Mitchell Ukulele
Mitchell ukuleles are a mid-priced brand stocked pretty heavily by Musicians Friend and Guitar Center. Their ukuleles seem very similar to the likes of Samick and Oscar Schmidt (and may well be manufactured by the same people).
On Video
On Musician’s Friend
Mitchell Ukulele Review/Tribute Song
A Tribute to My Uke in Verse: Mitchell MU70 Concert Size Ukulele
Let me begin by saying
That I am an amateur,
But my uke still possesses
Many a pleasant feature.
Everyone stops to compliment
Its tone—full and mellow
And marvel at the soundboard
Gleaming and almost yellow.
The sound hole and edges shimmer
With mother of pearl inlay—
An echo of the sun’s warm glow
At the dawn of a clear spring day.
It elicits sonorous tones
That sound so sweet and linger,
As suited for a delicate song
As for a joyful, robust singer.
My uke stays in tune for ages
With its silver geared tuners,
Higher quality than expected
For just 100 dollars.
It’s amazing you can get
A great uke for such a small fee.
Guarantee yourself years of fun
With a uke like mine—named Giuseppe!
Review by Ukulellama.
23 Comments
Just bought one this weekend and haven’t been able to put it down. That might be because I have never played one before.
It needs new strings. These don’t seem to keep their tune for more than a song.
This is my first Ukulele and I don’t have much to compare it to. However, I’m a long time musician with a strict rule: Don’t buy cheep shit. This wasn’t stupid expensive, but it wasn’t a “souvenir” either.
I have a Mitchell uke that I’ve been playing for about 3 years now. Yep…got it at Guitar Center. I’m pleased with it and often get compliments on it, too.
For my first ukulele I bought one that was super cheap and horrible. I almost regretted buying because I wasn’t too into playing it, but then my dad bought me the Mitchell for Christmas and I fell in love with playing! It is a really great starter ukulele, I play it every day.
Now I am thinking about buying a third, but i don’t know what to get!
Looking to upgrade from a very rudimentary entry level $30 Santa Rosa Uke kit, I bought the Mitchell MU-70 at Guitar Center. I tried the few sopranos and tenors they had in stock. Some more expensive and one cheaper. I don’t remember the names, but the MU-70 sounded the best for the money. I had some good Martin strings put on it and it sounds and plays great. I am very pleased with it. I would highly recommend it.
I just bought two of them from Guitar Center for something different as Christmas gifts. They sound fine and look great. They could use a little more stretch from nut to the where the head begins to flare – the base of my index finger keeps hitting there, (hence my 3 star playability but won’t be a problem for smaller hands).
DannyBoy – For nylon strings, pull each string out from the fret board about an inch, then let it back and pluck it. If the pitch changes, retune and do it again until there is no more pitch change.
I finally found one that plays in tune and blows all my others out of the water because of that. They can be rough but you must check harmonics on any fretted instrument. Always check the 12 fret against the harmonic. Don’t match? Don’t buy. Mark
I’ve had this uke for about 3 months now. it’s my first uke and I LOVE it. it also has a great sound.
I’ve only been playing uke for a few months but I have over 50 years experience with guitar and other fretted instruments. My MU-100 is my 3rd uke (I also have my late father-in-law’s early 1960s Silvertone soprano and a Lanikai LU-21CE). I saw the my MU-100 on Craig’s list and traded a .357 revolver for it.
I like the feel of the instrument, fit and finish are excellent, with the exception that I had to dress the ends of the frets. Not a problem, I have everything I need to do that right. Of my three ukes, this is the one I play the most. The sound is great (after I replaced the strings that were on it with Aquila Nylgut strings) and it stays in tune. I’m not into bling on my instruments, but the MOP accents on this uke and the koa wood make for a beautiful combination. Not a Kamaka or a Martin, but I wasn’t expecting that anyway.
Like I said, I’ve had over 50 years experience with fretted instruments. I don’t expect more from an instrument than is reasonable. For the price (if I’d bought it outright), this is a great mid-range uke. As with all acoustic instruments, play it first, if it needs work (like fret finishing) but you like it otherwise, negotiate that into the price. If the frets hadn’t needed to be refinished I’d have given it five stars all the way, but the fret ends knocked construction down to four stars.
It’s still a great uke for the price.
I just bought a uke this weekend! Guitar center had a decent black friday sale so I thought that would be prime time to get one! I have the MU70 and I’d agree with Brian, this ukulele sounded the best out of all that were in my price range.
Just got the MU70 for Christmas its a really great uke, still can’t put it down for more than a couple ours, right now it sounds alright but i know its got more in it than i’m hearing. I’m using the strings it came with, and was thinking new ones could make it sound a lot better. Not sure whether to try and buy Worth strings or Aquila strings. Overall though great beginners ukulele i highly recommend over others in this price range. Any feedback on which strings sound and play the best on this specific uke would be much appreciated. Thanks
I think I should start off with saying that the Uke is the first string I’ve plade. My first one was one I found on sale for 15 bucks at a Cracker Berral. I thout it was awsome. Then I went to Gutar Centor. There was a display of about 15 ukes but of them all, I liked the MU-70 most. Of cores all the ukes were out of tune on disply, but I could tell this one was a keeper. The sound was good, the shape was neet, and the desine was cool, so I bot it. It plays well and is a grate buy. If you want to get a good ukulele for not to much, the MU-70 is waht your looking for.
i am a teenager and i play guitar and wanted to try something different so asked for a uke. it was a great decision and is so easy because of my guitar experience. i have a mu70 with nylon strings, which im planning on changing because i dont consider myself a beginner anymore, and the lessons are easy to find on youtube or just google search. it can also be tuned with any guitar tuner. mine is mid priced from guitar center, and was wondering if it had any connection with joni mitchell?
I just bought the Mitchell MU-100 and, like many of the other posts, have not been able to put it down. I’ve never played a ukulele before and was surprised at how quickly I’ve been picking it up (granted I’ve played guitar for years). The Mitchell is surprisingly nice. The strings need changed, but the sound is great and it feels good to play, and that’s probably the most important part. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to purchase a beginner ukulele that they can develop with.
This is my first uke and I’m totally in love with it. Stays tuned really well and has a much fuller sound than some of the tin-y, weak sounding uke’s I played before I spotted this little beauty. Mine doesn’t have a name though…
The price and beauty of this uke caught my attention. I tuned it and realized that the 1st string made an annoying buzzing sound. Still can’t figure out what it is. But other than that, it is still amazing.
I love this ukulele. It is my first one and it is a joy to play.
I also noticed a strange buzzing sound in the first string, as Nathan did. It doesn’t bother me too much, it’s not that noticeable. However it may be something to consider if you are very sensitive to that sort of thing.
Mitchell makes beautiful ukes, and I was immediately drawn to them. However, I found the headstock was so thick, it made it interfered with my left hand. It almost felt like a parlor guitar neck. I chose a Lanakai CK-C instead, nicely appointed, great sound and intonation, but not as pretty as the Mitchell
As suggested by the UkeHunt introduction above, I am certain that the Mitchell products sold by Guitar Center (and also by some of the vendors now owned by GC, including Musician’s Friend and Woodwind & Brasswind) are made by Samick and are, not only similar to, but *identical* to the ones in Samick’s Greg Bennett line (apart from the headstock, that is) sold through other vendors. (Samick’s Silvertone also appears to be the same, but I don’t know if they have any ukes.) The specs for equivalent models of the two brand are the same. As are the MSRPs, which leads me to believe that neither is made to a higher standard than the other.
Mitchell MU70 = Bennett UK-70 (Spruce-top concert)
Mitchell MU100 = Bennett UK-100 (Koa concert)
Mitchell MUB70S = Bennett UK-70B (Spruce-top baritone)
The next two aren’t quite equivalents, as the Silvertone versions appear to have a binding on body and fingerboard and a rosewood peghead overlay–features on present on the corresponding Bennett models.
Silvertone SUK-50 = Bennett UK-50 (Nato-top concert)
Slivertone SUK-60 = Bennett UK-60 (Mindi-top concert)
(Some listings on the Web describe the UK-60 as a Tenor, but others, including the Bennett site, says
concert.)
See the review of my UK-70 on the Greg Bennett page.
i just got the MUB-70S, the baritone.. and actually really like it sound and look wise, my only complaints are that the neck feels a little too thick for me and the bridge isnt seated propperly into its slot… an easy fix. i know its an inexpensive uke but i still think something small like that shouldnt be overlooked in production. overall it is way more uke for the price than i was expecting.
I recently purchased a Mitchell Baritone uke, I had a horrible experience. It buzzed and the nut was carved incorrectly, and even I returned it and received a replacement, it had the exact same issues. (Perhaps worse.) If not for these problems the sound would be excellent, it is loud and clear and fun to play. I use it for recording, so for me these issues render it unplayable, it is incredibly frustrating. I would have a very hard time recommending this brand to anyone.
I have probably had this Ukulele for 3 years now. It was the first one I have ever owned and I still have not come across one that I like better. The tone is fantastic. It plays loud, bright, and full. Not to mention the uke itself is very eye-catching. It amazes me how long It stays in tune, even after having a 5 year old drop it 3 times in a row (I was not home at the time). Great little instrument!
I tried all of the Mitchell ukes at Guitar Center and I rejected them all because the nut was so high and had a very sharp lower edge. If only the edge had been curved or less prominent, I would have bought one.
Mitchell is an in house brand of Guitar Center and since both Guitar Center and Musicain’s Friend are joined together you will always see them in their stores and on their web sites.
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