KalaKA-MK-B Makala Baritone Ukulele

The media could not be loaded. 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.

Don't overtighten the strings and please don't polish the wood. Tone is good for a cheap instrument.

Overall a wonderful beginner instrument with that affordable, decently good quality you always get at Makala. I would recommend this to any beginner to intermediate baritone ukulele players, though advise you to replace the strings with higher quality ones when they inevitably break.Pros: beautiful and sturdy real wood body, good sound, easy to use, stays in tune well. Cons: cheaply wound strings that break after medium use, sharp edges on nut that may dig into your hand, buzzing from loose strap button. All of these issues are fixable with replaced or altered parts, though it will require additional work and/or money.

First of all, the quality is excellent. Not only is it made well but it's also set up with a nice low action right out of the box. It also comes strung with a set of top-shelf strings so you don't have to immediately replace them like a lot of beginner instruments. The tone is rich with strong harmonics and shockingly loud for such a small instrument; we're talking almost steel-string guitar volume when you use a pick. Now for the best part: It's tuned DGBE which means anyone who plays guitar can pick this up and immediately play it with very little effort. Obviously, you have to change some chord shapes a bit but if you already know your fretboard notes, you can easily play scales and melodies. I don't think I would recommend a beginner to buy a baritone ukulele because there aren't many song tabs available online but I would 100% recommend it for a guitarist who has at least a few years of experience.

I used to play a standard gCEA uskulele. Then I moved to GCEA tuning. Then I decided that wasn't what I wanted either and got a cheap guitar. My fingers proved to be too short and fat to make that work gracefully. Finally, I settled on this baritone ukulele from Kala's Makala line. A lot of people confuse it with a guitar, and I'm okay with that--at least no one is asking me to play "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" for them anymore. For anyone who really wants to know what instrument I'm playing, I tell them that a guitar and a ukulele got together and had a beautiful Lovechild. I've used it in videos for Youtube. I've played it in a group with other musicians.Kala does a great job with their Makala series of ukes. They make them affordable while still keeping good quality control. I used to have an MK-P and it was also great. The intonation on these isn't perfect, especially as you go higher up the neck, but a visit to a luthier could probably fix that pretty easily, and it's not off enough that most people would notice--only if you have perfect pitch (I don't. I only know it's a little off because of my digital tuner). For chord-playing strummers who mostly stick to the first 5 frets, this does the job just fine.The finish is great. The Aquila strings are great. The only things that make these less luxurious than Kala's low-priced mahogany laminate line are that the tuners, nut, and bridge have ivory-colored plastic parts and this uke is made of agathis laminate (which I actually think is prettier than mahogany). The tuners still hold the uke in tune just fine (after the strings finish stretching in, of course), so the quality issues are all based on cosmetic preference.I installed strap buttons on my uke with the help of some Youtube videos. It was not hard.The uke does not come with a case/gig bag, tuner, metronome, extra strings, capo, strap, etc. you will have to buy those things separately if you want them. The Snark Chromatic clip-on tuner is a good choice. I have a bunch of other stuff, but the only thing that is absolutely essential to buy when you get a ukulele is a tuner.

Cute little ukulele, and when it's in tune it sounds great. I switched the strings to Martin Ukulele strings, and I was amazed at how cheap and poorly manufactured the pegs are. The instrument will not stay in tune, even after hours of playing, the strings are well worked in, it will not stay tuned over night.