Grade-4 flautist daughter has announced that she wants a uke for Christmas, I’d like to buy her a half-decent one. Any advice much appreciated.
Thankingyou very muchly in advance.
ATM: ukulele
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Google Davidsoninstruments.com
Phil’s yer man.
http://www.davidsoninstruments.com/portfolio-category/ukuleles/
Cor, lovely, but those prices! If they’re half-decent, perhaps a tenth-decent one for starters!
I know! But he’s a lovely chap and I thought I’d give him a plug in case you were loaded.
I’ve bought a few ukes and in my opinion, you don’t need to spend that much. Even the rubbish looking coloured ones on Amazon can be rendered playable with decent strings. I bought my daughter a Makala MK-S for about £35 and it’s excellent – almost as good as my much more expensive Kala.
I picked up one of these last year and I’ve been absolutely delighted with it, as have many others judging by the reviews. Decent build and a pleasure to play, for not too much cash. Thomann have a huge selection to choose from.
https://www.thomann.de/gb/baton_rouge_v2_sun.htm
Seconded, I’ve heard very good reports too. I don’t uke myself, but I know people who do, and I have seriously thought about it, and this is (realistically) where I’d be looking for a decent starter.
I have a Stagg one which someone gave me. My only advice is get one with proper geared machine heads not friction ones. But I think ukes are plinky sounding daft boxes, suitable for comedy only. Get a mandolin.
Well, they may be a bit plinky but they’re fun to play, easy(ish) for kids to learn and sometimes just the correct instrument to choose:
The el cheapo ones will be impossible to keep in tune. Spend enough to get a decent one. Your daughter will have a better experience, and if she decides she doesn’t like playing it after three months, you can sell it. This is the same advice I give to people who ask about pianos for their kids
If you’re anywhere near a branch of Hobgoblin Music (Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Leeds, London W1, Manchester, Southampton, Wadebridge) check our the Ashbury range. Well made and good value. Plenty of other brands to look at too.
Second what Twang says about machine heads – crucial – but not what he says about ukuleles!
Arf. ** unrepentant**
My favourite uke story – I saw Sam Brown at The Stables and she picked up a uke and said “George Harrison gave me this…………you’re impressed now aren’t you! The next song I wrote about my ex husband – it’s called “You fucking bastard””. Cue much plinking.
I read that she teaches ukulele now, since losing her singing voice.
Great loss. What a singer.
Mahalo and Makala (esp the dolphin) are great ukes for the money. I have a Mahalo which cost $35 Australian dollars and is much better than my Lanakai at four times the price. Best bet is to try one out if you can. Pay attention to the tuners and check that they don’t have any “give” in them, making them hard to tune.