Makala Dolphin - plastic back - review

Aloha Paul,
What a cool site, you did a wonderful job!!!I check it out every so often....
Many Thanks, MM Stan..
 
I found a place in the South Bay (San Jose) that sells Dolphins for $30.

C.B Perkins on Winfield Blvd off Blossom Hill. They are primarily a luthier, but also sell a few guitars and cheap ukes.
 
Gillian said:
I found a place in the South Bay (San Jose) that sells Dolphins for $30.

C.B Perkins on Winfield Blvd off Blossom Hill. They are primarily a luthier, but also sell a few guitars and cheap ukes.
Click to expand...

I wonder if he sets up each one and puts on Aquilas? LOL

bob
 
Just ordered one from MGM for my niece. Can't wait to try it out before handing it over to her.
 
UK dealers I KNOW stock plastic back models (seems silly statement but many I email seem clueless!) are Highly Strung in Wantage and Bonsai guitars
 
My dolphin has arrived and I've restrung it with Aquilas. Sounds great. Sooooo much better than my Vintage VUK15. Wish I'd bought this one first rather than the VUK which quite frankly was gash in comparison even with Aquilas. I went for the red sunburst from Highly Strung of Wantage and got a free string winder. £25 plus £2 postage. Nice low action and the intonation is good all over. Good finish all over although as mentioned before in the thread, its a little messy around the nut and I would have prefered chrome surrounds around where the tuners come through the head rather than cream plastic. Even the wife thinks it looks good and she hates everything I've ever bought for any hobby I've ever had.

A guy I work with said last month he'd take the VUK off me if I didn't want it so I gave it to him for free with a spare set of strings. Hopefully he'll stick with it and we'll have assimilated another. Resistance it futile.

Also had some opportunity to plug the electric Stagg "mini strat" into my real amp (not my hand made smokie) and do some rocking. It appears that my neighbour isn't keen on AC/DC or Cream!
 
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Can anyone suggest some other strings to try on my Dolphin. The plucking and strumming sound fine but it reallt does seem to amplify the sound of my fingers sliding on the strings and they also seem to "stick" to my left hand finger tips so there is a mini plucking noise when I change chords.
 
deemster007 said:
Can anyone suggest some other strings to try on my Dolphin. The plucking and strumming sound fine but it reallt does seem to amplify the sound of my fingers sliding on the strings and they also seem to "stick" to my left hand finger tips so there is a mini plucking noise when I change chords.
Click to expand...

What do you have on there right now?
 
Aquilas, but they just feel rough to my finger tips. I've Worth Flouros on my Stagg electric and they feel much better but they are reletively expensive ( half the price of the Dolphin).
 
I also dislike the squeakiness of aquillas. I put worth clears on mine [about 14 shipped from mgm for 2] and it sounds awesome for a uke under $40.
 
Pauljmuk

Thanks for the heads up on the Makala Dolphin. Picked one up today, immediately restrung it with a set of Aquilas, and can't believe the sound from this little plastic toy.
I live in the high desert of Southern California and have to take care with my good Ukuleles because of the dry conditions here. I have them each in their case with humidifier and hygrometer. This plastic (Red) Makala will just lay around where it's handy when I get the urge to strum. I will enjoy it. Thanks again for your commentary.

Huckleberry (Tony)
 
Great to hear Tony.

No matter how expensive the ukes in your collection are, I really do believe that every player should have a dolphin
 
in UK, ukulelehut.co.uk (part of themusicstop.co.uk) have light blue ones for £20.99 and the postage is only £2.49. I've checked that they are definitely composite ones. Bargain!
 
Play mine every single day! Still play my others as I feel
like it,but the Dolphin gets a daily workout! Love it to bits!
 
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