you go ?

Outdoor. Pretty much a no-brainer as far as I've seen.

happyconejito said:

Hello friends!

I am in search of a decent little "go anywhere" soprano. I have a wonderful Kanile'a K-1 that I don't think would fare well if I, say, brought her on a picnic and then had to leave her in the car. I want something that I don't have to worry about temperatures or humidity (within reason).

I've seen a lot of reviews on Kala Watermans, any fans of those, or any other recs? My fingers are quite hypermobile and not very strong, so low action and generally being easy on the fingers are key for me. After that, I guess sounding listenable is good

Thank you for your wisdom!

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From the way I read your post the term ‘go anywhere’ doesn’t describe your needs well enough for you to be accurately steered towards the best match for your actual needs, which are less extreme. The Outdoor Uke is built to survive very rough use and extremes of temperature (so it could ‘go anywhere’) but in doing so looses some sound quality, that’s fine if you’re going on a camping expedition in wild country but otherwise it’s overkill, if at a reasonable ($) price.

If you can afford one then Fleas have a very good reputation for durability and sound good too; I suspect that one would be your best option though not everyone gets on with their friction tuners. To my mind there’s no point in buying something pristine for rough use, could you buy a second hand Flea at a reasonable price? A Waterman would be a lot cheaper but I don’t think that you’d enjoy playing it.

YMMV. The Uke that I use outdoors or anywhere ‘rough’ is a Dolphin, but my circumstances aren’t yours. I live in the U.K. where the climate is quite moderate and my outdoor use isn’t backpacking in the wilderness but playing in the local parks and woods. My second hand Dolphin cost me very little to buy, is now particularly well set-up (relatively few will play and sound so good as as it does) and my skill level isn’t high enough to warrant better; so it’s a low cost solution (bedsides my time and materials to set it up) and a readily available solution (here) to match for my current and particular ‘go anywhere’ needs.

I always think of this question in "Guitar" terms. Lots of people take their guitars car camping, to picnics, family gatherings, outdoors around the fire etc. My brother in law hitchhiked around the southern and western states for 5 years back in the 70's. He had a Martin D-28 which today costs close to $3000. His still plays that same guy on stage.

If you don't want to risk your Kanilea to the elements and you are not canoeing, kayaking or mountain climbing a plastic uke is not neccassary. Buy a nice mid level Pono, Mainland, Kala, Ohana with a good gig bag or hardcase. Buy a used one for $150-$300 with a few scratches and you will have a great sounding uke and you won't have to worry about keeping it pristine.

You could go one step down and get an all laminate uke, for around $120. The advantage to getting one of the above ukes is you can have a set up done to insure easy playability

I had a Waterman and didn't care for it. Sound & playability for me weren't great. Now I have an acacia laminate Islander soprano that I take camping, sea kayaking, and whitewater rafting. It's a packable size & being laminate, it does ok with temp. changes. On my raft, it's in a hard case, then inside a dry bag. For sea kayaking, it's in a soft gig bag that's in a lightweight dry bag, then packed inside the kayak. Concert is my preferred scale, but the Islander is a very playable soprano with a good sound. It cost about $120. Since you already have a Kanilea, then you'd like an Islander since it's Kanilea's import line.

If you are looking at something laminate, I would very strongly consider the Kiwaya KS-1 or Famous FS-1. The action and playability is terrific and they sound really good.

https://www.gotaukulele.com/2018/05/famous-fs-1-soprano-ukulele-review.html

When I bring an ukulele to a picnic, that is pretty much the only time people other than my wife get to hear me. Hence it would be silly to bring an ukulele inferior to the one I play at home and practice on. But then again, my ukuleles are around the $300 spot, and the weather in Scandinavia is usually not extreme.
I think that if you like the sound of a mid level wooden uke, perhaps a laminate, better than a plastic uke - consider getting one for a secondary uke and take the chance when bringing it outside.

Try a Martin OXK. It's loud and has great tone. Mine has survived the harsh New Hampshire seasons fantastically. I'm talking about low Winter humidity in motel rooms. Fast temperature changes from 70 to sub zero and back to 70 while going from house to car to uke club meetings all Winter. And hot humid Summer days in the sun outdoors.
Not as bulletproof as an Outdoor (or any other all plastic) ukulele but unless you plan to swim with your uke, an OXK will do the job and sound good doing it.

I don't know about the OP's situation, but I've found that I can just take my uke into most anyplace I go, instead of leaving it in the car. (I do leave it in the car when temperatures are moderate.) A soprano is so small that it will be even less noticeable than the tenors I usually carry around. If I know that I can't (i.e., shouldn't) take it into a place I'm going (a funeral or wedding or fancy seance or something), I just don't bring it. I do realize that that's my situation, and that YMMV (figuratively, as well as in the car you'd leave the uke in).

DaveY said:

I don't know about the OP's situation, but I've found that I can just take my uke into most anyplace I go, instead of leaving it in the car. (I do leave it in the car when temperatures are moderate.) A soprano is so small that it will be even less noticeable than the tenors I usually carry around. If I know that I can't (i.e., shouldn't) take it into a place I'm going (a funeral or wedding or fancy seance or something), I just don't bring it. I do realize that that's my situation, and that YMMV (figuratively, as well as in the car you'd leave the uke in).

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I'm with you, I am so fed up with fancy seance rules. They said my dog would "interfere with communication." She sees ghosts all the time!

Thanks all! Thanks to your advice I am now trying to decide between a Dolphin and a Flea... huge price difference obviously, but if anyone has any notes on how easy either of these are on wimpy/bendy fingers, that would be fantastic!

Also, thanks for the 411 on fancy seances, I feel prepared for anything now.

Check out Outdoor Ukuleles, too. They are great.

I say take the Kanile'a. Show it off and impress people.

For me, this is a no brainer...

Outdoor Ukulele.
https://www.outdoorukulele.com/
The polycarbonate will survive temperature extremes and also is very durable as far as scratch resistance and such goes too.
They play easily, they sound nice, they have quality tuners and stay in tune well once the strings have stretched. They are also consistent as far as build quality goes. The factory setup, which can't be adjusted, is good.

Any uke with any amount of wood in it (that includes laminates as they do have wood still and usually solid wood bracing) shouldn't be left in a car or go through temperature extremes. If you do, you're gambling..

happyconejito said:

Thanks all! Thanks to your advice I am now trying to decide between a Dolphin and a Flea... huge price difference obviously, but if anyone has any notes on how easy either of these are on wimpy/bendy fingers, that would be fantastic!

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If I had to choose between those 2, I would take the Flea, hands down. Every time I have played one I have found them to be really well set up and play easily.

EDW said:

If I had to choose between those 2, I would take the Flea, hands down. Every time I have played one I have found them to be really well set up and play easily.

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I agree. The Flea will be much easier to play, and more sturdy than the Dolphin -- I had a student knock one from a chair onto the floor and the Dolphin cracked; I don't think the Flea would. You'd also have Magic Fluke (the manufacturer) on your side; they've been very helpful to me in the past, back in my Flea days.

I own both, dolphin is a uke that is over the boundary of an acceptable uke and is priced well but far away from being a great uke. Flea is over the boundary of a great uke and is a lot more durable than other great Ukes but far away from being an excellent uke (mostly in terms of the sound volume and tone). If you want a disposable uke get the dolphin, if you want a uke that you will use for many years and will enjoy playing it, get the flea. If you want an excellent uke that is durable, get the blackbird clara or farallon.