KA-15S Mahogany Soprano Ukulele

I know this is more about personal experience with a uke in general than it is about the actual product, but I will get to that, also. I had been trying in vain to learn guitar, and one of my main problems is that my hands are too small to chord properly. That's why I first went looking for a ukulele. I heard that for one, with a smaller neck, and only four strings, it eliminates that issue. Two, it's easier to feel strumming patterns. I don't know if that's true for everyone or not, but it sure has been for me! Three, they're just so darn cute! So after a TON of research, reading reviews, product specs, etc, I settled on this one. It was affordable; and I LOVE the finish. Plus, it comes with aquila strings on it, so I didn't have to restring it immediately. I could focus on learning how to play the instrument before having to figure that out. It arrived a day earlier than the original delivery estimate, first off. Which was good, because I wanted it SOOOOO bad! When I pulled it out of the box, it was so much better than I thought it was going to be! The finish is spectacular! It's a matte finish, so that you can see the beautiful mahogany. The sound is perfect. Like I said, I did a lot of research before buying. One of the things I did was search comparison videos on youtube. Although there were some ukes that topped the sound, the cost was enough of a drawback that I can honestly say that within this price range, there is NO comparison!! I love that I have been able to just pick this thing up and play within a couple of hours. I couldn't do that with a guitar no matter how hard I tried!! All in all, it has been a VERY good little instrument for me so far. As a side note, I purchased a uke tuner from a different seller, and it hasn't arrived yet, so I used my sister-in-law's guitar tuner. I didn't even know you could do that, but it worked! I guess no matter what the range of the instrument, g will always be g, c will always be c, and so on.

Let me start by saying I am a musician. I've played a variety of instruments but this instrument is the first string instrument I've played. So although I'm not an expert in string instruments specifically I think I have a little authority in knowing what makes a good instrument. The Kala KA-15S is the perfect string instrument to start out on. The qualities that make it so is the fact that it's high enough quality to be easy to play, while not being prohibitively expensive in cost. Basically, it's the best bang for your buck as a beginner. I got one for me and my sister. Both were in excellent condition. I like mine so much that I got a baritone ukulele so I can have access to a more unique sound in my arsenal of instruments. This instrument comes properly set up (at least the two I bought did), and prestrung with Aquila nylgut, one of the best in the industry. Some reviewers mistakenly call them toy strings because they are not steel strings, they are just ignorant of the fact that ukuleles don't have a truss rod and are too delicate for steel strings. Even classical guitar strings, though they look like metal strings, are just nylon with copper or aluminum wound around them. Only steel guitars are sturdy enough for steel strings, and you wouldn't want your ukulele to sound harsh like a steel guitar anyway. This instrument is easy to play and if you wanted to could use the same instrument up to expert level (although once you hit that level you might want to invest in a $500 dollar instrument and super nylgut strings as they do in fact sound better). I've communicated with other ukulele players and a common problem when purchasing an ukulele is that often the instrument itself is functional, but the frets, saddle, nuts, etc are not set up right, making it difficult to play. This can be corrected relatively easily by going to a local Luthier, but most beginners don't know this. The frets should be level and the action should be as low as possible without buzzing (higher action for more experienced players). Beginners will struggle to play on an instrument that is not fit to play and blame their own lack of skill, and eventually give up. I noticed this when I bought my baritone ukulele. Fortunately the problem for me was that the frets were not level, which is more easily recognizable as the instrument fault not user error. Also the strings were in visibly poor condition. The luthier has it now and says it will cost at least $35 bucks to properly set it up, plus $7 for some decent strings. The funny thing is if I had gotten a kala, it would have only been $30 more and come with a case. Long story short, if you are new to ukulele this is a no brainier. The quality you get for the price is amazing. The instrument should be fine out of the box, but if you are having a hard time with it try taking it to a Luthier before returning it and giving it a bad review. Mistakes can happen even with the best brands and you might just need a slight adjustment.

Previously I wrote a review regarding the Makala Shark Bridge Soprano Ukulele. Unfortunately, with that particular uke, it arrived in very disappointing fashion. The workmanship [or lack thereof] and quality control issues forced us returning it, and spending an additional $10 for the Kala Mahogany Soprano Ukulele. Let me just say that the differences between these two Ukuleles is truly like night and day… …for those of you who DIDN'T read my previous review, I will say that I've been a guitarist for over 25 years. I have a lot of experience in the construction, setup, and playing of acoustic and electric stringed instruments. Specifically I am a rock and metal player, but cull experience from nearly every genre of music. My wife and I were searching for an inexpensive beginner's ukulele for a 5 year old girl to use for her first foray into music. Upon ordering the ukes, we had them delivered to us so that I could go over them, make sure that they were properly constructed and setup prior to sending to her. Being that I have given MANY lessons in my day, and have encountered many different instruments, I know that THE most common reason that a student gives up on a stringed instrument is if it is poorly set-up [i.e., physically hard to play]. NO stringed instrument should require a Herculean amount of strength. The Kala Ukulele arrived very well packed…by both Amazon and from the company. Upon taking the ukulele out of it's second inner most packing box, I could immediately see that it was in fact made of mahogany [intentional mislabeling of construction wood is an unfortunate part of inexpensive guitars and stringed instruments]. Not only is this actual mahogany, but it is a very excellent example of mahogany. The wood is a deep shade of brown with a dark black grain running throughout. The pores of the wood [a tale tale sign of true mahogany] are very visible and clearly indicate that this is an excellent example of mahogany. The fretwork is EXEMPLARY. I've seen $400-$500 guitars have fretwork not as good as this. The brass frets are all properly seated and well finished. For anyone familiar with guitars and stringed instruments, fret ends [the point at which your hand makes contact up and down the neck] can be a very troubling point of contact with inexpensive instruments. However, these frets have been manicured to a level that there is no sensation whatsoever. Another point of emphasis: the nut. The nut, in my estimation is one of THE most important parts of any stringed instrument. A nut should be properly cut as to allow the strings to move without binding [binding creates issues with tuning and intonation] and the nut slots should be cut as so to allow the strings a downward trajectory into the tuning machines [maximizing resonance and projection of the instrument]. Again, this instrument is exemplary as it relates to the nut. The nut is a plastic "bone facsimile" and it is properly cut with an attention to detail I could never have expected at this price point. Tuning CAN be a bit tedious with this uke…the tuners are VERY pedestrian, but at $53 [most tuning machine sets cost more than this ukulele did] one shouldn't expect them to be more than utilitarian. Please be prepared for the tuning machines to slip a bit when tuning…it's very easy to get impatient, but if you take your time it will get to pitch. Once you've tuned the ukulele, as with any stringed instrument, it will be important to stretch the strings and then retune at least two additional times before optimal tuning stability will be achieved. Upon tuning the ukulele, and strumming some chords, I quickly realized what a gem this truly is. The uke is dynamic, resonant, and truly is the sum of all the aforementioned parts. Single notes sing out and have great harmonic content. Chords ring and project very well. I have played every note on the fingerboard and none of them are dead or have any intonation issues whatsoever. To put this in perspective, I just bought myself a guitar three weeks ago. It cost me $2,500. It is the epitome of modern guitar construction and is arguably the greatest stringed instrument I've ever played. But this $53 Kala Uke has a home, in my home, right next to that guitar. I'm not comparing the two; I'm simply saying that the playability is such that I WILL be buying myself one once this goes to our granddaughter. The "dollars per smile" ratio on this thing is incomprehensible. I can not say enough about this Ukulele and if you're in the market for a Uke PLEASE do yourself a favor and buy one. You will NOT be disappointed, nor will you regret it for one single solitary minute.

I chose this as of my birthday gifts. I was worried that I'd get a starter ukelele and outgrow it right away as I have done with guitars (bass and acoustic) in the past. However, this instrument sounds very good for the price. I'm enjoying it so much that I've probably practiced about 15 hours already--and I've only had it 4 days! The design is burnt into the wood, which actually feels like laminate (though I don't know for sure.) It's obviously well-made for the price. Don't let the design put you off, it still sounds sweet. Even though the ukelele craze has long passed, I chose the ukelele because I have small hands and sensitive fingers and find guitar painful. I wanted a portable, fun instrument, that was easy to learn the basics on--and this fits the bill. I like to sing and this will easily accompany me. I don't expect to be a virtuoso, but rather want to play for fun and enjoyment. I do have a sensitive ear as I was trained musically and can't stand listening to an out of tune or poor-quality instrument. The Kala KA does not sound tinny, twangy or cheap. The strings go out of tune constantly, I was told by a ukelele player takes a few weeks before they break in. My only concern is that the G string goes out every 5 minutes, the others after an hour or so of playing. Before I chose this, I read a ton of reviews not just on Amazon, but on music store sites and online mags. It's pretty much a universal--this is the best uke you can get for around 50 dollars.

This ukulele is great! It has a very bold sound for such a small instrument and is absolutely lovely to hear. The design is very elegant which I love, the wood looks very nice I found that with the guitar, it was very hard for me to play some of the lower notes and more complicated chords because I couldn't really reach them, but this tiny thing is great! I can reach it all no problem! If you want a simple and fun instrument I definitely recommend this, I spent quite a while trying to learn the guitar but with this I'm professing a lot quicker and I'm having so much fun doing it! It holds tune a lot better than I expected it would from the reviews, but it does of course need to be tuned quite often with how new the strings are I only have two complaints: One, I find that playing this instrument causes around the same amount of pain to the pads of my fingers as my copper stringed guitar. This could be because of a high action, but I'm not honestly an expert there so I'll leave a picture for you to decide. Two: in the inside there is a bit of an imperfection in the wood. I'm not sure if it will hinder the quality of sound but I'm kind of anxious about it This really is a great little instrument though, especially for the price I love it! P.S. There is an app called yousician that is great for learning to play the uke (it also has guitar, piano, and bass guitar) it's got interactive feedback and gives you an allotted free lesson time per instrument if you don't want to pay for premium, highly recommend

Let me just start off by saying I am by no means a professional in the field of music nor am I an ambitious music student studying to become the next Jake Shimabukuro. I'm just a guitar player (and not a good one) who wept and wept because I could not play the dreaded... barre chords. That's right, I wanted to learn to play the uke because my fingers are short and my hand is weak (that sounded weird). Thus. I began my journey to find the most awesome, chick-magnet, best-bang-for-your-buck ukulele on Earth. I searched on Google, hunted in Reddit, and crept through online blogs to obtain the answer. And after my extensive trip throughout the corners of Internet, it was clear... I just needed to find the highest rated ukulele on Amazon. All jokes aside, this is a rough estimate of why i bought the Kala KA-15S Ukulele. It had great reviews across multiple sites, it was made by a reputable company, and most importantly... it was pretty cheap for a beginner ukulele. I was looking for a quality instrument that I could practice with, but also inexpensive enough that I wouldn't feel guilty about it if I failed to learn. My first impression of the ukulele was the beautiful mahogany wood. I picked it up and held it close to my face... and sniffed it. Yes, I smelled it okay? Stop judging. Anyways, I started to play random notes/chords and sang "Riptide" to my SO. Was I off-key? Probably. Did I sound terrible? Maybe. But did my fingertips hurt? NOPE! I couldn't say that about my guitar, Yamaha FG700s, if you were wondering. I did eventually learn the basic chords like C G Am F and some barre chords like B and Bm later that night. And coming from a guitar, these strings were softer than a freshly baked Krispy Kreme Doughnut straight outta of the oven. No kidding. I could actually play simple barre chords for the first time ever AND I didn't cut through another layer of calluses on my fingertips. BOOYAH! (cyborg anyone?) In conclusion, Yes. This is the ukulele you have been searching for. Whether you are an experienced player or a beginner like myself, the Kala KA-15S really does stand out among the rest. I highly, highly recommend this without a doubt. Now if you excuse me, I gotta sing a special song to a special lady. Wish me luck :) Quick note: Tuning this particular ukulele is easy; I personally use an electronic tuner. But the A string seems to go out of tune more often than the other 3 strings. Not sure if that's normal, but just wanted to give y'all a heads up.

Kala has earned a rep for making good and reliable instruments at modest prices. Even their entry level Makala Dolphins and Sharks with molded plastic back and wooden soundboards are respected. Still for very little more this KA-15S is really the exact same ukulele as the $70 KA-S, but without the white edging/binding or the nickel-silver frets. This is really a visual difference designed to upsell the buyer but little more. Also better is that both of these are all wood, and are of clearly higher quality than the Dolphins. Remember, when you buy online your ukulele is not going to be "set-up" which means you may get one that has a buzz, or whose action is too high for comfortable playing. A shop set-up avoids that. Thus, you take your chances. Although most Dolphins are fine, a notable number need set-up; however your chances of getting a good one are MUCH better with either the 15-S or the KA-S. Note too that both the KA0S and 15-S come with expensive Aquila nylgut strings (normally $10 to 12 plus ship). The Dolphin comes with cheap strings that you will soon tire of and be forced to replace, and if you are like most Dolphin owners - with the Aquilas. Bottom line: for just $10 more than the entry level, plastic backed Dolphin, you are getting what is really a $70 KA-S with much better strings, all wood, and much better sound quality. The 15S we received was acceptable in every regard, no obvious defects, good intonation and proper action - and requiring no set-up. More: We also have a Ukadelic by Kala, at $48 and equipped similarly with Aquilas, but with the nickel-silver frets of the KA-s. The only difference: the 15S and KA-S are make of mahogany, while the Ukadelic is "either poplar or nato (eastern mahogany)". When compared to our new 15S, the Ukadelic is a bit "brighter", but still very full while the 15S is a bit warmer, a bit more classical sounding, a matter of personal taste. To me the 15S sounds just a bit more refined. A matter of taste and still both are very similar in sound. Good luck.

I wanted a starter Uke that is a real instrument, not a children's toy or novelty. This one fits the bill nicely. I'm very pleased, and haven't been able to put it down since delivery a week ago! I've been able to use my Snark SN-1 guitar tuner to keep it tuned up, so I didn't need to buy some kind of specialized Uke tuner. The strings are settling down (a week in). The E and A strings still require daily tuning, but not as much as they did at first. The G and C strings have been steady for a couple days now. I figure another week and they should all be stretched into a stable shape that holds tune. But at the beginning you'll definitely want to have an electric tuner handy to keep it in line until the strings are broken in. For first few days I was retuning all the strings every few hours. I'm really surprised how easy it is to pick up and start playing! There's a ton of free tab music on the web, Google is your friend. In the first couple days I was playing Over the Rainbow and Wonderful World. A few days later, Puff the Magic Dragon. As the chords and strumming sink in and become more natural it should be a snap to belt out whatever. I've got a piano background, and stringed instruments have always been a challenge for me. That hasn't been the case with this instrument, the transition was smooth and fun. With a small fret and only 4 strings it was really easy to get started with some recognizable pieces for the early win, instead of hours of labor only to get discouraged. There were a couple other contenders I looked at (Kala Dolphin and Lanikai LU-21). Both got great reviews and were a few dollars cheaper. I went with this one because of the strings it came with. Even if I could have saved $10, I have zero buyers remorse.. the sound on this is fantastic. Unless something unusual happens in shipping you won't be disappointed.