Makala Dolphin Soprano Ukulele
This ukulele from Makala, with its dolphin bridge and pastel colors, has proved a big hit with kids (and plenty of those young at heart). Surprisingly for such a toy-looking uke, has quite a good sound to it – check out the video below.
If you’re looking for something a little more traditional looking, take a look at the Makala MK-S.
On Video
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Makala Dolphin Bridge Soprano Ukulele – $36.99
Video Review
UKISOCIETY reviews his Dophin Makala.
Specifications
Size: Soprano
Construction: Agathis Wood (laminated) top, sides and back
Colors Red, Green, Yellow, Pink, Purple, Light Blue, Metallic Blue, Black, Pearl White, Candy Apple Red
Fretboard: Rosewood
Frets: 12
Bridge: Rosewood
Neck: Mahogany
Finish: Satin
Binding: Opened geared tuners with white buttons
5 Comments
Just got my Makala Dolphin, my first uke. I decided to go with the dolphin after reading reviews and for the price (eBay, $30). I stringed it with Aquilas, following suggestions from almost every review in youtube, and I actually cant complain. This little uke may look like a toy, but it doesn’t sound like a toy at all. Only crappy thing (at least in mine) is the paint job. After the first few strums the white circle around the f-hole pealed off. Don’t matter much to me anyway since I like “personalizing” my guitars. Overall, I am and plan to keep enjoying my first ukulele.
I LOVE these! They’re super inexpensive and the sound is great (Once you replace the whiny Kala strings, of course).
Also, mine is pink. How cute is that?
Juan says his white circle peeled off. My circle is 3 black pin stripes and they’re painted on, so I’ve had no problem with the paint job…
Another bonus is that the front is wood, but the back and sides are plastic, so it’s not quite as fragile as most ukes, so for someone looking for a uke that can go everywhere and not have to worry about it too much, this is the one!
And I only spent $50 on it!
Only negative I can think of is that the Makala gig bag it comes with velcros shut and is so thin it’s only good at keeping dust off… which is a pointless feature, you wont be able to put it down long enough to let dust collect! It’s soo cute!!
i named mine Eunice 😉
I bought one of these as a second uke for taking on holidays, camping etc.. My other is a much more expensive concert Kala KA-CEM and I have to say that this uke pretty near matches it on sound, just isn’t quite as loud. Intonation is great, even high up the fretboard. It is in metallic blue and looks great. It really sounds like a far more expensive instrument. Of course, it only sounds good after replacing the strings and doing a proper setup.
Oh, I should add that I bought it from Highlystrung.co.uk and they set it up for me (very well) at no extra charge and even put on the Aquila strings I had bought from them.
I have seen identical looking ukes to the dolphin but with the usual kinds of bridge. Are these just the same as the dolphins, apart from the different bridge ?
They seem to be cheaper than the dolphins.
I expected it to be more cheap sounding. It has a deeper smoother muted sound. I’m enjoying it. I changed out the strings to Aquila and it really sounds great for the price. I now have a uke for the beach and I’m not worried about it. The intonation is just fine. It holds it’s tune pretty well for it being played for about a week. I have to say again that the smooth deeper muted sounds really very nice for a plastic and wood uke. Mine is a sparkly pearly white dolphin uke and named her Amelia.
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