Malani Electro Acoustic Soprano Ukulele - Solid Spruce Top Uke, Gig Bag, Aquila

I purchased this uke because of the excellent Fishman Kula preamp system and the solid spruce top. It arrived promptly but this is obviously a warehouse dispatch rather than a music shop item and has required about 10 hours work to get the uke into a condition that reflects the price.Firstly the supplied batteries were dead and had to be replaced. There had been no set up what so ever. I have had to cut and wax the nut which was too high and rough putting even open chords out of tune . Similarly the saddle had to be filed down to achieve a playable action. Also the uke was very dry and may have been in the warehouse for sometime I’ve had to oil the neck twice and even oiled the body and polished the frets.Once this has been done the uke is goodIt’s a little dark in tone and lacks a little bit of sustain. The strings say Aquila but I will replace and try to find a bone saddle but it’s an unusual size to I may have to get a luthier fit due to the cutting and filing involved.The Kula system is excellent with excellent control over the sound but I will use a compressor live to even out the string volumes.UPDATEI’ve replaced the plastic saddle with bone and this has made a huge difference. The sustain is much better and the tone brighter. Similarly the amplified sound is much improved with even volume and tone now being achieved across all stringsI’ve now upgraded my rating to 4 stars I think this is a good purchase if you take it to a luthier for all the changes above. It’s worth it

Lovely tone and going strong a nice surprise with this one good action on it easy on the fingers sounds great plugged in or unplugged.pretty wee ukulele.

Beautiful instrument and wonderful quality. Inlay and wood choices are classic and beautifully crafted. And it comes with an extremely padded and very nice case. This item shipped to the US from the UK and the process could not have easier.