Help - Buying my first Ukulele in the UK - Dealers/ Set up

[JoelC92]

Hello,

I am wanting to buy my first Ukulele and live in the UK. I have done some research and it seems the Lanikai LU21C and the Kala KA-C both seem good choices for a beginner.

The issues i am having are that i do not know which sellers are reputable and that i do not know which sellers will "set up" my Ukulele correctly as i am a novice.

So far i have decided to go for the Kala KA-C and have looked at two dealers: The Southern Ukulele Store and Courtney and Walker.

Courtney and Walker do state on their website that their prices do include a professional set up which is great. I cannot find the same for the Southern Ukulele Store.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[UkuEroll]

SUS have excellent customer service, just give them a ring and they'll do all they can to get the right ukulele for you. You can buy from them with confidance .

 

[kaizersoza]

SUS do not do a set up, they just check to make sure the uke is'nt damaged in any way, i have bought a number of ukes from them and i have always had excellent service from them, i personally would'nt hesitate to buy from them again, i have never dealt with Courtney and Walker so cannot comment, it would be interesting to see the price difference between the 2 sellers given that Courtney and Walker give the instrument a professional set up

 

[The Big Kahuna]

Hey Joel. I'm in more or less the same position as you, having not yet bought a Uke'.

However, I'm off to New York in a few hours for a week, and have identified a few decent stores with stock.

The reason I mention this is because one of the physical laws of the Universe is that whatever a musical instrument costs in England, it will cost the same number of dollars in the US. ie. If a Uke' is £ 200 here, it will be $ 200 there. Which means you get the same Uke' for £ 125 (not forgetting to add whatever the state sales tax is, NY is 8% I think). So, if you happen to have a holiday planned to America any time soon, wait and buy it there. Under £ 360 (I think) it counts as a souvenir, and isn't subject to import duty or VAT.

If you're not going to the US, ignore any advice I give, and listen the the other English people on here.

 

[The Big Kahuna]

Where in England are you btw ?

 

[chris667]

They're probably very good, but here is my (slightly contentious) advice.

If you possibly can, buy it from a real shop. It might cost a tiny bit more, but you get to try them out first, and see what you like. The staff should be able to play them to you, if they can't find another shop.

Failing that, contact your local club. Someone at my club sold a REALLY nice Kala for a lot less than it would have cost in the shop.

If you can't, this is a very good choice:

http://www.themusicroom-online.co.u...d/4809?mrSid=251ea81f5bd23ca1a3e47970c0ab345d

 

[JoelC92]

Thank you for your replies,

KaizerSoza - The Kala KA-C is priced nearly the same on both websites at roughly £60. This made me question as to whether a professional set up is done.

The Big Kahuna - Unfortunately i am not planning a trip to America anytime soon. I live in Oxford.

Chris667 - Currently i do not have the means to get to either shop therefore i am confined to buying online, thank you for your advice about the local club, i will need to search this.

I am thinking that if i ring both businesses i can ask if they do set ups, what the set up they offer involves and at what extra cost. How does this sound?

 

[chris667]

It shouldn't be extra to have your uke set up. Shops shouldn't sell instruments that can't be played.

Can you make the train over to Reading? Hickies music in the town centre had some coloured Lorenzo ukes for about £30 last week. I played one and thought it was really good for an inexpensive uke.

Failing that, I googled music shops in Oxford and found this:

The Music Box
53A Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1HP
01865 204119 ‎

I don't know if they have anything to do with the link I sent you, but if they are the Lani is a much better class of uke than either of the two. The Lani I was given came from there, and is set up very well. A friend has one of those Lanis I posted a link to; it's a superior instrument to anything else you'll get for the price, with a solid top.

PMT online's website doesn't look promising for ukes. Not much choice, though of course they might be better if you visit the shop.

 

[Tazthedog]

I live not far from you in the Chilterns and bought my Mainland Concert from http://www.eaglemusicshop.com. I cannot speak too highly of their service. Eagle do set up all their instruments before dispatch and mine arrived perfectly set up.

http://theukeshed.com

 

[bazmaz]

For me - Southern Ukulele Store, Eagle Music, and a store called Highly Strung - the latter has superb personally service from Nigel (tell him I said hi!) and will do a setup - the range is not, however, as good as SUS which is the daddy of stores, and likewise say hi to Paul Tucker there too!

 

[PixieB-C]

buying

In my first 6 weeks of Uke owning, my experiences are:
(These are from various places, as I was travelling around a lot, but may help if you haven't already purchased)

Online WMC are cheap, and no longer have a front end at present, but do need tuning up, as don't send out highly tuned stock (to protect it better whilst in transit). Bought from here.
Southern are highly recommended. Not yet made it there yet. Plan to soon though. Day trip!
2 places in London I can recommend, 1 near the british musuem (and down the road from an expensive place) (we left with 2). The other 1 is the duke of uke, at the liverpool street end of 'town'.

Reading have 3 music shops of of whom sell a nice range and selection.
Chippenham has a chap who was fabulous on the end of the phone, as was the violin shop in Bristol.

Bridgewater has a great shop for playing and trying (we bought from here too). Taunton has 2, one with an increasing selection (yep can recommend). Totnes has a nice selection in a quircky shop with many things, though the owner deosn't help sell them (bought my precious from here, though with no bag and got given the wrong box).

Makala are Kala 'budget' range. Nothing wrong with them. lankai sound the same - pretty much. Makala dolphin are used by many schools that I know of. Mahalo were better, but comparing a month old verses a 4 year old, and the old one wins in every way. NO-one at my uke night recoemmends them, but there's nothing that wrong with them as some people buy them as they are cheap.

My mother and I bought our first ones in store, as most decent shops look after you. Make sure its the best set up for you, and will often play for you if unsure. We bought on line when we knew what we wanted and couldn't get it from our local stores without difficulty.

Do check along the side of the neck for the metal frets being sharp against your fingers. Do check that their is no buzz as you play each string (check against the headstock for gears cut too close together like my returned tanglewood. Do check for a neck that isn't warped. And smell the inside, should be not mildewy or dusty if new.

I would also recommend look for an Uke group near you. if you haven't bought one yet come to the next newbury one, I'll bring a spare, and you can have a look at at load. Otherwise contact the group near you (someone will always have a spare), and ask to borrow that for your first night.

You must get a tuner, the revews will help, but a tuner really helps, as many new ukuleles will need regular tuning during the first month, as they settle into the home evironment and temperature of your home/lifestyle. Hope this helps. Enjoy, and beware UAS (Ukuele Acquisition Syndrome).

 

[phil hague]

Have a day out and visit sus, its not too far from you, it is worth the trip. Have fun with your new uke.

 

[kaizersoza]

Thank you for your replies,

KaizerSoza - The Kala KA-C is priced nearly the same on both websites at roughly £60. This made me question as to whether a professional set up is done.

The Big Kahuna - Unfortunately i am not planning a trip to America anytime soon. I live in Oxford.

Chris667 - Currently i do not have the means to get to either shop therefore i am confined to buying online, thank you for your advice about the local club, i will need to search this.

I am thinking that if i ring both businesses i can ask if they do set ups, what the set up they offer involves and at what extra cost. How does this sound?

definitely ring them both, asl C&W what the set up entails and then you will know good luck

 

[ukuhippo]

SUS do not do a set up, they just check to make sure the uke is'nt damaged in any way, i have bought a number of ukes from them and i have always had excellent service from them, i personally would'nt hesitate to buy from them again, (...)

I've had it with them, I send them a couple of e-mails over the last year with questions about paying extra to do a setup. There were other questions in the e-mails that were answered, the questions about the setup were just ignored in all replies.