17 Mar 08 Cheapo Uke Ahoy!

I was talking to my mate about ukuleles the other day, and convinced him he should get himself one. After looking on various forums I noticed that a few people were rating ‘Makalas’ ukes over Mahalos’ for being pretty good for the money, and after a brief google, i found this place selling them for £9 + £1.80 p&p!! (They are normally £15-£20)

So it ordered it last week, and it came today – yay!!!

Look at the rather cute bridge

And the geared tuners – Definately a selling point – I think they make a BIG difference

Ive taken off those horrible black ’strings’ you get with new ukes,(i use the word strings in the loosest possible sense) and put a set of Aquila Concert Strings on. It INSTANTLY sounds about 1000 times better.

On the whole im rather impressed by it. I was worried that the action would be a bit mental, but actually is OK, and the build quality in seems pretty good too. You also get a free bag, which will not stop it from getting damaged, but will at least keep the dust off.

If you fancy giving the uke a go but dont want to spend much money, I would definately recommed buying one. My only caveat would be that you NEED to buy a decent set of strings (like Aquilas) for it. (If you’re in the UK, you can get these from www.theukuleleshop.co.uk/ )

And heres me giving it a quick demo – I apologise for the singing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv7GuV8K5v0