Farkvam
Well-known member
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- Mar 25, 2021
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An unsponsored review.
I recently sold my first ukulele, a $60 Hilo, and was looking for an upgrade. I was willing to spend $200 CAD and reached out to a local ukulele teacher and dealer for recommendations. They immediately recommended the $69 Aklot on Amazon. A bit surprised and extremely skeptical (almost 6000 mostly positive reviews), I went to a brick and mortar Long and McQuade instead. After a few weeks and not much success, I decided to order an Ohana SK-25 sight unseen from another dealer. It would be a month wait and being without uke, I finally caved in and ordered the Aklot for the time being as a waiting period/travel/beach uke.
$69 CAD minus an $8 Amazon coupon offer for a solid mahogany top with bone nut and saddle, Aquila SuperNylgut strings and a multitude of accessories: gig bag, digital clip-on tuner, extra set of strings, shoulder strap, two picks, a how-to guide and a chord directory.
It arrived in two days (thanks Amazon Prime) and all looked surprisingly good. It wasn't tuned but a couple moments fixed that and it held its tune, no settling in period for the strings.
Now to look at the body. The solid top is in two pieces, the neck in three with a joint at the heel and the headstock. The laminate back and sides are both in two pieces. Features a pull through bridge which conceals the string ends. It's a standard soprano size at 21 inches. Satin, open pore finish.
Nice features: rounded edges where the top meets the sides for comfort, laser etched logo and rosette, bone nut and compensated saddle, nice reddish mahogany hue, awesome unbranded copper 18:1 tuners that have the perfect amount of tension and turn like butter. Decent bracing and notched kerfing inside, strap buttons, full rounded neck profile (which not everyone loves but I do). A slightly more generous nut width than most Chinese offerings at 36mm. And the gig bag is padded with a front zip pocket, much nicer than some reviews rate. The back is slightly arched affording nice projection and there are side fret markets at the 3rd, 5th and 10th.
What's not great: despite smooth fret ends promised by the ad, almost all were sharp and needed filing. The bridge and fretboard are a rough wood, painted black which I never love. I prefer natural wood. The compensated saddle appears to be hand hewn and looks a bit hack. There are a bit of glue blobs inside but otherwise fine.
How does it sound? There isn't great sustain, but overall the sound is bright, clear and punchy without being brittle. The intonation is quite good despite becoming a bit sharp at the 12th. All in all, it's actually quite amazing, I almost don't want to admit it. In my experience it definitely outperformed another entry level, the Kala KA-S, in every regard. I had the Kala in my possession for a couple weeks before returning it to Long and McQuade, where it retails for over double the price of the Aklot.
4/5 for its price range. I normally prefer brick and mortar mom and pop shops, and brands with a story. But I would honestly recommend the Aklot to any beginner or someone looking for a travel uke that they can also bring to the beach or camping.
Edit April 28th: I just read a Kmise review (same brand as Aklot) by a well-known ukulele reviewer that this brand uses questionable marketing tactics and lied about their product to him. I am only recommending this instrument based on my experiences with it, not necessarily the company behind it. Hearing about this brand having questionable integrity may understandably be a turn-off for some prospective buyers. I bought this particular instrument based on personal recommendation from some people in the ukulele community and haven't had any unsavory experiences, but I can't comment on the brand.
I recently sold my first ukulele, a $60 Hilo, and was looking for an upgrade. I was willing to spend $200 CAD and reached out to a local ukulele teacher and dealer for recommendations. They immediately recommended the $69 Aklot on Amazon. A bit surprised and extremely skeptical (almost 6000 mostly positive reviews), I went to a brick and mortar Long and McQuade instead. After a few weeks and not much success, I decided to order an Ohana SK-25 sight unseen from another dealer. It would be a month wait and being without uke, I finally caved in and ordered the Aklot for the time being as a waiting period/travel/beach uke.
$69 CAD minus an $8 Amazon coupon offer for a solid mahogany top with bone nut and saddle, Aquila SuperNylgut strings and a multitude of accessories: gig bag, digital clip-on tuner, extra set of strings, shoulder strap, two picks, a how-to guide and a chord directory.
It arrived in two days (thanks Amazon Prime) and all looked surprisingly good. It wasn't tuned but a couple moments fixed that and it held its tune, no settling in period for the strings.
Now to look at the body. The solid top is in two pieces, the neck in three with a joint at the heel and the headstock. The laminate back and sides are both in two pieces. Features a pull through bridge which conceals the string ends. It's a standard soprano size at 21 inches. Satin, open pore finish.
Nice features: rounded edges where the top meets the sides for comfort, laser etched logo and rosette, bone nut and compensated saddle, nice reddish mahogany hue, awesome unbranded copper 18:1 tuners that have the perfect amount of tension and turn like butter. Decent bracing and notched kerfing inside, strap buttons, full rounded neck profile (which not everyone loves but I do). A slightly more generous nut width than most Chinese offerings at 36mm. And the gig bag is padded with a front zip pocket, much nicer than some reviews rate. The back is slightly arched affording nice projection and there are side fret markets at the 3rd, 5th and 10th.
What's not great: despite smooth fret ends promised by the ad, almost all were sharp and needed filing. The bridge and fretboard are a rough wood, painted black which I never love. I prefer natural wood. The compensated saddle appears to be hand hewn and looks a bit hack. There are a bit of glue blobs inside but otherwise fine.
How does it sound? There isn't great sustain, but overall the sound is bright, clear and punchy without being brittle. The intonation is quite good despite becoming a bit sharp at the 12th. All in all, it's actually quite amazing, I almost don't want to admit it. In my experience it definitely outperformed another entry level, the Kala KA-S, in every regard. I had the Kala in my possession for a couple weeks before returning it to Long and McQuade, where it retails for over double the price of the Aklot.
4/5 for its price range. I normally prefer brick and mortar mom and pop shops, and brands with a story. But I would honestly recommend the Aklot to any beginner or someone looking for a travel uke that they can also bring to the beach or camping.
Edit April 28th: I just read a Kmise review (same brand as Aklot) by a well-known ukulele reviewer that this brand uses questionable marketing tactics and lied about their product to him. I am only recommending this instrument based on my experiences with it, not necessarily the company behind it. Hearing about this brand having questionable integrity may understandably be a turn-off for some prospective buyers. I bought this particular instrument based on personal recommendation from some people in the ukulele community and haven't had any unsavory experiences, but I can't comment on the brand.
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