Home Store

More Information

Rating: - Disappointed
I am very disappointed. The ukulele is cheaply made, looks cheap, too.
And it won't stay in tune. Now I have to pay for someone to take a look and see what's wrong with it. I should have returned it.

---

Rating: - If you've never played an instrument, this uke is where to start!
Just for a little background, I've been playing the guitar for about 7 years. If you're also a guitar player and wondering how a ukulele plays, it's easy. Just take your guitar, put a capo on the 5th fret, take away your top two strings, and voila! You have a ukulele. I have never picked up a ukulele in my life, but after seeing several friends having so much fun with this instrument, I thought I'd give it a try.

This Oscar Schmidt OU2 Ukulele is the most popular (and one of the cheapest) here on amazon.com. From other reviews, it seems as if there are two types of colors you can get: a light or a dark finish. Unfortunately, you don't have the option to choose. Either way, this is a mighty fine instrument for anyone who's never played the ukulele before.

Pros- The biggest pro with this ukulele is easy. The value! This ukulele is not some cheap toy you buy at Toys'R'Us. For the price that you pay for, you get a solid-sounding uke and it won't rip a hole in your wallet. The sound is bright and clear, but I do recommend getting better strings. Contrary to other reviews, the action on this ukulele seems great to me. Playing and switching between chords seem very smooth and I haven't had the annoying 'fret buzzing' happen. The tuning pegs are solid and easy to turn. It has the appearance of a quality uke. The finish isn't spectacular close up, but who's going to be looking at it that close anyways?

Cons- After a few days of playing, the strings still seem to easily get out of tune. Of course, its expected because most stringed instruments are like that at first. After one week of playing, it's holding up somewhat well. Another thing (which in part is my fault, I should have researched a bit more) is that this is a very small ukulele! Supposedly, this is a tenor-sized uke, which is the smallest of all the different sizes. If you're a guitar player with big hands, playing this uke might be a pain and so you might be better of with a baritone-sized uke. And finally, I assumed they would include a little bag for the ukulele, but there isn't. Although it's small and cheap, I thought it would have been nice to include one :D

My recommendation is to buy this ukulele if you're a first-timer like me. You will love it within minutes! So hurry and drop a few bucks, this ukulele will bring a smile to everyone who hears it!

*4.5 out of 5 stars*

---

Rating: - A great place to start
This ukulele is a nice instrument for starting out on ukulele. I ordered it and got one with a light colored body and a bar bridge (as opposed to the mustache style shown here). Then I ordered two more and got dark red-brown mahogany bodies and mustache bridges.

For the price, it is pretty nice. I had no quality issues with construction--no delamination, no coming apart. The sound was pretty nice, much better than I expected for the price. (That is, once strung with Aquila Nylgut strings.) It had nice balance of high and low, not "plonky," and decent sustain. The sound is quite pleasant. The action was good, and it fretted well for single-note playing. I would say it had its limits in chording high up the neck, but that's not this particular uke but the nature of the beast.

The finish is plain but attractive, and while other low-priced ukes near this price look very cheap, this one looks decent. I had no fret snags, it was smooth the entire neck on each one I got. There was one issue: On one of the 3 OU-2 I bought, there was a buzz on certain fretted notes if played single-note.

Overall, my experience with it has been good. Good enough that I would buy 3 total, so I could give my bandmates good ukes without breaking the budget. I like it, and I will probably buy another.

---

Rating: - Just what I wanted
This is the first instrument I have ever played in my life. And honestly, this is a great starter for those who want to pick up ukulele playing. This is, of course, not a top tier ukulele, but it is decent enough for those who just want to play a couple of tunes whenever they are bored.

The model of the ukulele lacks any finish and LOOKS (may even feel) like a toy, but is designed decently for any who wish to have a starter ukulele. It sounds great after you spend some time tuning it. It'd be even better if one were to replace the nylon strings with something else, which would definitely increase the quality of the sound.

For a price of $60, this ukulele is good for anyone who just wants to play something. When you decide to get serious, then buy some new strings, or upgrade to a new ukulele.

---

Rating: - One of the better purchases i've made
This ukulele has been great. I've had it now for twenty four hours and every free second i have i've been playing it. It seems to be well built, it has good sound, and the strings seem adequate. I've already memorized all of the chords you might need for 99% of the songs out there, though this may be simpler for me because i play guitar. But nonetheless i can strum along now with any song i find a tab for. Other reviewers had mentioned an intonation problem, particularly once you reach the twelfth fret. I don't think my uke has this problem, and my tuner seems to agree with me, as after tuning the string the twelfth fret is in tune as well. However, even if you're ukulele has such a problem, you won't need to be playing on the twelfth fret unless you're doing hardcore solos, in which case you're probably committed to buying more than a sixty dollar uke. I love this instrument, it's fun, fairly easy, and very portable, and it's about as cheap as a good uke can get.

More Information