May/20/09
20comments

Mahalo Flying V Ukulele Review

I wasn’t going to write a review of the Mahalo Flying V. My brother got me one for Christmas. It was a nice thought and he wasn’t to know it’s the WORST UKULELE IN THE WORLD.

The Good Stuff

The Look: It does look good. Even close up. The way the neck attaches to the body is a little inelegant, but nevertheless.

… erm… The intonation isn’t too bad for the price.

The Bad Stuff

The Sound: The sound is awful. Weak and flat.

Playability: It’s very hard to play without buzzes and scratches. The neck feels nasty. It’s almost impossible to find a comfortable strumming or picking position. Which brings me on to…

The Shape: The shape makes it impossible to hold and strum comfortably.

When you’re sitting down it’s hard to avoid getting spiked in the groin. Which isn’t an experience I enjoy (and anyone who tells you I do enjoy it and that I regularly pay for exactly that experience is lying).

The only way I’ve found to play it standing up is to stick my arm through the middle of the V. Which makes strumming tricky, picking impossible and you look like a divot.

Tuning Pegs: Argh! Cheap friction pegs.

Tests

Strumming Test

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MP3

Picking Test

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MP3

Intonation Test

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MP3

Overall

If you are thinking of getting a Mahalo Flying V as your first ukulele please, please, please don’t. I can’t think of a worse ukulele to learn on. If you must have a ukulele that looks like a guitar, get a Mahalo Les Paul instead. They’re a much better instrument.

If you have a decent uke or two already, get one for the novelty value. But buy one of these while you’re at it.

20 Comments

  1. David Barnes May 20th, 2009 6:32 pm

    It didn’t sound that bad… better than I’ve ever got out of my normal-shaped Mahalo. And you edited out all the yelps of pain very effectively.

  2. Emily May 20th, 2009 7:03 pm

    Damn, I saw one for sale recently and was fighting the urge. “NO MORE UKULELES,” screamed my tiny, one room apartment. “NO MORE UKULELES,” screamed the ghost of my mother. *le sigh* No more ukuleles for Emily…for awhile.

  3. todd May 20th, 2009 7:15 pm

    I had to hush my laughter at my work computer when I clicked your ‘novelty’ link at the end of your post….nice…..

    well, this will keep me from gettin’ one for my son….who only at 3 years of age was taken by its appearance…..i think he’s gonna be a rocker?…..

    thanks for this….

    cheers,
    Todd

  4. Anne May 20th, 2009 7:16 pm

    I like the 1980s-art-deco swoop for the bridge.

  5. docpaul May 20th, 2009 7:24 pm

    Query – did you pick a particular song for the “strumming test”? Love that chord progression.

  6. Byjimini May 20th, 2009 7:27 pm

    Funnily enough, the Mahalo V-shape was indeed my first ever ukulele. As soon as it came through the post, I knew it was going to be horrible to play, so I bought a bog standard Mahalo to practice on and used the Flying-V as something to bring out when friends were round.

    Sold it a few weeks ago – it’s purely something to piss about on and not use as a serious instrument, ever.

  7. Byjimini May 20th, 2009 7:40 pm

    Doc – I think it’s Sister Kate. I did wonder the same thing but kept reading through the reviews and saw that Woody had used it for another as well.

    http://ukulelehunt.com/2008/08/21/the-ditty-bops-sister-kate/

  8. J-Hob May 20th, 2009 7:48 pm

    You didn’t make it sound bad at all!

  9. Dick May 20th, 2009 8:20 pm

    yeah ive got one of these, it wont hold its tuning and certain chords dont work. F doesnt work. F’s a pretty useful chord. I don’t get F. I get some horrible dischordant mess. ID much rather have f.

  10. Cardboardfrog May 20th, 2009 11:48 pm

    i was going to buy a flying V following having a ‘lazy ukulele’ but was charmed by a lanikai soprano instead and i have to say i’m glad i was.
    i have an increasingly impressive number of ukes and amongst them is the only uke to guitar cross over you haven’t covered which is the tele’ and i have to say, its probably half way between the other two, alright, not great.
    you have to post that version of sister kate, i’m almost certain thats not the same chords! it sounds so good lol

  11. zym May 21st, 2009 1:16 am

    hehe

    they really are a bag of shit arent they :)

  12. loui May 21st, 2009 5:14 am

    this is all SOOO true i bought one of these because i thought they looked awsome for my 2nd ukulele. but they SUUUUCCKKKKKKK!!!! NEVER BUY ONE OF THESE!!! they sound like shit, and wont stay tuned for more than 2 minutes. dont buy one.

  13. Ritchie May 21st, 2009 8:16 am

    Well, I have to say you have got it “spot on”. I was bought one 3 Christmas’ ago by my daughter-in-law, so I can’t even sell it …. along with the ‘white fruit’ Mahalo that my number two son bought me as a fathers day present… and the first one I ever bought … and the ‘old’ harmony I paid a fortune in import tax for and the ….. , no wonder I suffer from U.A.S.

    Should the link really have taken me to ebay to buy a ‘cricket box’?

  14. Ritchie May 21st, 2009 8:18 am

    oh sorry I meant to add “did you change the strings?”

  15. mictoboy May 21st, 2009 10:23 am

    do guitar websites review every shitty argos special guitar they find?
    Can’t we just assume that very cheap and nasty ukuleles are very cheap and nasty? I appreciate ukuleles are still very niche and not widely known about, but I’m pretty sure average joe in the music shop will recognise a shoddy istrument as shoddy.

    sorry, for the grumpy words, but i’m grumpy.

  16. Art Crocker May 21st, 2009 1:20 pm

    Interesting that you can take a not so great uke, put in a little strum rhythm and have it sound like something.
    By the way what is that chord progression and strum pattern?, Sounds great.

  17. Woodshed May 21st, 2009 3:46 pm

    David and J-Hob: Sounds terrible to me, but there you go.

    Emily: I’ve told myself that many times. Hope you have more will power than I do.

    todd: Maybe I should have NSFW’d that link.

    Anne: I’m not so keen on that. It seems strange to add curves to the most angular ukulele possible.

    docpaul: Yes, the strum is always Sister Kate and the picking is always Staten Island Slide by Craig Robertson.

    Byjimini: Wholeheartedly agree with your assessment.

    Dick: I often use words beginning with ‘f’ when playing it.

    cbf: It’s the same chords with the variation that I mention in the post.

    zym: If only I had your insightful brevity.

    loui: Can’t disagree with any of that.

    mictoboy: I don’t take my cues from guitar websites.

    Art: The chords for Sister Kate are here.

  18. Ritchie May 21st, 2009 5:24 pm

    Al, I don’t know what happened to my post earlier today … but never mind … one of the things i pondered was “what sort of strings did you put on it?”

    your assessment was ’spot on’ I got one from my daughter in law a few Christmas’ ago and as it was a present I can’t really sell it, however i am tempted to put aquilas on or would it be a waste?

  19. mictoboy May 21st, 2009 9:36 pm

    one should always take your cues from snooker websites

    re-reading my post now, i’m even more sorry for being grumpy.

  20. Woodshed May 23rd, 2009 9:02 am

    Ritchie: Sorry, the posts got caught in the spam filter. I don’t think I’d bother playing it no matter what strings were on it. Can’t hurt, though.

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