Kala Makala Soprano Mahogany Ukulele (MK-S)

Product Information

Because this uke has been in the hands of a toddler, it stands to reason that it has been dropped, trodden on and generally abused. While the Dolphin’s tone and playability won’t thrill serious players, it’s still a fun, well-built uke. I DO NOT ALLOW WHOLESALE COPYING AND PASTING OF CONTENT FROM THIS SITE WITHOUT PERMISSION This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.

Yeah, it might seem a little weird and perhaps the D’s a bit resonant but hey; now I have a great little knock about “Mandolele” that I just can’t put down. The absence of binding accentuates the natural beauty of the wood, creating a visually elegant instrument. I recommend a few models at the end of this post, or you can read my article on the best beginner ukuleles .I have the Makala MK-S Soprano but I’ve cheated and tuned it GDAE using a dedicated string set that Aquila produce for the purpose. Here is one of my dolphins today (yes, yes I know, it's not red, its purple, but I bought two when I wrote that review, and the red one has been gifted to my young nephew since then - this is the one we kept and gets played - same vintage! In fact picking it up today it never ceases to amaze me how full and loud a sound these things can deliver. Players seeking an instrument with a bit more substance may want to consider the KA-15S (also from Kala) or the highly-rated Donner and Hricane ukes in the table below. They’re either a bit tinny or they’re muted and somewhere between those brackets is the holy grail of sound.

While there’s nothing spectacular going on here, it doesn’t really have any issues – there’s no real defects to be seen anywhere. I only mention this because Kala’s slightly more expensive models like the KA-S and KA-15S come with a Graph Tech “NuBone” nut and saddle. Even though I prefer ukes with a traditional look and finish, I think may folks will like the Dolphin’s bold color options.Ok It’s my first Uke and it’s a gift from my wife but, it’s ok, I can learn a lot of things, the sound it’s not bad and it stays in tune for a long time. Only down side is that I have worn the paint through to the wood on some corners (must wear a wool pullover when playing). On tone alone if I were a newcomer to ukulele it would be the Dolphin, if I were to take looks into account it would be the MK-S.

All impressions are based on the how the uke performed “out of the box” with no tweaks or adjustments. The ebooks are aimed at all levels and all come with supporting MP3s and YouTube videos to help you learn. The Dolphin comes in a variety of colors and gets its name from the signature dolphin-shaped bridge.

When you wrote the review, I was fortunate to be staying with my Coz in South Island, NZ and almost to the day, we sauntered into Post Impressions - facebook. It means I can play it using mandolin chords and fingerings without having to learn another instrument!

I can see no real discernable difference between it and the black one but the black one is not as loud nor does it have the same beautiful resonance as the white one.I’m probably being a little bit over critical of the Makala here though and overall it isn’t bad sounding ukulele. Please give us the reason for your assessment in the following text box and – if possible – your e-mail address for further questions. To my mind that’s no bad thing, particularly when one’s a beginner and still building confidence, or else want something to mess about on without having to worry about neighbours etc. I didn’t notice any buzzing or high frets as I played up the neck, and the notes consistently rang out clear and clean. If you’re the kind of person that doesn’t bash the strings quite so hard though you’re going to get the most out of this uke.