tm3
Well-known member
Last week on a whim my wife and I attended a beginner ukulele class. The instructor passed out Makala concerts to everyone and we plunked away for an hour. It was a surprising amount of fun and we have decided to try to learn to play this instrument. We are going to start with one and if there is too much fighting over it we'll add another.
Of course the first question is which ukulele to buy. I've spent a while searching and browsing and it seems like the most recommended route is to buy a concert (or tenor) instrument choosing between two options:
1) A Kala or Ohana from a recommended online dealer that will do a quality check and setup, or
2) An Enya from Amazon made of HPL for under $100, with the intent of returning it if defective, and using it as a "beater" later on if eventually upgrading to a higher quality instrument.
I'm not sure which would be best for me yet and would like to ask for some more opinion/information that will help me decide.
Assuming that I do option #1, up to what price point ($100? $200? $300?) will I be able to see "quality" differences that will make a difference to me as a beginner? For example, just throwing out a number, is a beginner likely to be able to appreciate the difference between a $100 instrument and a $200 instrument while the difference between, say, a $200 instrument and a $300 instrument would only be obvious to a more experienced player?
One of the Amazon reviewers said that the HPL Enya has a radiused fretboard, which is "usually only seen in instruments costing over $500." That sounds impressive, except that I don't know what a "radiused fretboard" is and more importantly I don't know if it would make any difference to a novice. But if it would make a difference, and the Enya has it while sub-$500 Kalas and Ohanas don't, then that seems important.
I don't have to go really cheap on this and certainly don't want to be held back by an inferior instrument, but on the other hand I've been around long enough to realize that buying a Fender Stratocaster won't make me play like Jimi Hendrix.
Thanks in advance for your comments!
Of course the first question is which ukulele to buy. I've spent a while searching and browsing and it seems like the most recommended route is to buy a concert (or tenor) instrument choosing between two options:
1) A Kala or Ohana from a recommended online dealer that will do a quality check and setup, or
2) An Enya from Amazon made of HPL for under $100, with the intent of returning it if defective, and using it as a "beater" later on if eventually upgrading to a higher quality instrument.
I'm not sure which would be best for me yet and would like to ask for some more opinion/information that will help me decide.
Assuming that I do option #1, up to what price point ($100? $200? $300?) will I be able to see "quality" differences that will make a difference to me as a beginner? For example, just throwing out a number, is a beginner likely to be able to appreciate the difference between a $100 instrument and a $200 instrument while the difference between, say, a $200 instrument and a $300 instrument would only be obvious to a more experienced player?
One of the Amazon reviewers said that the HPL Enya has a radiused fretboard, which is "usually only seen in instruments costing over $500." That sounds impressive, except that I don't know what a "radiused fretboard" is and more importantly I don't know if it would make any difference to a novice. But if it would make a difference, and the Enya has it while sub-$500 Kalas and Ohanas don't, then that seems important.
I don't have to go really cheap on this and certainly don't want to be held back by an inferior instrument, but on the other hand I've been around long enough to realize that buying a Fender Stratocaster won't make me play like Jimi Hendrix.
Thanks in advance for your comments!