Cheap/Affordable Uke Recommendations?

I'd suggest you get yourself an electronic tuner to go with your new uke too.

There's lots of tutorials online to get you up & playing as well.

Anything else just ask. :)
 
Congratulations! If you have a smart phone, there are a lot of free apps that can help you tune your ukulele. Plus plenty of tutorials on YouTube and free ‘sheet music’ on the web. Have fun!
 
I think you will be pleased with your purchase. I was of a similar mind as Graham, I would have suggested trying to find a second hand instrument for that price, since the Flight seemed too expensive.
 
Thanks, everyone.

Good to come across a supportive community.

I spent about half the money left in my account this month on this, so gonna have to severely moderate my spending, but I feel it was wroth it, considering the good reviews and good reputation products by Flight appear to have.

If they would send me my order in 4 days like they did Jan, that'd be even better. lol.
 
I came across a really useful guide and reviews of ukuleles here and felt compelled to share it with you so that anyone thinking about purchasing a ukulele can benefit from it.
 
It’s good that you bumped this thread, larsonjoy. Lots of people will find it useful. My recommendation for a good inexpensive all-wood uke is an Ohana from Mim’s. On the whole, Ohanas can vary in quality, but Mim is particular and picks the best ones, then sets them up beautifully. And free shipping!
 
I have an older Ohana, a cheapie. It's not the best sounding uke in the house, but it's still fun to play. I fitted it with a lo G string so it's fun to fingerpick.
Mine's a concert scale. I'd avoid the Ohana tenors, they don't seem to sound as good. I didn't think my soprano was special either, so I sold it.
 
It’s good that you bumped this thread, larsonjoy. Lots of people will find it useful. My recommendation for a good inexpensive all-wood uke is an Ohana from Mim’s. On the whole, Ohanas can vary in quality, but Mim is particular and picks the best ones, then sets them up beautifully. And free shipping!
Thanks Patty! I have never used Ohanas, but thanks for your thoughts.
 
I have an older Ohana, a cheapie. It's not the best sounding uke in the house, but it's still fun to play. I fitted it with a lo G string so it's fun to fingerpick.
Mine's a concert scale. I'd avoid the Ohana tenors, they don't seem to sound as good. I didn't think my soprano was special either, so I sold it.
So which one do you have right now?
 
I came across a really useful guide and reviews of ukuleles here and felt compelled to share it with you so that anyone thinking about purchasing a ukulele can benefit from it.
Thanks for posting the uke review guide. Though I have no reason to question / argue with others' recommendations of Ohana, I've had an unexpected reason to test drive a $69.00 Donner DUS concert uke. I'm pleasantly surprised to report that, particularly at the really low price point, this uke has a LOT of things going for it. First, a bit of background, starting with the fact that I have no connection with the company that sells Donner instruments.

This past Friday during my lunch hour, I visited my town's lending library with the goal of borrowing every ukulele instruction book on the shelf. Disappointed that the grand total of such books was zero, I ambled toward the door. Serendipitously, my direction of travel took me past a sort of display stand. Displayed there, among other musical items, was a black, uke-sized Donner gig bag. In exchange for my 53-year-old library card and a cursory inventory of the bag's contents, I was able to borrow the uke for 14 calendar days. I'm storing it in my office closet & getting in half an hour of practice during lunch breaks.

Pros:
1. Strap buttons.
2. Arched back.
3. Compensated saddle (may be normal/ standard for a concert uke? I have no frame of reference here).
4. Aquilla Nylgut strings.
5. Side fret markers at 5,7,10 and 12.
6. Metal (steel color, not brass) frets with comfortably-beveled edges/ no sharp points.
7. Fret board seems to be wood. It's certainly not black plastic.
8. Double-curved fret board terminus adds a bit of style not usually present on a budget uke.
9. Same is true of the bridge. It may be plywood of some variety but it's not plastic.
10. "Semi-closed" amber tuning machines with a surprisingly fast gear ratio
11. 10mm taller sound box than my Amazon knockoff kit uke (64mm v. 54mm at heel plate)
12. Clear, precise harmonics at Fret 12
13. Good volume and precise intonation
14. Handsome, tastefully-narrow, rope-style sound hole rosette.
15. Attractive matte/ satin finish.
16. No visible glue residue or poor fit.

Cons:
1. Almost impossible to fret past #9. (Possibly correctable by lowering action at the saddle, which I will of course not attempt on a borrowed instrument.)
2. Sound hole rosette is just a sticker/ decal. (Obviously my bar for handsome & tasteful is low, but who expected MOP & ebony at this price point?)

I'm at a loss to list other cons other than the impossible-to-quell but admittedly provincial disappointment that it probably wasn't manufactured in US, Japan or Germany.
 
As to "pros" #10, I intended to type "amber buttons" but you get the point. And, I didn't intend for my final statement to seem so equivocal. Donners are definitely not made in the US, AUS, Japan, or Germany.
 
So I have decided that as a personal challenge, I will try to learn an instrument, but I also don't want to make it too challenging, so after my research it seems Ukulele is something doable and that I would like as well.

I see that there are both acoustic and electric ukuleles, from what I have seen electric ukulele is pretty damn cool, but seem to mostly be $100 or above, most nearing or exceeding $200, some much more.

Being that I am rather low on money, and that I don't want to be spending a lot of money on one, just in case I give up (even though I will certainly give it my best shot) I don't want to spend much more than $50CAD on one.

From what I have seen there do seem to be many options on ebay, but the vast majority of them seem to be from China, and I have no idea about their quality, but I'd expect them to have some issues from YouTube reviews I have seen on a couple of them.

It seems I should stay away from anything by Maholo even though they are very cheap.

I think electric would be very cool, but for affordability's sake and maybe for being easier to learn, I think I'd be best off with an acoustic one at first, and then get an electric when I get more familiar and advanced.

So anyone have any recommendations or tips on decent acoustic Ukes within and maybe just a little above my price range?

Thanks.
My first uke was/is a Gretch concert made of mahogany. It was cheap and plays and sounds great for the price. Highly recommended
 
Whoops! I just noticed that this is an old thread. I hope Ms Twiggy is playing still. I'll leave my response for other beginners.

Lots of great sources for instruction and information online. YouTube has a bewildering number of instruction videos.

I always like Ukulele Mike Lynch's tutorials on YouTube.
Brad Bordessa has some very good free introductory stuff for new players: https://liveukulele.com/lessons/uke-101/
Brett McQueen also has a number of free lessons and info: https://ukuleletricks.com/how-to-play-ukulele/
Member Choirguy also has a good free information resource: http://ukestuff.info
Member Barry Maz has an excellent website with lots of stuff: https://www.gotaukulele.com/p/beginners-guides.html

It's a fun instrument that is easy to start to play. And you can grow with as far as you want to go.
 
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