Show off your cheap ukes!

[surfink]

Here is my cheap ukulele picture contribution. Signed by Slash when he had a guest appearance on "Anger Management"
"To Casey, R'n, F'n R, Slash 2012

 

[Graham Greenbag]

This thread is right up my alley - I love hunting for cheap/inexpensive instruments, always on the lookout for that little pot of low-cost gold. I would say that 10 of my 13 ukes are cheap/beginner instruments. Some are nice, some are not-so-nice, but I enjoy them all.

This particular uke is a Ulumac C-30. It's has a solid top and came with a decent gig bag, clip-on tuner and few other accessories . . . all for $56 on Amazon. I can say without hesitation that it sounds and plays significantly better than other 'beginner' ukuleles that I have tried out, costing two or three times as much. As a matter of fact, I was so impressed with it that I almost immediately went and ordered the companion Ulumac S-20 soprano model - which was another nice deal at only $51.00.

It would be interesting to know what other Ukes you have and which ones you felt were either good or poor buys.

Personally I really like the basic Kala KA-S and KA-P Sopranos - I had an old Lanikai LU-21P that was and sounded very similar too. I’ve set mine up well and added bone nut, saddle and strings to my taste. Second hand they came well within the $75 budget and availability is reasonable. I’m not claiming that they’re anything wonderful or bargain basement buys but mine are a joy to play, they sound fine and project well, they’re the best Ukes that I’ve found for the price here in the UK and I’ve found them better than several more expensive instruments. Someone would be right to say that I’ve found them hard to beat … but I’m always looking. Obviously YMMV.

Old made in China Mahalo Sopranos sell for very little on the second hand market. There’s a limit to how good they’re ever going to sound but I’ve been quite surprised by what a difference can be made to them. Mine are all given away now (to a frIend who runs a uke group) but a good set-up, putting the bridge in the right place and and fitting some decent strings makes a world of difference.

 

[LorenFL]

Okay, here's what the previously mentioned cheap Eastrock concert sounds like:

 

[MikeZito]

In reply to Graham's request above - here is my list and quick review of cheapies:

Aklot AKC23: Concert - Plays well, adequate sound and volume, decent value . . . $69 on Amazon

Aklot MI2760-FBA: Concert BanjoUke - Plays well; not crazy about the tone, no matter how much I tighten the head or put some sort of damper inside . . . $89 on Amazon

Caramel CT402: Tenor - Good tone and volume; solid top. Action was high when it arrived so I had to shave down the saddle . . . $50 on Amazon. Great for a beginner or knock-around practice instrument.

Gretsch 9100-L: Long Neck Soprano - I really was hoping to love this one - but was disappointed. Plays well but the tone was thin and volume was mediocre. $120, used on Reverb.

JHS The Beatles Yellow Submarine YSUK04: Soprano - Plays terrible . . . but then again, I bought it just for the design. I paid $60, but now going for $50 on Amazon.

Luna ‘Tattoo’ UKC TC MAH: Concert - Good tone, volume, and action. If my memory is correct, this was $90 at Guitar center - but I had a $60 'Rewards Certificate' . . . so I got a great deal. This is one of my favorite cheapies.

Mitchell MU45FCHY: Soprano - Plays well, but the volume and tone are about what you would expect from a beginner Uke. Got this on sale at Guitar Center for about $50

Mitchell MU40C: Concert - Much like the soprano above when it comes to playablility, tone and volume . . however, I like the way that it records in the studio for a tone that is something of cross between a uke and a mandolin. I am doing my entire first ukulele album, exclusively on this uke. Got this on sale at Guitar Center for about $60.

Ukadelic KA-SU-USA: Soprano - Much like the Beatles uke above, I bought this just for the USA flag design on the top. Surprisingly decent sound for a plastic uke. I think about $40 on eBay.

Ulumac C-30: Concert and Ulumac S-20: Soprano - these are the ukes first mentioned above. I had GREAT luck with them.

 

[Spicysteve]

Donner DUS-1 $10 plus strings.
Kala Makala MK-TE $60 plus strings and some DerJung tuning machines I had in my stash from a take off from another ukulele.
Cleaned them both up, oiled the fret boards and adjusted the saddle on the Makala Tenor.
Both actually sound decent.
Both are virtually unplayed and had the original strings on them.
Both will be possible donations to someone just starting out with ukulele.

 

[TheresaSC]

Last year I wanted to try a soprano and Enya had a good sale. I was able to get it for about $50, plays just fine for a $50. uke! Plus it came in Enya's nice gig bag.

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

My one and only uke is the Yowling Tom soprano which began as a DIY kit intended (as I was to learn much later) as a ‘gag’ Christmas gift in 2021.
Labor hours aside, mod expenses totaled $43.75:
$16.00 Bison bone nut and saddle.
$ 5.00 bout-end strap button
$ 2.75 bootlace strap
$20.00 KoAloha friction tuners
View attachment 154534
View attachment 154535
NOT a wall hanger. Sound samples:
BEFORE changing out the tuning machines & redesigning the headstock face:

AFTER (with cat silhouette headstock and KoAloha friction tuners):

I'd bet any uke manufacturer would give a tidy sum to copy that pattern and sell a couple truck tons of Yowlin' Toms! I know many of us here in the UU would line up first!

Have you considered copyrighting that design?

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I'd bet any uke manufacturer would give a tidy sum to copy that pattern and sell a couple truck tons of Yowlin' Toms! I know many of us here in the UU would line up first!

Have you considered copyrighting that design?

Thank you!

Kenny Hill (Hill Guitars) holds a 1971 copyright on the soundhole cat scene (actually it covers the “Yowl-A-Lele” soprano uke design custom built with the sound hole in the shape of the cat’s mouth by Kenny, then painted by Robert Armstrong) but the rest of my uke’s artwork (basket-weave bass side, U-K-E flag treble side, no-armadillos back, soprano snake neck, moon silhouette headstock, tapeworm- edged slot player port and cat-eye position dots) is original.

That would be the same hugely talented Robert Armstrong who created Mickey Rat & played guitar & musical saw with R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders.

 

[Spicysteve]

Last year I wanted to try a soprano and Enya had a good sale. I was able to get it for about $50, plays just fine for a $50. uke! Plus it came in Enya's nice gig bag.

I purchased the blue concert scale of the same line for my wife as her first ukulele.
Quality instruments for the price. Have pondered on the natural finish soprano multiple times.
I will most likely grab on next time I see them on sale.

 

[TheresaSC]

I purchased the blue concert scale of the same line for my wife as her first ukulele.
Quality instruments for the price. Have pondered on the natural finish soprano multiple times.
I will most likely grab on next time I see them on sale.

I have the black mahogany cut-away concert (M6?) too. That one is a daily player. They make a decent instrument for the price - that M6 is solid wood for a couple hundred dollars.

 

[Graham Greenbag]

I am close to the end of a two week road trip across the Pilbara region, mostly free-camping camping with my Swag and car under the stars. (A Swag is like a canvas bedroll mixed with a bivvy bag)

The Mahalo ThinLine I mentioned earlier has proven to be an excellent travelling companion. It has a nice enough tone and hold tune well, a good comfort after a busy day of adventures.

The temperature has ranged from 30C to 0C and the humidity has also varied a lot. It has banged around on top of the luggage in just the soft dust cover it came with.

There are some great used instruments listed here, but if you want a new very low cost ukulele, especially for travel, the Mahalo ThinLine series may be the best value on the market at present.

Thanks Bill. Quite a few years back you talked about Mahalo’s, and as everyone knew that they were awful my first response was to wonder what was going on … or something like that. As time went by I realised that the old (Chinese made) Mahalo ukes used to come out of the factory playing badly but with rework they could be made to sound OK, ‘cause that’s what a few informed folk here were doing. Over the years I’ve bought quite a few of those old Mahalo’s and sorted them out, basically move the bridge to the right place, sort the string heights and fit decent strings. Made passable musical instruments out of them, nothing special but they work.

A later Mahalo offering (Indonesian) didn’t work out for me, I’m pleased to hear that the brand still has some things that can sound OK - I wish Mahalo well. Sometimes, and particularly so with the cheapies, you’re buying an instrument that say nine times out of ten will be OK (good enough for a knock around instrument) after a bit of rework and finishing off.

 

[Kermit80]

The temperature has ranged from 30C to 0C

impressive. Does it happen at night?

 

[Captain Simian]

Yesterday I found this Maccaferri uke at a junk shop for $10. It didn’t have any tuners there are repaired cracks on the neck and top. Luckily I had some era correct tuners in my parts box and the repairs appear to be stable.

 

[EllenInTheSix]

I purchased the Flight Mango concert travel uke for about US$75 last year (after converting from Canadian $)…not exactly the Flight Fireball that I’ve been drooling for but it’s my loudest and cheapest uke especially after I restrung it with Fremont Soloist Low G and D’Addario Fluorocarbon strings. I was looking through my herd of cheap ukes to sell that I got during my early UAS days since I just ordered a Tiny Tenor but I don’t think I’ll ever sell my Flight Travel..It’s so sturdy and booming!

 

[Captain Simian]

I also have an Alic travel soprano uke which is pretty much like your Flight. It’s nice nice and chimey and I doubt I’ll ever get rid of her.

 

[engravertom]

I got this Mitchell at GC for 54.95 on sale. It sounded great with Aquila reds. My favorite recording I have made was with this Uke. I have since strung it up in 5ths and gave it to a friend who was saving up for a mandolin.



I just bought this pair on goodwill finds yesterday. 62.40 shipped for the pair. One will be low G, one high g. ( or wherever the tuning lands. I let the strings and instruments tell me where they want to be.)

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

My first and cheapest uke and still one of my daily players is an Aklot concert uke. I believe it was $65.
Hooray for cheap ukes!

 

[engravertom]

These two arrived today! Practically brand new. Very lightly built. 31.20 each including shipping! Playability is good. One sounds louder on the strum, the other sounds louder with fingerpicking.

 

[Uke with Smitty]

This was my first uke. I bought it about 10 years ago for $49 from musiciansfriend, if I recall. I used to keep it in my car trunk… now it’s around the house and my 3 little kids pick it up and pluck it, mess with the tuners, and sometimes use it as a weapon. It’s still the only soprano I’ve owned, but I’ll always have a soft spot for it as it got me into the uke.

 

[Captain Simian]

I was just gifted this Fender Nohea Koa tenor uke by my neighbors for helping them out when they were having some medical issues. It sounds pretty darn good which surprised me since I’m not a fan of Fender ukes.