Ukulele buying?

BeardyAndy

I know this is probably bordering on sinful asking this question on here but here goes!...

My daughter has started learning Uke  at school and want's me to buy her a pink one.  In a sea of pink 20 quid instruments, i'm wondering if there are any better ones out there that won't play and sound like crap as I figure in a few months it'll be me playing it more than her anyway! I used to own a half decent Tanglewood and it was a lot of fun.

Or do I buy a decent used one and get the spray cans out?

bertie

BeardyAndy said:

 
Or do I buy a decent used one and get the TNT out?

this

Stratavarious

Been down the £20 pink charity shop route with my daughter…toneless and tuneless piece of tat.  Lasted a holiday.

That said, she had a charity shop purple sparkle violin she used right till she was a first violin in a regional youth orchestra!  Then she earned a really expensive one. 

Worth trying a few. Better strings than fishing line can help. I have a cheap one I worked the action and strings on and it sits ok in a mix. 

It’s more important she enjoy it and keeps at it, there are also LOTS of ukes out there and some have fancy finishes, so I’d go on a hunt with her to a big shop with dozens. You could always spray a bit of clear sparkle gloss on a nice piece of wood too.

paulnb57

the fender ones are quite nice, not 20 quid though.....

https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-Venice-Soprano-Ukulele-WN-Shell-Pink/2VXQ?origin=product-ads&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_wZIHuIUxqMlPfszFQiN-Bdj0tTV4hI3YN72Fm2WMlA7nGgfbER5Yj0aAjpwEALw_wcB

MrTee

Cordoba 15CM
My wife asked me to help her choose/buy a ukulele and after a bit of research this was the winner. I enjoy playing it too, was about £100, but certainly more than 5 times better than the £20 SpongeBob one we used to have!

Edit, apologies, didn't read the 'pink' requirement

BeardyAndy

Thanks @paulnb57 ; I was thinking I'd spend around the 50 mark, hadn't spotted these.

No worries @MrTee if I go down the refinish route this could be a winner.

idiotwind

My daughter is doing ukulele this year at school and they all got issued with Mahalo ones, it's ok.  For my youngest I bought an Octopus brand one.  Came with proper Aquila strings and is well reviewed on the "Got a Ukulele" website - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Octopus-soprano-ukulele-in-pink/dp/B089MCL94F/

BeardyAndy

idiotwind said:

My daughter is doing ukulele this year at school and they all got issued with Mahalo ones, it's ok.  For my youngest I bought an Octopus brand one.  Came with proper Aquila strings and is well reviewed on the "Got a Ukulele" website - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Octopus-soprano-ukulele-in-pink/dp/B089MCL94F/

Just reminded me I was part of a Ukulele forum years ago.... Can't even remember what it was called?!

barnstorm

If £50 and pink are non-negotiable, I'd look at getting one of the Flight travel ukes. The Southern Ukulele Store stocks them, although the original TUS model, which comes in the sort of bubblegum pink you might be after, isn't in at the moment. The newer UTS in 'Terracote' is available.

If you don't mind spending more for something that will give you a bit more enjoyment (appreciate your daughter might not care about anything but the colour!) look at the aNueNue US10, which you can get in 'Living Coral'. Not in stock in that colour at SUS now, but the equally helpful World of Ukes has one.

The Flight options, particularly the UTS, will obviously be more tolerant of being bashed about, if that's a consideration. You could also keep an eye out for a used Magic Fluke Flea in pink if time isn't of the essence.

Recommend avoiding the box-shifters if at all possible – ukes in that price range can be diabolical.

Musical_Mystery_Tour

BeardyAndy said:

Just reminded me I was part of a Ukulele forum years ago.... Can't even remember what it was called?!

This begs the question: Did you lose the link for it on your PC when you were cleaning Windows?

barnstorm

(Oh, and finding the right strings can make a massive difference! Worth Browns for me, FWIW, but there are heaps of options.)

BeardyAndy

Musical_Mystery_Tour said:

BeardyAndy said:

Just reminded me I was part of a Ukulele forum years ago.... Can't even remember what it was called?!

This begs the question: Did you lose the link for it on your PC when you were cleaning Windows?

Very good! 

barnstorm

BeardyAndy said:

idiotwind said:

My daughter is doing ukulele this year at school and they all got issued with Mahalo ones, it's ok.  For my youngest I bought an Octopus brand one.  Came with proper Aquila strings and is well reviewed on the "Got a Ukulele" website - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Octopus-soprano-ukulele-in-pink/dp/B089MCL94F/

Just reminded me I was part of a Ukulele forum years ago.... Can't even remember what it was called?!

ukuleleunderground? Good resource for certain sorts of info, but not as fun to drop in there as it is here.

KDS

Kala are great

shufflebeat

BeardyAndy said:

My daughter has started learning Uke  at school and want's me to buy her a pink one.

Do not overthink this!!!

This is not about a Uke - buy her the £20 pink one. If you do she won’t love you any extra but if you don’t you’ll be hearing about it for the rest of your natural life.

Buy yourself a Kala and let her play it from time to time - she’ll work it out. Eventually the £20 pink one will end up either on her wall or in the pink Uke section of the charity shop.

It’ll be the best £20 you ever spend but only you - and we - will ever know.

Do not repeat my mistakes, make new ones.

BeardyAndy

barnstorm said:

BeardyAndy said:

idiotwind said:

My daughter is doing ukulele this year at school and they all got issued with Mahalo ones, it's ok.  For my youngest I bought an Octopus brand one.  Came with proper Aquila strings and is well reviewed on the "Got a Ukulele" website - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Octopus-soprano-ukulele-in-pink/dp/B089MCL94F/

Just reminded me I was part of a Ukulele forum years ago.... Can't even remember what it was called?!

ukuleleunderground? Good resource for certain sorts of info, but not as fun to drop in there as it is here.

Well there are benefits to dropping in on them occasionally, I've just reminded myself that I have this somewhere at home

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/threads/can-anyone-help-me-with-some-history-on-this.61616/

I'd completely forgotten about it but a quick Google indicates I really should find it as they don't seem to be cheap!