Dirt Cheap New Ukulele For A Beginner Advice

also a good player can make a poor instrument sound good (this is any instrument not just uke) but a beginner might struggle.

It also depends on what you mean by dirt cheap. To me that would be £10 in a charity shop, and they are mostly junk. My first uke cost £13 and it was £13 wasted except to the kid who got it as a gift two weeks later

One good thing about ukes is they are not really expensive as instruments go. IMO in the £30 to £60 range you can find a decent starter instrument, which is crazy compared to other instruments. Especially if you look out for something pre owned or on sale.

DownUpDave said:

The musician playing this 9 euro uke is very talented and really does make it sound lovely. There is no doubt a cheap uke can sound good. Here is the rub with recorded videos.........post production editing. Listen very carefully with good headphones and it is very obvious a lot was done after the uke was recorded. Reverb, chorus some mid level boost and presence were all added. If you sat in front of him while he played it that uke will not be close to sounding like post production.

Don't mean to rain on the parade and I own cheap ukes that I enjoy playing. But buyer beware is always prudent, that uke will not sound like that in your lap.

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Edited or not the skill of playing is still demonstrated there and so it shows what skills might be learnt without buying an expensive instrument. Dr B recently shared a video of himself playing very credibly on a very inexpensive Uke too (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WwiHmUn0xNk&lc=z222clcjopmhytkhi04t1aokgqunhb1kxv4xfsd4r3v1rk0h00410). Wilfried Welti is a member here and played the Uke in the video that I listed. Dave could I suggest that you send Wilfried a pm asking about his recording and your thoughts on its ‘adjustment’ ?

I have mixed views on and experiences of Mahalo instruments so don’t recommend them to anyone. However George Elmes plays exceedingly well (professional?) and positively compares his first Mahalo to the Kiwaya that he plays now, see: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0nf4BiossT8 . To me George certainly seems to get a good tune out of a very basic Uke.

When applied to all purchases I think that ‘buyer beware’ is a very fair comment. Interestingly too any two seemingly identical Ukes will typically sound different once they have been used for a while and adjusted by their owners. New strings, a set up and a decent saddle can transform Ukes so what you see/hear in any video is but an indication of what the same model instrument might sound like for another person. To complicate things further we then have the skill of the player in getting the best out of a Uke, but it’s all indicative of what is possible.

If you are uk based then maybe go for a £20-25 Octopus ukulele. I bought some for my nieces and they are absolutely ok. See a review here: https://www.gotaukulele.com/2014/04/octopus-soprano-ukulele-review.html

A kala ka-15s will get you very far but then you are looking at around £55 if you can't find a second hand one. That is however a nice little instrument for a beginner.

Dear Friends!

Since there was a video of me linked here and there was some guessing about it, I'd like to explain a few things.

First:
Yes, there are cheap ukuleles that sound phenomenal. It's really true. You don't have to spend big bucks for a great sounding instrument. However you have to search for it. Often there are big differences between different examples of the same model. Often enough, some little adjustments have to be made to get the best out of an instrument. With this particular ukulele, the fretwork had to be fixed a bit, and I put on brown Worth strings, that was all... I believe the pre-owner already optimized the action, which was pretty good. Intonation was quite good too, which is probably good luck, since there is usually quite a lot of variation in this price range.

Second:
Nope, I don't do a lot of post-processing. I *do* add a *slight* amount of reverb since otherwise it would sound too dry (a too damped room and near recording distance will inevitably lead to this if you don't do anything about it), but some of these instruments are so resonant and have enough sustain that I might get away without that too. It depends a bit on the music too. Some music just sounds better with a bit of reverb, while other kinds of music don't really need it that much.
So what else do I do? Not much -- just normalizing and synchronizing to the video. That's all. I could probably improve the sound by doing some EQ, enhancing and so on, but frankly I'm too lazy to do that. I like the sound without it already so I just leave it like this.

However I believe that the following ingredients are essential for making a recording that sounds good:
1.) Make sure to play well: Tune your instrument precisely. Use good strings. Make sure your nails are in good shape. Even little nuances in playing technique are important to get a good sound. I often take care to adapt my arrangements and playing in order to enhance the resonance of the ukulele. If you want to find out more about the playing techniques I'm using you can check out my crash course at ukulele arts. (It's a bit hidden yet, but you will find it with the search).
2.) Make sure you don't record in a noisy environment. Even computer fans will degrade the sound of your recording. That's why I don't use a computer for recording.
3.) Use proper recording equipment. A good condenser mic, a good preamp, and a decent digital recorder will do miracles. The ukulele is not a very loud instrument, and bad recording equipment will have problems making a clean recording of it. I want to mention that I don't use any devices for enhancing or modiying the sound in my recording chain. The mic is a LCT 550, the preamp a DMP3 (which doesn't have any EQ or the like). The recorder really doesn't matter that much as long it does a clean job without making noise, it's a Yamaha D100.

When recording, I often try to select an ukulele to match the sound I want to achieve. There are some very cheap and some more expensive ones in my little collection, and they all have their own beautiful voice and are put to use now and then for recording.

Why did I get a warning that this Message seems to be spam when I tried to post it first?

Best Regards
Wilfried

Thanks for all the great info, Wilfried.
Teri

Thanks for all the input to this thread. Please continue.

I wrote a reply but it seems to have vanished

Assume you have checked eBay and gumtree local? There are usually loads of cheap instruments someone has bought for themselves or for the kids and never played. Sometimes you can get bargains if you find one local and make an offer, saves them the hassle of posting. Lots of Makala and Mahalo, sometimes a slightly better like Baton Route, Kala or Alic/Mahilele second hand. You are buying a pig in a poke of course if you don't play, but then you are anyway unless buying from somewhere that do set up and decent quality control, and that won't be the dirt cheap end.

_Ukeless_ said:

DownUpDave
http://www.caramelukulele.com/caram...hogany-concert-acoustic-electric-ukulele.html

In this example from Caramel Ukulele does "Buffalo bone nut & saddle" literally mean buffalo bone? I would like an instrument suitable for vegetarians!

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Did you find an answer about this? I was put off buying the Kmise brand for the same reason.

poorlittlefish said:

Did you find an answer about this? I was put off buying the Kmise brand for the same reason.

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You should also be aware that some of the glues used to assemble ukuleles are made from animal by products. Hot hide glue for example.

PoorLittleFish - no, I am no nearer finding the answer.

Which of the most respected makers of ukuleles use no animal parts in the process? Since we are well beyond the use of ivory in the construction of pianos surely a similar situation must prevail in the making of ukuleles.

_Ukeless_ said:

Which do you regard as the best value absolutely dirt cheap ukulele for a beginner, be it a soprano, concert, tenor or baritone? Let's make it one that is easily available worldwide without needing to be individually imported to wherever you are.

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If you're in the UK check out the "Vintage" brand https://www.jhs.co.uk/brands/vintage/vintage-ukuleles ... cheap as they come and surprisingly good! ... and yes, I've got one of their ukuleles, a 12-string guitar and a bass guitar ... all perfectly playable

Not really knowing where to turn, as there were no local outlets, I purchased my first ukulele four months ago based on Amazon reviews. Based on those I went with a Hricane tenor. W/ padded gig bag, extra Aquila strings, capo and polishing cloth for $55 delivered. If you Google reviews you may find my post on YouTube. I was extremely happy with my purchase. There were a couple of minor issues but I can definitely recommend it as an intro ukulele. I did eventually change the strings to Living Water. Just my 2 cents worth.

water buffalo bone not American bison

I imagine that the nut and saddle are from water buffalo, an Asian domesticated animal raised for milk, meat, and as a draft animal.

Nuts and saddles are mostly specified generically as "bone" with no origin noted. I wouldn't be surprised if many of those "bone" nuts are water buffalo considering their origin in the area where those animals are common.

If you are vegetarian, vegan, or a PETA member any type of bone is likely not acceptable.

rrieth said:

I imagine that the nut and saddle are from water buffalo, an Asian domesticated animal raised for milk, meat, and as a draft animal.

Nuts and saddles are mostly specified generically as "bone" with no origin noted. I wouldn't be surprised if many of those "bone" nuts are water buffalo considering their origin in the area where those animals are common.

If you are vegetarian, vegan, or a PETA member any type of bone is likely not acceptable.

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Would that include fossilized dinosaur bone?

Well we have to draw a sensible line somewhere between being absolutely 100% perfectly vegetarian and using that which originated from dinosaurs. No dinosaurs were bred for the purpose of human beings being able to drink their milk, eat their flesh or use any part of them for ukuleles.

Maybe dinosaurs are what Soylent Green is made from.

I heard of an instrument builder who discovered some bones when digging his back garden. He had unwittingly disinterred a dog. So there are some ukes out there with nuts and saddles made of dog bone.

That's OK by me. The dog was, presumably, someone's beloved pet. It will have known nothing but love and kindness, and lived out it's natural span. "No dogs were harmed" as they say.

John Colter

Ah, to be reincarnated as a musical instrument!

Great advice in here.

I have many parents buying their kids the cheapest ukuleles possible and it's usually counterproductive to their learning.

So cheapest is definitely not best.

Makala Sharks are great and durable. Personally I really dislike the sound of plastic ukuleles with plastic frets. Makala Sharks are part plastic and have metal frets.

I'd say the best bet is to buy an uke from Mim at Mim's Ukes. She'll set up even the cheapest ukes so you can be sure of the playability.

It could be a bit cheaper finding one on Amazon, but being straight from the factory could give you one that's more difficult to play. But, all things considered, if you want cheapest, I'd say just go with a well-known brand from the cheapest place. Reverb.com is my favorite place to get used/new instruments.

I just checked and there's a few Kala sopranos for $42.

This is an old thread. I am adding this comment to later readers who may come along. I have bought probably over 80 ukes by now. Many were very nice but I have also bought many inexpensive ukes as loaners and to give away as a promotion for our group.

This ukulele sounds really good, like a much more expensive uke. I have owned six ukes by this maker, and all were impeccably set up and ready to play as soon as the strings stretched and settled. These also come with a 12 inch radiused fretboard, common in guitars but very rare among ukes. This means instead of being flat, the fretboard curves slightly, meaning the frets are slightly curved. Some people don't like radiused fretboards but many do. If one has weaker hands, or arthritis, it can make barre chords easier. For some reason they have kept this model at only $50 at Amazon for quite a while. I keep waiting for them to raise the price.

For now, at this price, this is THE ukulele I recommend to the average beginner for a first time uke. Unless they need a different size, this is a great option. I have one among our loaner ukes or our meetings, and a couple of people have bought them on my recommendation and they are happy.

It is the Enya X1M concert. Well, I think Enya in general are great starter ukes because they are well made, well set up and easy to play. So if that models doesn't appeal to someone their other ukes are all safe bets.

Go on line and look at what Glarry (or Glary) has for inexpensive but very attractive and good playing ukuleles of the four different sizes. I prefer concert and tenor. They have Aquila white strings. The price you see includes shipping. Bang for the buck you can't beat it----and I sell two other lines-----