Question about new ukes

dow

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Hey,

I'm not sure that this is the right place for this question, so if it needs to be moved, then mods, please do so.

I'm new to ukulele, although I've been playing music for pretty much my whole life. Anyway, my son and I are learning the ukulele together as a way to get him more interested in learning an instrument (he's nine). So we got ukes last weekend, and he ended up with that silly looking watermelon Kala. I realize that it's not the best, probably, for learning on, but if he'll play it, then I'm okay with it. If he really takes off on it, then he'll be wanting something else before long, and I'm okay with that too, as long as he's learning and staying engaged. It seems to stay in tune pretty well, and seems reasonably well set up, all in all.

For myself, I bought a Lanikai MAS-T all mahogany tenor (https://lanikaiukuleles.com/product/solid-mahogany-tenor-ukulele/), and was wondering what people thought of that one. I haven't read any reviews to speak of on them, but it seems to have pretty good intonation, stays in tune well, and has a nice tone.

Any thoughts that you've got on either of these ukes would be appreciated, especially the Lanikai. As for the Kala, like I said, if I can keep him interested and learning, then the watermelon is great as long as he's playing it.

Thanks for your time and all of the great info I'm finding here.
 
Hey dow, welcome to UU. You have pretty much answered your own questions. If these ukulele stay in tune, intonate well and sound good, you are there brah. Over time, you and your son will develop personal preferences over instrument size, neck size and shape, and a myriad of other details that will effect how you perceive certain instruments. But that comes with experience. There is no right or wrong to most of this stuff, it’s simply what you prefer that counts.
Brad
 
You say it is reasonably well set up. I would just check the watermelon Kala and make sure that first position chords are easy to make and don't require too much pressure to fret the first few frets. If so, you may want to lower the action to something a little easier.

Beyond that, I would ask him what songs he wants to play and then start watching a bunch of youtube videos to learn them. Have fun!
 
Off the top of my head random thoughts...
I love my little dinged & refurb Kala Kiwi which is about the same as the watermelon.
The stock strings (probably Aquila Nylgut) feel kinda meh (soft yet callous inducing compared to fluorocarbons or those grey colored Martins) to me. If they feel too soft to your son(excessively bendy) or later on perhaps as an exercise, change out the strings together, as a how-to maintenance project.
Sometimes I like to make a cardboard cut-out & use painter's tape to protect the surface before string changes... though the Kiwi has the easiest type of bridge to deal with.
Also, I looked at the ArtistsWorks Chee/Maisel course & I found the warm-up exercises to be very dexterity building... more dexterity (over time) leads to being able to do more which could feed right back to increasing interest. For both of you :)
 
Thanks for all of the recommendations and suggestions. I'll definitely be double-checking the setup on the Kala. The idea of both of us changing the strings together is a good one, and something that we'll definitely do when the time comes. I'm hoping for a lot of fun with my son, and the beginning of a life-long love of music for him.
 
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