How can you make an informed buying decision as a beginner ukulele player if you don’t even know how to play yet? You'll be playing Over the Rainbow on your ukulele in no time, but avoid frustration and buy an instrument that suits your needs from the start. Once you’ve got your ukulele in hand, make sure you check out our Ukulele Starting Guide and follow us on Instagram!
Images in this article come via Bernadette Teaches Music!
Pricepoint and the Law of Diminishing Returns
Looking online, ukulele prices can vary from as low as $30 all the way up into the many, many thousands. The Law of Diminishing Returns is defined as “used to refer to a point at which the level of benefits gained is less than the amount of money invested”. The most affordable instruments are best skipped over if you can manage it. The 'sweet spot' is in the middle where you get 95% of the features and quality for a small percentage of the price of more expensive instruments.
Negatives of Cheap Ukuleles
A $30 ukulele could have any problem under the sun - there's no way to know. A trip to see a stringed instrument technician for a checkup could quickly cost you more than the price of your ukulele. With a higher price comes better quality materials, improved fit and finish, reliable customer support, and a host of other benefits.
Playability
Cheap ukuleles may suffer from poor playability. Playability issues can come from a bad setup, poor materials or craftsmanship, bad design decisions, or lack of consistency. As a beginner, avoid cheap instruments as it will be almost impossible for you to judge a good instrument from a lemon.
Grow With Your Ukulele
Learning the ukulele with a beautiful ukulele is more fun and more rewarding. So many people have fought against awful instruments during their formative years on the ukulele. This leads to developing bad habits and can discourage you from practicing regularly. Buy a high-quality ukulele and it will be a piece of art you display in your home and play all the time.
Durability
Beginner ukulele players need an instrument with some durability. Scratches and bumps are bound to happen when you don’t know what you’re doing! The soundboard is the most fragile area on wood ukuleles. The carbon fiber body and soundboard of the KLOS carbon fiber ukulele can survive your beginning years all the way to ukulele mastery.
Our Recommendation
Yeah, it’s true. KLOS is a little bit biased. We recommend that beginner ukulele players buy our ukulele. In short, our ukulele is the perfect instrument for beginners because it has incredible sound and playability in a bombproof, durable package! Start your ukulele journey with a worthy instrument!
Conclusion
We know that those cheap $30 ukuleles are tempting. But just know that those cheap instruments are exactly the reason we started KLOS! A cheap ukulele may sound like the perfect option for beginners because it’s something you can buy RIGHT NOW but it won't sound so good once you take it out of the box! Delay gratification and invest in quality that will last a lifetime!
Did you enjoy the article? Check us out on Instagram and Facebook. Also, you might like reading our article 10 Reasons to Consider a Carbon Fiber Ukulele!
