Show off your cheap ukes!

[engravertom]

I have another two:

A Kailua tenor scale soprano, $65 including shipping, and a Pacific concert, $58 including shipping.

The first from a good will auction, the second from good will finds.

 

[engravertom]

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.
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Looks great! Glad it sounds good, too!

 

[Jerryc41]

Only rules are you have to have paid less than $75 and it has to be playable, no wallhangers. Extra credit if you got it for free.

L-R:

Homemade banjo uke ($40), Harmony soprano with plastic fingerboard ($30), Harmony soprano painted uke ($5.00), Eddy Finn cigar box concert uke($40), Alic soprano plastic uke ($20).
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I’d also like to say this: Those Harmony ukes with the plastic fingerboard are pretty decent for what they are. I feel all uke players should own one, you just might be surprised by it.

I had an Eddy Finn cigar box just like that. I bought it at a Funky Frets Uke fest. I later sold it to a comic uke performer.

 

[badhabits]

Here's a nicely played in KA-S in great shape, $9.99 plus 12 and change for shipping.

Yup, from GW.

 

[Jerryc41]

Here's a 1950s Roy Smeck uke that a friend gave me. She used it in music class when she was in school. No cost to me. I've never seen another Roy Smeck that looked exactly like this one.

Below that is a 1950s Wabash that I bought from Jim Beloff for $50. It was made on Wabash Ave in Chicago.

Looking through my list, I have twenty-eight ukes that cost less than $75. You don't have to spend a lot of money to make music.

 

[badhabits]

I am not sure if I mentioned it before, but I have a Mahalo Solid Wood Masters Series Concert. I have had it for a few months now, it cost $AU230 (USD$150) and is actually beautifully made out of solid wood with a cedar top. It was made by workers in Surabaya, a tropical city in Indonesia that that has an amazing political history.

I changed the Aquila strings after I wore them out, and tried a fluorocarbon set. And it sounds amazing, the phrase "for its price" is not really relevant. It does sound great. I recently took it on a week long car camping trip and suffered a thunderstorm every night and hot days and it held up very well.

I call it a low cost uke because ukes made only a short distance away near Jakarta out of solid wood with cedar tops are retailing for USD$1000+, although they may have arm rests and sound ports. There is a shop in Brisbane selling a Tenor for AUD$179 (USD$120).

I understand that Mahalo is a brand that it may be difficult to find in North America, so maybe some Nth American members wont be able to access the product, or will be force to pay extra because of trade barriers and protectionism. But, I got mine by ordering it from the local Australian music shop and waiting a week or so and its easy to find in Australia.

This is a link to the specs, my model is a concert with no electronics. https://mahaloukuleles.com/ukulele-series/master-series/

For Mahalo it is a Masters Series because it is possibly the most expensive Mahalo product in the sizes, and all the bling is just like in the photos and it has the fancy bracing system.

Only rules are you have to have paid less than $75 and it has to be playable, no wallhangers. Extra credit if you got it for free.

I believe the actual intent from OP was to show the uke(s), i.e., post pic(s)... so, let's see it!

 

[Mike $]

It's not cheap, but it was inexpensive. This one I got from StewMac on sale for $69 but I had to put it together. It was my second uke, my first soprano and my first uke build. It's a Kit uke next to my kitty cat.

 

[Captain Simian]

Yet another plastic uke for my collection, an Enya Nova U soprano. Between being marked down for Black Friday and a couple of additional coupons, I got it for $17.25. I also had $35 on a gift card so it was basically free!

 

[SkeeterAB]

Yet another plastic uke for my collection, an Enya Nova U soprano. Between being marked down for Black Friday and a couple of additional coupons, I got it for $17.25. I also had $35 on a gift card so it was basically free!
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I just got the one I ordered on Black Friday today. This little thing is great for a car uke that I can let my son play. My son and I decided we would share it I still can’t believe it was $17.

 

[badhabits]

I hope someday Enya makes a traditional double bout, non-cutaway version.

 

[engravertom]

Came in today.

Another goodwill find.

Kala travel tenor.

$65, small crack, sounds great!

 

[Hopnoodle]

Leolani I got from my nephew after my brothers death. Thanks, Andrew. And a Harmony Baritone all mahogany from the late '50's.

 

[badhabits]

this nasty fella just arrived; hopefully you can see just how dirty, dingy and gross it is... even the tuners are tarnished. came from goodwill and is typical of what you might expect for $12. I think it 's at least 10 years old, a GC model/version of the LU-21, and the spacing doesn't seem to be as wide as modern Lanikai (only about 1mm wider than Kala, a little longer scale too, but the neck is on the thinner side). bought as a beater, and will be rehabbed to be a cheap naked traveler (no bag) and possible giveaway. needs a good cleaning, sharp frets filed and cleaned, new strings and maybe tuners. should be a fun project!

...now I need a shower.

 

[Eggs_n_Ham]

this nasty fella just arrived; hopefully you can see just how dirty, dingy and gross it is... even the tuners are tarnished. came from goodwill and is typical of what you might expect for $12. I think it 's at least 10 years old, a GC model/version of the LU-21, and the spacing doesn't seem to be as wide as modern Lanikai (only about 1mm wider than Kala, a little longer scale too, but the neck is on the thinner side). bought as a beater, and will be rehabbed to be a cheap naked traveler (no bag) and possible giveaway. needs a good cleaning, sharp frets filed and cleaned, new strings and maybe tuners. should be a fun project!

...now I need a shower.
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A bit dusty but appears in great shape. Nice find!

 

[engravertom]

this nasty fella just arrived; hopefully you can see just how dirty, dingy and gross it is... even the tuners are tarnished. came from goodwill and is typical of what you might expect for $12. I think it 's at least 10 years old, a GC model/version of the LU-21, and the spacing doesn't seem to be as wide as modern Lanikai (only about 1mm wider than Kala, a little longer scale too, but the neck is on the thinner side). bought as a beater, and will be rehabbed to be a cheap naked traveler (no bag) and possible giveaway. needs a good cleaning, sharp frets filed and cleaned, new strings and maybe tuners. should be a fun project!

...now I need a shower.
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That’s a great find!

 

[badhabits]

Interestingly, the body shape is exactly like that of an Ohana (scale length,too).... whereas newer Lanikai have more of a Kala shape.

edit: the tuners could be cleaned (previous owner never took off the plastic on the back! lol) but the gold finish gets removed, and it would be a real PITA. plus I prefer silver. so I'll replace those as well.

edit 2: uke thoroughly cleaned and the frets are ohh sooo nice now...but took a lot of filing. bonus is that the tuner buttons are metal...meaning that ccc will clean and remove the gold finish to allow transfer to new silver tuners that arrive tomorrow. Woo hoo!

 

[Bad_Astronaut]

All of my ukuleles qualify as cheap in comparison to most of the instruments featured in the forum. But these all meet the requirements of the thread.

The Luna has an interesting story. When my father visited Hawaii, I decided to be cheeky and asked him to bring back a Hawaiian made ukulele, knowing full well that there was zero possibility he would spend that kind of money. It turns out he took me seriously and some lovely person at Hukilau Marketplace told him that this Luna was made in Hawaii with locally sourced woods. Despite that, the gift means a lot to me. Plus, it gave me the chance to add a LOONA sticker to the back for a dad joke that only I find funny.

Edit: Th Luna and the Kala Sparkle were gifts / free to me. The SK-10 was part of a starter kit that I bought for $74. The Flight Travel Concert was $60 ($73 with the matching strap) and the Flight Ultra Travel was $72 with shipping.

 

[ploverwing]

All of my ukuleles qualify as cheap in comparison to most of the instruments featured in the forum. But I’ll share the ones that I see as cheap.

The Luna has an interesting story. When my father visited Hawaii, I decided to be cheeky and asked him to bring back a Hawaiian made ukulele, knowing full well that there was zero possibility he would spend that kind of money. It turns out he took me seriously and some lovely person at Hukilau Marketplace told him that this Luna was made in Hawaii with locally sourced woods. Despite that, the gift means a lot to me. Plus, it gave me the chance to add a LOONA sticker to the back for a dad joke that only I find funny.
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I love the thoughtfulness of this Luna gift although wow buyer beware right?

 

[Dave Holiday]

The first pic is of one of the very first ukes I bought, back in 1999 on eBay. It was $15 including shipping. If I recall correctly, I got the uke for $9 with $6 shipping. Just a cheapo no-name made in Japan, I figure in the 1960s. It's surprisingly sweet and it's been all over the US and I've taken it to Canada, Mexico and Europe with me also. In 2010 it was damaged in a flood and became a wall hanger for a few years until a buddy of mine replaced the tuners and glued it all back together. Now it plays like a champ again. The green diamonds on the headstock are Dollar Tree stick on fake earrings I got my daughters when they were little. I put them on there soon after I got the uke.

The other pics are of an old vintage Silvertone that I picked up locally last month through Facebook marketplace. I got it for $30. The friction tuners are seized up so I need to do a little work on it. It is in great shape but it needs a good cleaning.

 

[badhabits]

Nasty boy...after going through rehab. It had an overall deep cleaning including the fret wires and tuners. The tuners turned silver in the process, the gold finish stripped, which is a bonus to me, and they have the straightest installation I've ever seen. The old tuners were kept, but a couple needed to be shimmed to keep from wiggling. The fret ends were smoothed (that took some time, but partly because I'm picky) and fretboard conditioned, new strings installed. Action is a touch higher than I like but still OK at approx 1 and 2.75 mm. It has a fairly thin neck but there is a weird little bump at the joint, NBD. The sound is actually nice with really good sustain and no dead notes. Overall, not bad for $12.