Aklot - an unpaid considered review

snshami

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This is the second ukulele in our home. The other is a Makala Dolphin that costs slightly less. I also play guitar and am used to top shelf gear.

The Aklot is a great ukulele for A$65 when you consider what else comes with it. You get good a lovely strap, a reasonably decent gig bag and an impressive tuner. The strap I got was not the noose type but the one that fits into the pins like a guitar strap.

The guitar is generally finished very well. I was unable to find any flaws in the fit and finish. I like the austere look and the laser engraving although I wish the rosette around the sound hole would be through holes.

The neck has binding so it does not expose the straight cut frets. The ends are not rounded or polished but you don't feel them because of the binding on the neck. The frets otherwise are smooth and polished well. The neck has the correct amount of relief but the action was too high. I had to file 1mm off the bridge saddle. More seriously I had to reseat the nut. The strings at the first fret were way too high and on close inspection, I found the nut was not sitting on a flat portion of the neck but on a radius, which the upper edge of the nut overhung.

I had to loosen the strings and push them to the side. Then I proceeded to file the neck down in that area before I reglued the nut onto what was now a flat surface.

This lowered the action at the first few frets down to 0.4mm. It has made the instrument play so much better because I am not sharpening the note by having to press too hard.

After all this work the intonation is spot on and there is no buzz of any sort.

Over the last two weeks, the sound has opened up quite a bit. It was a little dull at the start but now it rings out nicely.
Fingerpicking elicits good sounds all the way to the 12th fret but not so much beyond.

Strumming elicits a robust sound with a nice timbre that is balanced towards the mellow side.

I ended up polishing the fret ends a bit and putting a dab of vaseline on the open tuner gears to make them smooth. They look nice but feel slightly non-uniform and a tad rough, like the gears are not properly polished.

Over these two weeks, the finish has begun to wear off the top edge, which is a little disappointing and points to it being very thin.

If I compare it to the Makala Dolphin, it sounds deeper, which is to be expected because it's a concert size. The higher notes ring out just as nicely in both.

To sum up I would say that I'm happy with the purchase. My fettling, it has added value and probably made it play as well as a $150 instrument but having said that I am under no illusions that it's anything but a good budget guitar.

It will make a good beater that I can be rough with.

Based on my experience my next uke will be something from an established brand like Kala.

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... ...The Aklot is a great ukulele for A$65 when you consider what else comes with it. You get good a lovely strap, a reasonably decent gig bag and an impressive tuner. The strap I got was not the noose type but the one that fits into the pins like a guitar strap.... ...
A very informative review. Thanks.
 
David of YouTube Make it Music made a video comparing the Alcot to a Blackbird Clara. He agrees with your opinion.

https://youtu.be/C8OL24crXeg
 
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