I came across a really useful guide and reviews of ukuleles
here and felt compelled to share it with you so that anyone thinking about purchasing a ukulele can benefit from it.
Thanks for posting the uke review guide. Though I have no reason to question / argue with others' recommendations of Ohana, I've had an unexpected reason to test drive a $69.00 Donner DUS concert uke. I'm pleasantly surprised to report that, particularly at the really low price point, this uke has a LOT of things going for it. First, a bit of background, starting with the fact that I have no connection with the company that sells Donner instruments.
This past Friday during my lunch hour, I visited my town's lending library with the goal of borrowing every ukulele instruction book on the shelf. Disappointed that the grand total of such books was zero, I ambled toward the door. Serendipitously, my direction of travel took me past a sort of display stand. Displayed there, among other musical items, was a black, uke-sized Donner gig bag. In exchange for my 53-year-old library card and a cursory inventory of the bag's contents, I was able to borrow the uke for 14 calendar days. I'm storing it in my office closet & getting in half an hour of practice during lunch breaks.
Pros:
1. Strap buttons.
2. Arched back.
3. Compensated saddle (may be normal/ standard for a concert uke? I have no frame of reference here).
4. Aquilla Nylgut strings.
5. Side fret markers at 5,7,10 and 12.
6. Metal (steel color, not brass) frets with comfortably-beveled edges/ no sharp points.
7. Fret board seems to be wood. It's certainly not black plastic.
8. Double-curved fret board terminus adds a bit of style not usually present on a budget uke.
9. Same is true of the bridge. It may be plywood of some variety but it's not plastic.
10. "Semi-closed" amber tuning machines with a surprisingly fast gear ratio
11. 10mm taller sound box than my Amazon knockoff kit uke (64mm v. 54mm at heel plate)
12. Clear, precise harmonics at Fret 12
13. Good volume and precise intonation
14. Handsome, tastefully-narrow, rope-style sound hole rosette.
15. Attractive matte/ satin finish.
16. No visible glue residue or poor fit.
Cons:
1. Almost impossible to fret past #9. (Possibly correctable by lowering action at the saddle, which I will of course not attempt on a borrowed instrument.)
2. Sound hole rosette is just a sticker/ decal. (Obviously my bar for handsome & tasteful is low, but who expected MOP & ebony at this price point?)
I'm at a loss to list other cons other than the impossible-to-quell but admittedly provincial disappointment that it probably wasn't manufactured in US, Japan or Germany.