UkeStuff
Well-known member
Monoprice has been an online retailer offering a lot of quality electronics supplies (particularly cables) at affordable prices for quite a while. They have added some instruments to their collection, some that have been available for years.
I had a chance to look at a student's Idyllwild Soprano a couple of years ago, and it seemed like a good beginner ukulele, but that was without much time to really inspect the ukulele.
Monoprice occasionally carries these as "Open Box" models, and I couldn't help myself to buy one for about $25, including shipping.
In short, it is very well built, and comes with a gig bag that is probably worth half of the cost of its normal price, and almost all of the cost at the $25 open box price. New models come with a complete kit and a slightly different bag.
Negatives include a lack of side position markers, sharp fret ends, and a very middle-of-the-road sound.
The action was great on this one, and the playing experience is the same as any of the many ukuleles with a 35mm neck and a C shaped neck.
Is it going to appeal to the masses of UU? Nope. Does it make a decent solution for a new ukulele for a beginner or a student who doesn't have a lot of money? Yep. Is it horrible? Nope.
I'd still recommend the Aiersi Pineapple over this model, for sound and features, even though that is no longer the bargain it once was (Aiersi charges $15 shipping through AliExpress these days, making it a $42 ukulele).
Full UkeGuide review below, followed by the One Minute Review. You can see the PDF summary at ukeguide.info (which is a shortcut to the UkeGuide page on my normal ukestuff.info website).
The full review is long, but is intended to be; you can use the chapter feature to skip to elements of the review that you would like to see.
I had a chance to look at a student's Idyllwild Soprano a couple of years ago, and it seemed like a good beginner ukulele, but that was without much time to really inspect the ukulele.
Monoprice occasionally carries these as "Open Box" models, and I couldn't help myself to buy one for about $25, including shipping.
In short, it is very well built, and comes with a gig bag that is probably worth half of the cost of its normal price, and almost all of the cost at the $25 open box price. New models come with a complete kit and a slightly different bag.
Negatives include a lack of side position markers, sharp fret ends, and a very middle-of-the-road sound.
The action was great on this one, and the playing experience is the same as any of the many ukuleles with a 35mm neck and a C shaped neck.
Is it going to appeal to the masses of UU? Nope. Does it make a decent solution for a new ukulele for a beginner or a student who doesn't have a lot of money? Yep. Is it horrible? Nope.
I'd still recommend the Aiersi Pineapple over this model, for sound and features, even though that is no longer the bargain it once was (Aiersi charges $15 shipping through AliExpress these days, making it a $42 ukulele).
Full UkeGuide review below, followed by the One Minute Review. You can see the PDF summary at ukeguide.info (which is a shortcut to the UkeGuide page on my normal ukestuff.info website).
The full review is long, but is intended to be; you can use the chapter feature to skip to elements of the review that you would like to see.