Ukulele ?

[Twang46]

Been thinking of getting one of these



Seems to be a few types.............."entry level" by known manufacturer @ £18/£19....................or proper wood @ £35/£40

What do you think for a beginner at @ ukes ? my leaning is toward the £35 version on the basis that it should sound ok & if I do take to it will last me for a while before I need to upgrade

Any ideas ?

Dick.

[JimN]

Get a good one.

A £15 uke will be made of poor-quality ply and will sound like it.

For £35 - £50 these days, you can get something which is sort of the equivalent of reasonable pro-quality Chinese solid top guitar.

And if you tire of it, there's a ready eBay market in ukeleles.

JN

[Alan Prudhoe]

My first uke (3 years ago) was a Mahalo Telecaster copy from Ebay 2nd Hand £12.50. Great value for money, eminently playable and highly addictive.

Similar to this one.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mahalo-Teleca ... 43ad083730

They also do a Les Paul copy which is just as good.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAHALO-ELECTR ... 2a15eb5031

If you want to spend a bit more Southern Ukulele Store will give you lots of helpful advice as to make and model. You can get a decent new Kala for around £50.
There are four different sizes. Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone. The three smaller sizes are normally tuned GCEA. I have big hands and find the Tenor and Concert are much easier to play. The baritone is tuned DGBE (which means, of course, that you can play guitar chords)

[51 Relic]

Hi Been playing the Uke now for three years and love it to bits , please spend a bit of money and get a good one ,not a toy as some of the cheap ones are .
I play a Kala Joe Brown Uke , this cost me £125.00 good as i will need .Perfect for noodling and just picking up and so small
Good luck
Cheers Nigel

[Graham C. Marshall]

My son has an Epiphone 'Les Paul' that came complete with jack socket and a dedicated case. They come in a choice of two sunburst finishes. Paul chose the darker sunburst.

[George Geddes]

Mine was £6 in a charity shop...

When I bought on of my Sue Ryder guitars last year, I bought a ukulele bag at the same time. I did wonder what they thought at the warehouse when they packed that order...

George

[Twang46]

My first uke (3 years ago) was a Mahalo Telecaster copy from Ebay 2nd Hand £12.50. Great value for money, eminently playable and highly addictive.

Similar to this one.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mahalo-Teleca ... 43ad083730

They also do a Les Paul copy which is just as good.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAHALO-ELECTR ... 2a15eb5031

If you want to spend a bit more Southern Ukulele Store will give you lots of helpful advice as to make and model. You can get a decent new Kala for around £50.
There are four different sizes. Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone. The three smaller sizes are normally tuned GCEA. I have big hands and find the Tenor and Concert are much easier to play. The baritone is tuned DGBE (which means, of course, that you can play guitar chords)

Thanks for the info Alan ....... must really pop over to the "Chilton" sometime, when are you lot their next ?

Dick.

[Twang46]

Jim, Nigel, George & Graham

Thanks for the tips & encouragement.............. I'll be going for a concert size one that is "solid" mahogany/rosewood neck around £40 & we'll see where that leads me (& my mate Trevor who's getting one as well)



Dick.

[tuku1]

Hi there,
never got involved in forums b4, but poking around came across this thread.
A ukulele is a musical instrument, and you get what you pay for!
Having played guitar for 50+ yrs, and now own two very nice ukuleles, and
among other things enjoy playing guitar instrumentals on ukulele,
Shadows stuff lends itself very nicely to the uke.
You may have to adapt your backing tracks, or make your own in uke friendly keys!
Why not ask Ian McCucheon who I know, and saw recently at a performance of UOGB,
(go on find out who they are) to do some "workouts" for Shads stuff, he also plays ukulele!
Anyone fancy a Shadows Tribute Band, ukuleles only of course.

[Twang46]

Hi John

Thanks for your reply, I agree with a previous poster that a £40-50 uke will be around the quality of a £200-250 full size guitar. Certainly good enough for a "starter" instrument

I've seen the uke orchestra you mention a couple of years back & enjoyed what they did. Alan who is a regular poster on here plays with Ukulele Express & I am also a fan of Joe Brown who played "The Ace of Spades" on ukes last year when he was at the Sage & it worked
Don't know if you were aware that Jerry Lordan used a uke as part of his composing technique & (I think) demo'd Apache on a uke to the Shads (among'st others )

Don't see why you can't play along to a standard bt with a uke .............. have to give it a try when we get organised !

Dick