Kala KA-15C Satin Mahogany Concert Ukulele Bundle with Gig Bag, Tuner, Strap, Strings, Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD, and Polishing Cloth

My oldest granddaughter has been fooling around with a little plastic toy ukulele for a couple of years. She is a well trained musician and makes some very nice music on her toy uke. She tried my KA-15C and decided that she needed a real uke. This will be a Christmas gift next month. The package deal works out just perfectly, and when I found that it came from Austin Bazaar I felt comfortable ordering it. It arrived last week in pristine condition.I have had it out of the case for several days getting the strings stretched so that when she gets it she won't have to go through the process. Another granddaughter has a DA-15S. I can't wait for all three of us to get together and learn some songs together.

I gotta admit, I never imagined myself playing a ukulele before. A while back we were doing a campfire on the beach and a friend started playing a ukulele. It sounded pretty good and was much easier to carry around than a full size guitar. After doing a little more research I came upon the Kala ka15s ukulele and placed an order for the bundle.This is NOT your little toy ukulele that those cheap souvenir shops sell. This one feels like a real instrument and not a toy. The look, feel, and finish of this uke is really nice and good quality. Im glad I didnt choose those no-brand ukuleles.Shipping was sooner than expected, so thats nice. As noted by others, the strings take a couple days of playing to break in. All guitars do this, specially with nylon strings. I broke mine in in about 2 days of average playing. Once fully stretched, they hold tune very well. The tuners are pretty good. Ive had better and worse out of guitars so I cant complain there.The bundle I chose came with a polish cloth, instructional CD, tuner, and hard case. I havent used the CD as nowadays you can find almost anything on youtube. Having said that, Im glad there is a pretty big following to these instruments so, you can always find what you need online.Im not sure exactly why it came with the polish cloth. I guess its nice to dust off the instrument with, but since its in a case most of the time, it hardly gets dusty. I ended up using the cloth for my laptop instead. Still a nice gesture, cant complain about that. It would just be nice to skip the cloth and CD and save a few extra bucks.The tuner had me really surprised. I was expecting a really low quality tuner that hardly worked. But after testing it with my snark st-2 and my iphone app, I was really surprised at how accurate it is. It takes the same flat round battery as the snark, and I guess ill find out how long it lasts. You can turn it on and off by pressing the button and holding it for a few seconds. It will also turn off by itself when not in use for a while which is a really nice feature to save the battery. As for the size, I was expecting something really huge and heavy, but its actually almost the same size as the snark. I guess it just seemed larger on the pictures.I strongly suggest you spend the extra $10 and get the hard case instead of the soft bag. It makes a world of difference. Unlike most hard cases, this particular one has a cloth like exterior, but the inside is just like any hard case should be. Its a very soft material and has a storage compartment inside. I can fit a capo, tuner, and the case strap inside with extra room for a few more small things. Of course, it probably wont protect the ukulele if you fall on top of the case, but It can definitely protect it from drops or other objects hitting it.Overall, I strongly recommend this ukulele bundle for anyone wanting to practice playing it or wanting to try it out.

The short review: If you're looking for a great-sounding, great-playing ukulele, get this one right now. The intonation could not be better and I am in love with it.The long review: I did a lot of research before buying this ukulele. (I should perhaps say that while I have experience with string instruments, this is my first ukulele.) I knew going in that it was a gamble to order online. However, as soon as I held this in my hands, I was so impressed. Sharp fret edges? NOPE! Buzzing when strumming? NOPE!Once I got the strings tuned (the included tuner is awesome, btw), they held their tune so much better than I anticipated. I've had the instrument for almost a month and I've tuned the C string exactly twice. And I've played the uke every day, checked the strings every day. Coming from a violin background I fully expected to have to tune every time, but no. Mainly the bottom strings (E and A) needed a tiny bit of tuning each time, but now they all hold their tune. Can't say enough good things about the intonation. The tone of the instrument, too, is really wonderful. I suppose it probably sounds like a typical concert. But I don't think you'll be disappointed in the sound. It feels open and bright without being loud, and I wouldn't call it mellow or twangy (like a soprano); it really sits somewhere in the middle.As far as the action goes, it feels good to me. I play guitar, but I'm not an expert so I don't really know the difference in how action feels. But it is easy to press the strings down and, like I said, no buzzing.This isn't really a complaint, just a comment. The uke I received looks like the picture on the Amazon listing. It doesn't look like the other pictures people posted. My uke is very, very dark red-brown, only really showing red in the sun. The fretboard and bridge are very light and I think the contrast looks great. Anyway, if you would prefer the more traditional dark fretboard/light body, then this might not be the instrument for you.This uke does have side fret markers. It sits very comfortably in my arms although I'm still learning how to hold it. It does feel a bit top-heavy, as in the neck is heavier than the body. The included soft case isn't really worth discussion. It's basically a dust cover. I bought a better bag on Amazon. But the other accessories, especially the tuner and cleaning cloth, are great.I guess the only way to end this review is to say, what are you waiting for??