What should a decent ukulele cost?

[Quickstep192]

I friend is interested in learning ukulele and is like to give him a uke as a gift.

I’d like to give him one with a good neck to body joint and real tuners.

What should I expect to spend?

Any brand/model recommendations?

[Dave Hicks]

My Lanikai tenor, body of laminated mahogany, was $129 with a bag. I recently got a solid wood Ohana for $419, with no bag. They're both adequate instruments in sound and construction, with guitar-type tuners rather than friction tuners.

D.H.

[JackC1]

Kalas are pretty high in terms of price/performance ratio. Expect to spend about $200-$250 for a solid-top concert-sized instrument (smaller sopranos are slightly cheaper, larger tenors are slightly more expensive). This range of ukes will be comparable to the likes of Yamaha FS/FG800 guitars.

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Dave Hicks

My Lanikai tenor, body of laminated mahogany, was $129 with a bag. I recently got a solid wood Ohana for $419, with no bag. They're both adequate instruments in sound and construction, with guitar-type tuners rather than friction tuners...

The more advanced players at my senior center favor Ohana and Kala (IME Lanikai's QC can be inconsistent - when they're good they're very good, but when they're bad... ) - plan on spending about $300-500+ for an all-solid model...

[Mandobart]

Check out Mim's Ukes.

[Dlew919]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

I friend is interested in learning ukulele and is like to give him a uke as a gift.

I’d like to give him one with a good neck to body joint and real tuners.

What should I expect to spend?

Any brand/model recommendations?

In australia you can get a decent playable Ukelele from about 80.00 (around 55-60 USD). The beautiful thing about uke is that they are generally cheaper instruments. If you have the money to go to 100-120 (aud) you get a very nice instrument. Of course the sky is the limit. But there are cheaper options. Just don’t buy cruddy department store rubbish.

[PhatBeachDaddy]

If he’s just learning then best bang for the buck is important, and not overly spending is important also (in case it winds up in the closet). Function should be top priority. Any musical sound made from an instrument by a beginner is magical to them. Action and intonation probably discourage a beginner more than anything. I suggest concentrating on those features in a beginners Uke. I bought a very good friend a Kala Teak Tenor Uke and tuner and soft case for around $130US. Don’t forget the clip-on eTuner! (Snark) Teak, because we live at the beach and it was a retirement gift. If different situation, I probably could’ve gone $30 less.

[Dave Hicks]

Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa

The more advanced players at my senior center favor Ohana and Kala (IME Lanikai's QC can be inconsistent - when they're good they're very good, but when they're bad... ) - plan on spending about $300-500+ for an all-solid model...

The Lanikai played much better after a setup. That cost a pretty good proportion of the cost of the instrument, but was worth it. The Ohana played well out of the box (showroom, really).

My wife's Lanikai (solid spruce top concert) is also a decent instrument, at $200-something. I guess we got lucky!

D.H.

[jricc]

I dig Ohana ukes. Good sounding, reasonably priced. You can get a solid topped uke that has a great setup from Mim for under $200.
https://mimsukes.com/

[ProfChris]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Check out Mim's Ukes.

I second that. I know Mim, and she has a great reputation for advising buyers on what they need, rather than selling them what she wants to get rid of.

Plus she does a setup for all her ukes, no matter how cheap - an experienced player might wants that setup tweaked, but it will designed to work well for the beginner/average player. Many factory ukes come with action which is far too high at the nut, and this makes chords at the lower frets sound sour and also makes barre chords unnecessarily hard.

[vcs700s]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Check out Mim's Ukes.

I have bought many ukes from Mim. She does a great setup and is a pleasure to deal with.

I highly recommend her.

[Flgatorgirl]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

Check out Mim's Ukes.

Totally agree here^^^ I have purchased 2 Ohanas from Mim and both are excellent. Both were less than $150 with bag.

[Doons]

Here’s another resource for a UKE….Mike is a great guy…. They have a great selection.

https://www.ukerepublic.com/

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Doons

Here’s another resource for a UKE….Mike is a great guy…. They have a great selection.

https://www.ukerepublic.com/

Got burned on a tiple I bought from them a couple years ago - not only never set up but I doubt anyone even looked at it before throwing it in a case for shipping (strings were coated with what looked/felt like tar, action way off the fingerboard, intonation completely off) - returned it next day, and while they've had some nice stuff on their webpage I'm extremely reluctant to deal with them again...

[SpruceTop]

Back at Christmas 2013, I spent about $250 on a new Boulder Acoustic-Electric Ukulele. It sounds pretty good acoustically and amplified.