Which Ukuleles are best
 

I need advise. When purchasing my baritone I could find almost nothing in Thailand. Now I want to pruchase a tenor.

Here in Thailand there is a shop on line place, like amazon, that sells and delivers within Thailand and they have a lot of different brands of tenor ukuleles.

Which are best? I only know about Kala because that is what my baritone is. Please give me as much advice as you can on these companies listed.

Gretsch, Luna, Enya, Kalana, Kohala, Leho, Kala, Lanikai, Carabao, Kmise, Aquila.

Thank you, johnnysmash

ukes
 

The BEST (not boutique) are the 3 K's - Kamaka, Kanilea, Koaloha. (I have two Koaloha's and have owned 4 Kanilea's)
Those brands you mentioned are decent, however, the tone will be lacking and the tuners are cheap (leading to the ukes going out of tone rather quickly)
IMHO

I tried a Kala Elite series along some Kanileas and Koalohas in the same store and though that it played in the same league. But it also had a similar price. I think that Kala is now the most ubiquitous brand that is common in many music stores, so should be possible to find in Thailand as well.

Ask over at Ukulele Underground Forum:

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/forum.php

There's a huge uke following there.

My uke playing friend has a Tenor Kala Elite and the tone and playability is wonderful

I am a big fan of Pono instruments. For not a lot of money you can get a solid mahogany, mango or acacia uke for around $400. You can spend a lot more too, but the basic plain uke sounds really good and is very well made.

See if Hawaii Music Supply ships to Thailand. I played a bunch of $1000 entry ukes from the three Ks that I didn't like better, though they were Koa.

Kanilea has a less expensive line too, called the "Islander". They offer some solid wood models. I'm awaiting delivery on an Islander solid mahogany tenor now. It checked a lot of boxes for me, at least on paper, most importantly: all solid wood (which I think is very important on ukes than it is on guitars) and a nice wide nut. At 1.5", there should plenty of room for my stubby fingers to get in there. And it was reasonable - second hand with a tweed hard shell case and free shipping: $250

I'll chime in again once it's arrived, but the Youtube samples I've seen of it have sounded pretty darn good indeed.

Bought my wife an Ohana TK-70 (spruce/maple) last year - loud, clear tone (this one really cuts through the other instruments in our community uke group), plays well, stays in tune with the factory Aquila Nylgut strings, and under $400US; might be worth a look...

Next to impossible to determine 'best' - as it's just too subjective.

FWIW though there is no way on earth I would put Kmise and Luna in any 'best' list. Aquila is a string brand

This weekend at Baan Ukulele in Bangkok I purchased a Tenor Ukulele, Melokia, solid Acacia wood, gCAE. They have many nice Rebel and Opio's on display too. Sadly too expensive for me today. Maybe later after I learn to play a a much higher level.

Thank you to all of you for your suggestions.

I can't say which is the "best" but I can caution you about Luna. They changed ownership in the past few years and quality control has gone out the window. However some people really like their styles. (I personally have a concert size Luna Peace uke I've had for about 6 or 7 years and it's fine for what it is.) I know one woman who returned four Luna ukes in two years before she got one with a neck that stayed true. So, the good news there is that they honor their warranty. A friend just didn't want to hassle with returning her six-month old warped-neck uke to Luna so she now has some nice wall art.

Well certainly not the best, but I dig my Ohana Tenor. Solid spruce/mahogany