Kala KA-MK-C Makala Concert Ukulele

Overall this is a great little musical instrument..especially for the price. If your thinking about a Ukulele for the first time I would highly recommend this model. I Originally purchased the Kala KA-S (soprano) ukulele, but within a few hours realized that it was just too small for me to comfortably play. If your a full size adult I recommend going with this Concert sized Uk.. You get a larger body, longer neck with slightly wider spaced frets, and I really like the richer sound tone that the larger body gives. The quality is high for this price range ($65). The fit and finish is great, no visible flaws, the finish is good, the glue inside is cleanly done without any mess.. a good sign of quality. The neck is clean and smooth, frets are well finished..nothing sharp.. This is the lower cost "Makala" MK-C version of the Kala KA-C (both by Kala).. The difference seems to be (other than $40) is that this Makala version has open tuners (you can see the gears on the back) and white tuner pegs, as opposed to closed, all metal tuners on the Kala version. And this version does not have white banding... But.. if your not worried about the nicer looks of the Kala version, this plays very well and saves you $40. Set up and play-ability on my Uk was good.. no problem with fret buzz or hard to "note" strings.. the string height is just about where it should be. The tone is great, and I've really enjoyed learning to play the Uk over the last few month.. very relaxing to just sit among the trees and strum away...

For the price is a great uke. The finish is darker than the picture here, but irregardless this instrument plays like a high end uke. It's setup well from the shop though it comes with old strings that don't give this instrument justice. With a string change, it becomes loud, and vibrant. I;ve read a lot of the comments complaining that this instrument goes out of tune often, and i Have to agree, but this happens only when you change the strings, nylon string take a bit longer to flex than metal ones. But after a few days is stays in tune and its real capabilities show. It's a great starter or advanced ukelele for the price. I highly recommended it.

This is my first ukulele, and after a month of playing it, I couldn't be happier. Pros: - Good tone! This is a very pretty-sounding uke that's a pleasure to listen to and play. - Solid, sturdy construction! - Affordable! I feel like I walked away with an instrument worth at least half again what I paid for it. - Comfortable to play! The neck is smooth and a nice fit in the hand, string action may be a little high, but it's easy enough to fret a chord with no muffling or buzzing, and this can be easily adjusted later as my playing develops. Cons: - The stock strings are pretty bad; you'll need to restring this uke immediately for it to come anywhere near its potential. - Some minor finish issues. While it's generally pretty (if plain), there are a few small rough edges here and there. (The worst of these on mine is the inside of the sound hole whereit looks like someone got a little careless with their sanding.) It's a decent instrument that won't disappoint, and it's a solid bargain for the price. I know I'll eventually outgrow it and want to buy something nicer down the road, but it's going to be quite some time before I do and even when I do upgrade, I'm sure I'll keep this one around for those weekend camping trips. In the meantime, it's a struggle to put this little uke down - I just want to keep on playing it! Edit: I notice that some of the other reviewers complain of this uke not staying in tune. This is actually a very normal occurance on a newly strung ukulele from what I've read and my own experience so far - it takes about a week for new strings to 'settle in' to the point where they will reliably stay in tune. My current set of strings are three weeks old at this point and, while they'd drift half a note or more out of tune for the first week, have now settled to the point where I can just pick up the uke and play it with barely a glance at the tuning pegs.

This is not a professional-quality uke, and does not pretend to be. On the other hand, I'm not a professional musician, and it fits me very well. It is a whole lot of bang for my bucks, is well constructed, and has a great sound. As shipped, the action is high, but I adjusted that in about five minutes, sanding the saddle from the bottom and deepening the nut slots. Now, finger on the G string at the first fret, I have about 0.50" clearance at the 12th fret and no buzz. Kala puts their effort into quality instead of flash -- no fancy purling or inlays -- and I can feel and hear that.

I love this uke! It sounds really good. For the price and quality you really can't beat it. The company "KALA" that makes these is well known for quality and craftsmanship. If you are new to the wonderful world of Ukulele and are looking to make your 1st purchase, this is a wise way to go. When I was shopping for my 1st uke I was overwhelmed by all the sizes and brands and models. The concert sized is most popular for the beginner because its more comfortable to play while you are learning. Its not just for beginners though. Due to its warm rich sound many people still prefer to play the concert over the traditional soprano. I also own a Mitchell MU70 which is very glossy pretty and decorative. Side by side you'd think the Mitchell (which cost 2x the price) would be my fav for playing & sound. NOPE I much prefer this Makala.

I bought this from Amazon based on recommendations given for the brand on ukulelehunt.com. It came recommended based on the low cost, good build quality for the price, and the fact that I wasn't sure if I'd want to keep playing the Uke after a while (I'm a guitar person). The web site that suggested this got it all pretty much right on. It's pretty well built for an entry level instrument, the wood is very attractive. The tuners are decent and work fine. I'd recommend buying a set of strings with this Ukulele because when it arrives it won't be strung right and thus won't stay in tune no matter what you do. My two issues are: 1) The tone isn't so great, so if you have a decent ear, you'll be able to tell right away that the chords you're playing don't sound quite right. To someone without experience with music, you might not be able to tell, though. Seems that the tuning is closer to being correct near the nut than the bridge, so I think that's indicative of either the bridge not being intonated correctly, or it's the spacing from string to fingerboard is too high towards the frets that are near the tail, so they get bent a little out of tune when playing closer to the 12th fret. 2) The fingerboard is a soft wood that's painted black. It's hard to play on... the strings tend to have excessive friction against it, so if you're bending strings, they don't bend smoothly. It won't last you that long, either. There's a reason why nicer instruments use ebony or rosewood or maple for the fingerboard... they're smoother woods and harder, so they will hold up much better. If I were to do it again, as a person who is schooled in another stringed instrument, I'd probably go in another $50 for a better model. This one is OK for a person who is just testing out the Uke, but with any growth in the sensitivity of their ear or desire to get more serious, they'll have to upgrade fairly early on. If you really don't know if you like to play a stringed instrument or if you have a child interested in the Uke, I'd strongly recommend this one versus others in the same price range.

My husband is a professional musician and he wanted a Uke for his birthday. He plays guitar, bass and other stringed instruments already, so he has been a quick study. He says he thinks it's an excellent product. I spent a long time going over a few models and finally landed on this one. It sounds great and I love the look. The dark wood has a very mature and classy quality. A lot of Ukes come in bright colors or with dolphin embellishments, but my husband is not into that at all. It's very small and light. Only wish I had purchased a traveling case for it so we can take on vacation. Very happy with the purchase.

I'm very happy with this ukulele, especially for the cost! I was kind of worried about it not being that great considering a lot of reviews mentioned it was great if you are a "starter". This is my first ukulele, but I've actually known how to play for awhile now(I learned with a friend's uke), and I think it sounds great. Even though some people have said that it doesn't stay in tune well, for me after a few hours of playing it, it was staying in tune almost perfectly. With any instrument, if you have new strings they're not going to stay in tune right away, even if they're the best strings. To make a long story short, I would definitely recommend this ukulele :)