Deciding is so hard!

I'm not unhappy with the Cordoba, but I don't "love" it either. Being a beginner it's hard for me to articulate exactly what I want. I don't come from a musical background. Perhaps the issue is that the cordoba didn't come with any setup and I'm not advanced enough to know what it needs? So I am looking at uke republic and mims this time.

You are making am very wise decision by dealing with neither of these people, they are great. Don't be afraid to call them up and talk to them. You will get great advice and service.

This "second" uke will not be your last so don't sweat trying to make the perfect purchase. As you progress your tastes and requirements will change.
 
Can I suggest that once you decide you speak to the music store you are buying from and ask them to ensure that your new Uke is correctly set up by their Luither Technician.

If the music store concerned does not have a Luthier, move on to one that does and only buy from them.

There may be a suppliment for this service but it is well worth it.

If you can do try before you buy.
 
Hi everyone! I am absolute beginner to ukulele. My friend from work brought ukulele with him, I tried it out for an hour or two and got urge to buy one for myself, going through some performances by guys like Kalei Gamiao, and getting super inspired by it.

Right now I am trying to decide which brand and model will be the best for me for learning and playing for some period of time, until I get one of those beautiful Kamakas, hopefully :D

I am considering only Concert and Tenor, because of their more rich and deep sound, with getting more towards Tenor for this same reasons plus more comfortable size.

Here are some of my picks. Will be very grateful for your help in this decision. I tried to post amazon links, but system recognizes it as spam. If there is a way to prevent this, I could've included links so it would be easier for you to take a look at them:

Ukulele Concert Size Bundle From Lohanu
Kala KA-C Mahogany
Official Kala Learn to Play Ukulele
Enya EUC-X1 - I like this a lot, from a looks and packaging
Donner Mahogany DUC-1
Bondi Ukulele Starter Kit
Kala KA-T Mahogany
 
Okami, if you read through the thread, there is a consistent tone that getting it from a place that does proper setup can make or break the beginning ukulele experience. So looking at your list, consider getting one of the two Kala ukes from Mim's Ukes where she will personally set it up for you.
 
Bought the Enya kit, returned it as the neck was bent and twisted and the tuner was rubbish and inaccurate.

Bought a KALA TEME, which is the electro version.

Nice tone, nice build, nice action, nice intonation, no defects.

Buy Kala and you will not be disapointed.

Forget kits, buy a hard case as it will give better protection and humidiy control.
 
Hi everyone! I am absolute beginner to ukulele. My friend from work brought ukulele with him, I tried it out for an hour or two and got urge to buy one for myself, going through some performances by guys like Kalei Gamiao, and getting super inspired by it.

Right now I am trying to decide which brand and model will be the best for me for learning and playing for some period of time, until I get one of those beautiful Kamakas, hopefully :D

I am considering only Concert and Tenor, because of their more rich and deep sound, with getting more towards Tenor for this same reasons plus more comfortable size.

Here are some of my picks. Will be very grateful for your help in this decision. I tried to post amazon links, but system recognizes it as spam. If there is a way to prevent this, I could've included links so it would be easier for you to take a look at them:

Ukulele Concert Size Bundle From Lohanu
Kala KA-C Mahogany
Official Kala Learn to Play Ukulele
Enya EUC-X1 - I like this a lot, from a looks and packaging
Donner Mahogany DUC-1
Bondi Ukulele Starter Kit
Kala KA-T Mahogany

Do not buy from Amazon.
 
Since you have narrowed your choice to two, have you a seller in mind?

You could ask them if they would send you sound samples of the ukuleles you are interested in. This might be a bother but maybe you ask if you could rent for a month, some places will rent by the month for a reasonable price. This would give you an opportunity to try before you buy.
 
Do not buy from Amazon.


Because of the reason suggested by rainbow21, right?

Personally, I like Enya because of HPL, packaging, strings attachment inside body, so they won't break and detach with time, bone under string placement and quality of string tuners. I see that Col50 wasn't satisfied at all with it, so it's a little concerning now.

I live in Ukraine, and we don't have ukuleles from list above, only Chinese cheap ones. And I, after all the research, want to buy something of a nice quality for under 200 bucks to have best experience.

So now I am considering two Kala from Mim's Uke, like gentlemen from above suggested or from here.

By the way, I know guitar club in Russia, which sells primarily Enya and they are doing set up for each ukulele. Maybe that's also not a bad of a choice, considering that they are checking and setting up every ukulele, so no defects should be from the box.

On the other hand: its very tempting to get ukulele from Hawaii :D
 
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I made the Amazon mistake. It really IS important to get it from someone who can set it up for you first.
 
Kherome,

Assuming you don’t end up returning your uke, Barry (UUer Bazmaz) has made a video series about amateur ukulele setup. You can find it on his GotAUkulele handle on YouTube.
 
For the money you are about to invest, you might consider a" Pono "Mahagony Ukulele from Hawaii Music Supply Or an" Islander" made by Kanelia. They cost a bit more but would be worth the investment in the long run. In addition, you will get the set up done properly at no extra cost. They are good people to do business with.
 
Try looking at

https://www.dukeofuke.co.uk

https://www.southernukulelestore.co.uk

https://www.themusiccellar.co.uk

All are UK based which may make things easier for you than buying from the USA.

The last one is my local shop where I bought my Risa electric from, I found them a good company to deal with especially since I got the Risa for a good price.

Hi. Thanks for the list of shops. Do you know if they are also doing full setup of instruments, like theukulelesite does, or they are just distributing them?
 
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Dont forget:
http://worldofukes.co.uk/

I believe that both Southern Ukulele Store and World of Ukes can do setups.

I didn't ask for any particular setup when I have ordered from these shops, but they are passionate about their ukes.
 
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