actadh
Well-known member
My $79 Globe sopranino and $30 Tempo baritone.
Favorite Cheap uke roll call
- Thread starter Ukecaster
- Start date
My $79 Globe sopranino and $30 Tempo baritone.
Makala Dolphin (or Shark) and the Enya EUC-X1M (concert HPL.) Sadly, the EUC-X1M seems to be out of stock both at Enya's site and on Amazon, but it is my favorite Enya.
glennerd
Well-known member
Kala KA-SLNG long neck laminate mahogany soprano - one of my first ukes, & still picked up & played 4 years later.
I'll add another vote for the SLNG. But I made the mistake of selling it.
I'm coming up to the one year anniversary of my last ukulele purchase and all this talk of Flight TUSL-35s is making me think I'm not going to make it that long.
Jan D
Well-known member
A tie for first place:
-Kala KA-SLNG (with PhD strings)
-Flight TUS-35 (also with PhD strings)
Both are under $100 and fun to play. They are my “no worries, go anywhere” ukes.
-Kala KA-SLNG (with PhD strings)
-Flight TUS-35 (also with PhD strings)
Both are under $100 and fun to play. They are my “no worries, go anywhere” ukes.
UkeStuff
Well-known member
I have been told the X1M is discontinued. They are selling the X2M, and also a new model with a fretboard that lights up like a Populele.
They also now have the XK HPL, which seems pretty much like the X1M, but with a koa pattern instead of mahogany.
Jerryc41
Well-known member
I have thirteen ukes that cost me $50 or less, including two that I made.
Unfortunately(?), I have thirteen at the other end of the scale.
Unfortunately(?), I have thirteen at the other end of the scale.
I guess it would be the Flight TUS-35. I liked the Kmise soprano very much, and it maybe sounds better, but I have ukes that sound great. The Flight sounds good, it's fun to play, and it's durable, so it fills a niche that the Kmise doesn't.
I do find the thinline ukes more comfortable to play. In that respect I really like the Enya Nova U I gave to my son. The comfort makes up for the sound, which is pretty good, but obviously not great. It makes me think that a good thinline would be nice, but I don't want to go down that shopping rabbit hole.
I do find the thinline ukes more comfortable to play. In that respect I really like the Enya Nova U I gave to my son. The comfort makes up for the sound, which is pretty good, but obviously not great. It makes me think that a good thinline would be nice, but I don't want to go down that shopping rabbit hole.
TopDog
Well-known member
Got my Makala Dolphin about a week after they appeared over here in the UK and it is a fabulous little instrument!
bunnyf
Well-known member
A decently setup cheap uke is a wonderful thing. My first uke was a Lanikai LU-21B, a laminate plain Jane baritone. It still gets played today by my son. My current cheapie is a hobbyist made cedar/hog bari. Not cosmetically perfect but sounds and plays well and it’s a sentimental fav. What I like about them is that they get taken along and played in all kinds of circumstances. They get shared without worry. They are always ready to make music, when their “betters” are at home sheltered in their cases. Three cheers for a good cheap uke!
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Well said!
bacchettadavid
Well-known member
A Diamond Head DU-200T owned by one of my first students. I don't know whether that uke was an outlier.
I reently bought one of the weird little Caramel CB500 all-rosewood "factory defect" baritone ukes. It cost me under sixty bucks, and while it's not as loud as some of my high-dollar ukes, it plays, sounds, and looks just fine. And it has a pickup! I've had mixed results with Caramel ( like the lack of side dot markers), but I can find nothing detrimental to say about this one. It's fun to play!
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I have a Concert made by Alvarez that's pretty darn nice!
Uncle Rod Higuchi
Well-known member
perhaps this reply is unfair but my first uke, bought by my grandmother from Long's Drugs, HNL,
was a no name, orange-colored, soprano (or just slightly larger - mezzo?) from Japan. I believe
my grandmother paid about $7 for it.
it is my favorite, albeit no longer with me, because it was the foundation of all... get that(?), ALL
of my ukulele knowledge and skills.
I don't know how many hours I spent with it trying to figure out how to play it and how to work
out chords to the songs I enjoyed hearing on the radio at that time (1959-60), when my 6th grade
teacher first taught me and my classmates how to play, at Ali'iolani Elementary.
Mahalo, Ms Wong!
I learned to play off song sheets, how to figure out chords to early Rock'n Roll songs from the radio, how to transpose
to keys in my vocal range, etc.
i'm sure it must have had 'issues' like high action, intonation problems, poor sound quality, etc. but it
was my only uke and, again, the foundation for all my subsequent ukulele efforts and education!
That said, I do enjoy playing an Enya HPL soprano a fellow UUer sold me after he had shaved down the
neck and added a personal sound hole. Thank you, Friend!
it now resides in HNL so I can only play it when I'm there. It is full of little rubber duckies I share with
toddlers and young children, with their parent's permission, of course
I keep it in a Martin Soprano gig bag which keeps it very slim and compact.
At home in Seattle, I like playing my green Outdoor Ukulele, but it was a bit more than $100, so it may
not qualify with the parameters above.
keep uke'in',
was a no name, orange-colored, soprano (or just slightly larger - mezzo?) from Japan. I believe
my grandmother paid about $7 for it.
it is my favorite, albeit no longer with me, because it was the foundation of all... get that(?), ALL
of my ukulele knowledge and skills.
I don't know how many hours I spent with it trying to figure out how to play it and how to work
out chords to the songs I enjoyed hearing on the radio at that time (1959-60), when my 6th grade
teacher first taught me and my classmates how to play, at Ali'iolani Elementary.
Mahalo, Ms Wong!
I learned to play off song sheets, how to figure out chords to early Rock'n Roll songs from the radio, how to transpose
to keys in my vocal range, etc.
i'm sure it must have had 'issues' like high action, intonation problems, poor sound quality, etc. but it
was my only uke and, again, the foundation for all my subsequent ukulele efforts and education!
That said, I do enjoy playing an Enya HPL soprano a fellow UUer sold me after he had shaved down the
neck and added a personal sound hole. Thank you, Friend!
it now resides in HNL so I can only play it when I'm there. It is full of little rubber duckies I share with
toddlers and young children, with their parent's permission, of course
I keep it in a Martin Soprano gig bag which keeps it very slim and compact.
At home in Seattle, I like playing my green Outdoor Ukulele, but it was a bit more than $100, so it may
not qualify with the parameters above.
keep uke'in',
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What a great story, and memory.
I sold you that Enya. I had fun modifying it and am so happy to hear you still like it! At the time I kind of thought you were just being nice about how much you liked it. I'm also not a guy. Not that it matters. I'm stuck at home here in Washington State, meeting up with uke friends tomorrow for socially-distanced playing at the park. Good thoughts to my fellow Washingtonians.
I sold you that Enya. I had fun modifying it and am so happy to hear you still like it! At the time I kind of thought you were just being nice about how much you liked it. I'm also not a guy. Not that it matters. I'm stuck at home here in Washington State, meeting up with uke friends tomorrow for socially-distanced playing at the park. Good thoughts to my fellow Washingtonians.
perhaps this reply is unfair but my first uke, bought by my grandmother from Long's Drugs, HNL,
was a no name, orange-colored, soprano (or just slightly larger - mezzo?) from Japan. I believe
my grandmother paid about $7 for it.
it is my favorite, albeit no longer with me, because it was the foundation of all... get that(?), ALL
of my ukulele knowledge and skills.
I don't know how many hours I spent with it trying to figure out how to play it and how to work
out chords to the songs I enjoyed hearing on the radio at that time (1959-60), when my 6th grade
teacher first taught me and my classmates how to play, at Ali'iolani Elementary.
Mahalo, Ms Wong!
I learned to play off song sheets, how to figure out chords to early Rock'n Roll songs from the radio, how to transpose
to keys in my vocal range, etc.
i'm sure it must have had 'issues' like high action, intonation problems, poor sound quality, etc. but it
was my only uke and, again, the foundation for all my subsequent ukulele efforts and education!
That said, I do enjoy playing an Enya HPL soprano a fellow UUer sold me after he had shaved down the
neck and added a personal sound hole. Thank you, Friend!
it now resides in HNL so I can only play it when I'm there. It is full of little rubber duckies I share with
toddlers and young children, with their parent's permission, of course
I keep it in a Martin Soprano gig bag which keeps it very slim and compact.
At home in Seattle, I like playing my green Outdoor Ukulele, but it was a bit more than $100, so it may
not qualify with the parameters above.
keep uke'in',
MutinousDoug
Well-known member
This uke shows up in the 1954 Wards catalog selling for $4.95. Airline brand, I think it's birch. My wife bought it for me at a 2nd hand store a few years ago (not in 1954) listed for $4.95 but she went on senior day so she paid $2.48. The shark tooth tuners and plastic fret board make me guess it was made by Harmony. Tone is a little harsh but the intonation is good enough for my playing.
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Arcy
Strummin' in the Rain
Dang. Uncle Rod and MutinousDoug really upped the game on this thread. Both stories are fantastic!
drbekken
Well-known member
I have several cheapos. These four are my favourites:
Rogue baritone
Savannah baritone
Rogue soprano
Mahalo MK1TBR soprano
I really, really love these ukes.
Rogue baritone
Savannah baritone
Rogue soprano
Mahalo MK1TBR soprano
I really, really love these ukes.
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