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#1
04-02-2015, 10:33 PM
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Using a guitar as a ukelele
My 4th grader has been using a uke in school and likes it and wants one. Our school bought a few dozen Kala and he likes the tenor one: the KA-T which retails for $180 and the lowest price I've found it at is $120 which is a good price. I live a bit north of NYC so will probably need to buy over the internet.
BUT WAIT! My wife suggested I take my kid's 'First Act' mini acoustic guitar and string it up as a uke. I play guitar so can do that and it makes sense as a stop-gap solution. And if he actually plays it at home I can buy him a real instrument. (But why pay $150 for something that will just gather dust) Does this make sense the First Act guitar is tenor sized and has gears. WHAT KIND OF STRINGS SHOULD I BUY ? Some kind of 'super light' tension ones? Are the ones on amazon overkill? Aquila USA Aquila Tenor Ukulele Strings Thanks in advance, Andy 
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#2
04-02-2015, 10:49 PM
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Take a look at this thread
Talking about basically the same thing you're looking at. I haven't read all the way through it, so I don't know how much is there. UU is pretty much the AGF of ukes. You may want to look at the Makala line. It's Kala's lower level line. Think Sigma/Martin, Epiphone/Gibson. I have a Kohala tenor that I got at GC on sale for around 40-50. Not a bad little uke. Gets me started.
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#3
04-02-2015, 11:18 PM
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If he sticks with playing it a bit once school is out then I'll take him to a music shop and let him pick something he'll feel special about. The Sam Ash in NYC has 40-50 models to look at so that will be quite a project.
But thanks for point me at that thread. I noticed 2 sets of strings being mentioned: Martin M600 fluorocarbons soprano Aquilas Amazon's got the M600 for $4 so I'll go with those. I'm just getting back to playing guitar myself after a 15 yr hiatus and am stumped with buying strings over the internet. Years ago I'd just stop by the local guitar shop and see what they had on the wall. Over the internet seems much more complicated - guess I'll give D'Audario a call tomorrow. Thanks.
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#4
04-03-2015, 08:33 AM
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Don't do it. Just buy the kid a decent ukulele. If he quits, then at least you have a new uke for yourself!
__________________
Blueridge BR-142 Martin Backpacker Cordoba 20TM-CE
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#5
04-03-2015, 09:53 AM
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If you child survived the first act guitar, then they deserve a REAL PLAYABLE instrument!
 Some things you should never say no to and encourage in a child. When mine were young, I never turned them down when they wanted a to buy a book. A chance to play music and KEEP them playing music is a great thing. Take $200 and go to the music store and find something good. Even if they lose interest in it, a good instrument is always resellable. -r
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#6
04-03-2015, 01:16 PM
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The Makala tenor is $74 on Amazon. I bought all of mine Makala sopranos for Christmas. Not sure any are being played, but they have them and they're good enough quality that they'll last. I tend to agree with the idea of just buying an actual, only because from what I read the FA guitars aren't all that great even as a substitute.
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#8
04-03-2015, 04:08 PM
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If you are going to go with the guitar, capo on 5th fret and play as a uke.
Personally, I would purchase the boy with a new/secondhand uke. They are so cheap........after all, you are encouraging the boy to play, not discourage him and a new uke will help, I'm sure. Good luck
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#9
04-03-2015, 10:59 PM
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Quote:
 , but if you really want to use the guitar then fongie is right. Basically you can remove the low E and A string from the guitar and then capo on the 5th and it is basically the same as a Uke in standard (GCEA) assuming the guitar was in standard to begin with.
__________________
Brandon "Life has no limit, if you're not afraid to get in it"-Mason Jennings
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#10
04-04-2015, 06:01 AM
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Quote:
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#12
04-04-2015, 06:19 PM
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If the kid has been playing a real uke at school, and you try to foist a converted guitar on him, he may just lose interest altogether.
Of course at his age, he might toss a real uke aside in two weeks anyway, but then you have a reason to take it up yourself. Any possibility of renting one for a while? Music stores rent guitars all the time....ukes I don't know.
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#13
04-04-2015, 10:22 PM
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I always say that if a parent really wants a kid to quite playing music buy them a cheap instrument. The action is usually bad, frets are sharp and it doesn't sound good and can't stay in tune playing the notes on the fretboard. It really doesn't take much to buy a half decent uke. Kala makes some nice ones for a little less than 150. Gretsch and Lanakais have some good ones too. Just make sure the fret ends aren't sharp and have the music store check for good intonation and action. Like others have said, if your child loses interest it is always sellable for not much financial loss.
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#14
04-05-2015, 06:48 PM
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^ this. If you absolutely, positively want to guarantee that your kid does NOT stick with an instrument, get them a cheap / crappy one. Ukes are so cheap anyway, with a decent one usually available in the $40-65 range. I tell parents all the time who "want to get a cheap one in case he doesn't stay with it" that with many years of accomplished playing experience I can play one of those truly horrid $25 ukes, but don't want to. Why start the kid with 2½ strikes from the beginning?
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#15
04-14-2015, 08:14 PM
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I've got a makala tenor uke and my little girl likes to pick it up and play along with me on her "guitar". I don't play it much, but as I was tuning it up yesterday and strumming a few chords I remembered how nice it sounds for $75. I did put aquila strings on it, and it is great.
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<°)))< 1998 Very Sweet Wife 2000 Cute Daughter (Grand Concert) 2005 Handsome Son (Dreadnought) 2007 Lovely Daughter (Parlor) 2017 Cute Puppy (Duke the Uke)
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