$50 Ukulele vs $1000 Ukulele Comparison

Is 20 times the price that much better?

Yes, absolutely. If these two ukuleles were cars, the Makala would be a Toyota Camry and the Kanile’a a Ferrari. That’s how different they are.

Just by looking at the pictures above you can see the difference. The Kanile’a is made out of a high-quality Hawaiian Koa wood, while the Makala is an Agathis body. The sound difference is huge. The Kanile’a has a sweet tone with a well balanced mid range. The acoustic aspects of the ukulele remind me of my Martin Clapton model guitar. It has phenomenal tone. The Makala sounds like a tin can in comparison.

Now I do have to give credit to the Makala, for $50 it is an outstanding ukulele, the play-ability is great and intonation, for the most part, is spot on. I have recorded close to 50 ukulele arrangements with the Makala for this site and it has been a great ukulele. With a few EQ settings in the recording program, you can help shape the tone to be sweeter than it is in real life. Think of it this way too, if I gave Eddie Van Halen a $50 guitar and told him to play it, how do you think it would sound… Amazing, of course! Any ukulele in the hands of a great player will sound, great. At the end of the day though, I’d rather be driving in that Ferrari instead of a Camry. Kanile’a gets the win here.

Check out the Makala Soprano Uke on Amazon

Article by: Andrew Hardel