KalaKA-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 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.

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.

The Makala Mk C Concert Ukulele is exactly what I wanted: a good quality ukulele for a modest price. I bought this ukulele for a price that is in the average range for cheap beginners instruments, but it is much better than that in construction and materials, and much better than that musically. It has a nice tone even with the strings that came on it. The action is very good; the intonation is really pretty true up to the twelfth fret and beyond. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like when I change over to Aquila strings.