Kala MK Makala Ukulele (KA-C)

Being a guitar player, I was interested in several things. One, I wanted a more portable instrument for deployments and trips. Two, I wanted to expand my musical arsenal and learn a new instrument. Three, I was looking for something that I could learn easily. This Baritone Ukulele fit all three of those bills.As for the Kala itself, it looks pretty, sounds great, and has an adjustable neck. Nothing on it really screamed "Cheap" to me while at the same time it's not too nice where I feel bad taking it to austere environments.If you play a guitar, you will love this instrument. It literally uses the same chords as a standard guitar (for the most part) you just have to get used to playing without your first two strings and a smaller fret board.I've been able to play any song I can play on the guitar on this Ukulele.

This is my 4th Ukulele, and I am loving it! I also own a Pocket Soprano (too small to be more than a Toy) a Concert Caramel Uke (love the sweet island sound) a Tenor Kala (my stand by favorite for awhile now) and now this Makala Baritone. I immediately restrung it with Aquila 23U High GCEA strings. The sound is fantastic. It's a bit deeper and more mellow than my other Ukes. The soulful sound just begs me to play all my favorite songs, but just a bit slower, and with more feeling. I love this thing!Now this ukulele is much much larger than even my Tenor. It feels ridiculous at first, and I'm 6'3" but soon starts to feel right. The top frets are very far apart compared to my other ukes. The first 3 frets on my concert size fit in just the first 2 frets on this Baritone. Even with my large hands it's a bit of a stretch on some chords.(By the way, Baritone Ukes come with different tuning than smaller Ukes, and require different chord shapes - that is why I spent the $8.00 to buy the GCEA tuner strings so I wouldn't have to relearn different chords).5 Stars! Can't believe what a fantastic value this Makala is. I strongly recommend.

I sold my Kala MK-B (branded Makala) as I was leaving Alaska and regretted it almost immediately. When I got to my home in Florida, I bought another one. The strings that come with it are not that good, in fact they are pretty bad. BUT I have found the best strings to restring it with -- Ko'olau Mahana Baritone ukulele strings. These strings make it sound even better and they outlast the original strings by more than twice as long. Order them soon because you will be quickly disappointed by the wear on the original strings. Put these new Ko'olau Mahana strings on as soon as it looks like your original strings are about to break and you will be delighted. This baritone uke with the new strings gets constant praise from other musicians who did not know a uke could sound so good. And it looks good too.

I bought this ukulele as a gift for my mother. Being from Hawaii and having grown up around music I knew it would be difficult to find a quality ukulele for a beginner learner at a reasonable price. I think I researched sixty different ukuleles before purchasing this one. I determined that for a soprano ukulele this was an idea size and was solid enough not to feel flimsy. I also wanted to get something that was visually different and the color and the whale shaped bridge seemed fun.I received the after 2 weeks. Thankfully I ordered it earlier then usual because the 7-9 day shipping turned into 14. It came inside two boxes, an outer rectangular box and an inner Ukulele shaped box. The instrument was inside the "case" which is a very flimsy polyester material that I think you would have to replace if you were worried about damage. The instrument was in good shape and looked exactly like the photos except the blue is slightly darker then the photo. The body fits perfectly for a small adult/child. The tuning heads are plastic and function well. The strings NEED to be replaced if you are a serious musician. The original strings constantly need re-tuning after two months of use, at this point stretching of strings should have stopped so they just seem to slip out of alignment easily, even mid use. Once you replace the strings you are good to go. It has a high tinny sound, very circa 1960's Hawaiian vacation sounding.I think this is a good product for a beginner. By far the best priced decent Ukulele. If you want something to really improve on though as a serious beginner you may want to invest into something you will be happy with in the future. As for my mom she is strumming away happily.

This is a well-made, great-looking and great-sounding baritone ukulele. The standard tuning is the same as the first (top) 4 strings of a full-sized guitar in standard tuning: DGBE. I retuned mine to DGBD which is the same as open G tuning on a 5-string banjo (without the 5th string) because I'm more familiar with that tuning. I should have bought the carry bag with it at the same time, since I ended up buying it later anyway.The only issue I had with this uke was with the strings (which is why I only rated this 4-stars instead of 5). The 3rd & 4th strings are wire-wound, which is not unusual, but these particular ones are VERY dead feeling and sounding compared to other wire-wound strings and the 1st & second strings on the uke, which are black nylon. This makes the upper and lower strings contrast in quality quite a bit. The lower strings did improve in sound over time with playing, but I will be replacing all the strings with nylon (not available on Amazon as far as I could tell) soon.Update 9/3/12: This uke was restrung with all-nylon Worth brown strings. For comparison with the original, a video is on[...]. Now I have a 5-star baritone ukulele.

This is a big step for me. Been playing GCEA ukulele for 2 years and do not read music but memorized 30 chords. Now I'm teaching myself DGBE tuning. I'm old, I have small fingers, but I'm loving this Baritone Ukulele! I can now play 3 songs (sometimes have to peek at the chords) and I attribute my tenacity to the beauty of the rich sound, and the way it feels in my hands. Cannot believe I now own such a lovely instrument for under $100! Now I'm considering a Tenor Guitar (4-string) because, well, I'm sure I can play that too!