Top 10 Best Ukulele Brands in India 2021 (Kadence, Vault, and more)

The ukulele is a simple four-stringed musical instrument that is a close relative of the guitar. It has its origins in Hawaii, with its roots in Europe. Compared to a guitar, the ukulele produces a delicate and high-pitched sound that is evocative of summery tropical environments. 

If you know how to play guitar, learning to play the ukulele is going to be a walk in the park. Worry not if you are new to string instruments, as the ukulele is one of the easiest to master. It is small in size and only has four strings made of nylon that will be gentle on your fingertips. Find out about the various types of ukes, how they sound, and more from the sections below.

Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned player, you have the choice of investing in a uke intended to be used for many years or buy a cheaper one to learn or practice. This buying guide will help you choose a ukulele based on various factors like size or pitch, quality of build materials, extra features, and more.

There are four categories of ukuleles: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone with overall lengths of 21", 23", 26", and 30", respectively. The size of a ukulele also affects the sound. The smaller the body of the ukulele, the higher the pitch. There’s no rule in choosing the,m as long the sound's pleasant to your ears.

For example, soprano and tenor can give you summer vibes while a baritone sounds closer to a guitar. The size you choose can also depend on what's comfortable for you. People with big hands and fingers may find playing the soprano harder as the frets are small. A fret is the space between the metal strips on the neck of a ukulele that determines the range of sounds you can play.

Sopranos have 12 to 15 frets, while concert and tenor have 15 to 20 frets. All baritones have 19 or 20 frets. More frets make it easier for you to determine the positions for playing various notes. The lesser the frets, the easier it is to play the ukulele. 

If you want to play various music styles, we recommend going for a concert or tenor as more frets allow playing more notes. The standard tuning of the soprano, concert, and tenor is GCEA, which are called chords. 

The baritone is tuned to DGBE. Consider the type depending on your portability requirements too. For example, a soprano can be a great companion for your travels as it is the smallest. Here is a video that compares the sounds of all four ukuleles for your reference.

Yes, each type of ukulele sounds different. But what about the quality of sound? The build materials determine that. Find out about the commonly used body and fretboard materials and their characteristics from the sections below.

The top of the ukulele body is called the soundboard. It plays a major role in determining the tone and lifespan of a ukulele. Spruce is the most popular soundboard material, mainly because of the bright tones it produces. It is recognizable from its pale color that adds to the uke's aesthetics.

You will find ukuleles with a spruce top producing crisp and distinct tones. The wood sounds good when combined with other tonewoods like mahogany and rosewood for the back and the sides. We recommend buying a spruce top ukulele if you want a visually appealing one for public performances.

Mahogany is one of the most common solid wood materials used for building ukuleles. It is suitable for both fretboard and body. Compared to softwoods like spruce, you will find ukes with a mahogany top producing less bright tones. That's why mahogany is mostly used for making the back and sides of a ukulele.

Mahogany ukes produce crisp and clear mid-range tones. If you are a professional looking for a uke that produces a well-balanced range of tones, we recommend going for a combination of spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The warm tones produced by this combination are suitable for almost all music styles.

Every string has a fundamental pitch. When you strum a string, some associated frequencies higher than the fundamental pitch are also produced, called overtones. Some of these frequencies may make the fundamental tone sound less pleasing. As a fretboard material, the oily pores of rosewood absorb these stray overtones resulting in warmer tones.

Rosewood ukuleles are one of the most sought-after in the world. It is a preferred wood for both the body and the fretboard due to the versatile palette of tones it provides. A lesson to take from here is if you want your ukulele to provide richly ringing overtones, go for one that uses non-porous (also called closed-grained) body and fretboard materials.

The ones with pores will absorb the overtones (and stray overtones), while the others don't. A uke that provides well-balanced tones will have both porous and non-porous types of solid woods as build materials.

Wood laminate is made by gluing several pieces of wood together. Ukuleles made using laminated wood are cheaper. Solid wood ukes use solid sheets of wood and tend to be more expensive since it is difficult to procure and work with solid wood. If you are confused about which type to consider, here are some factors that may help you decide.

Solid wood ukes last longer (maybe decades, if cared for properly!) as they are of higher quality. But they are also sensitive to weather conditions. For example, the humidity can cause the wood to expand (causes tuning and intonation problems), while dry weather can cause cracks to appear on your uke. Solid wood ukuleles sound better than laminate ones as they have better resonance.

If you are a beginner, you have the option of investing in a premium one that you can play for a long time or buy a laminate uke for practicing. If you plan to carry your ukulele to your holiday destinations, a laminate one is the safer bet as it is less sensitive to weather. If you are a performer, you would want to invest in the best solid wood ukulele made of spruce, rosewood, mahogany, etc.

A nut is a piece of hard material present on top of the fretboard. It has grooves that hold the strings in position. It is one of the critical components of a ukulele that can affect its tone, resonance, and sustain. A good nut can also make tuning your uke easier, as there won't be any rattling of the strings. 

When it comes to the materials, you have bone, plastic, metal, graphite, ebony, and ivory. In terms of the quality of sound and durability, ivory, bone, and metal are the best in the market. Plastic is commonly found in affordable ukeleles and is prone to faster wear and tear. If you are opting for a premium ukulele, make sure the nut material is bone or ivory.

One of the benefits of playing the ukulele is that the nylon strings are soft and don't hurt your fingertips. But there are other materials as well, like fluorocarbon and steel. Fluorocarbon strings produce a brighter tone than nylon and last longer, while steel produces a twangy tone. We recommend steel strings for seasoned players and nylon string ukuleles for beginners.

You already know how the various build materials affect the quality of sound, and the same applies to the bridge and the saddle of the ukulele. They do one of the most important jobs of transferring the sound from the strings to the soundboard. The bridge is also responsible for holding the nylon strings of the ukulele in place.

The harder and denser the wood, the more efficient the sound transfer would be. So companies mostly prefer hardwoods like ebony, mahogany, rosewood, and teak for making the bridge. A bridge saddle is present on top of the bridge and shares the responsibility of sound conduction from the strings to the soundboard. Just like the nut, the bridge saddle also affects the tonality of the ukulele. 

Bone, synthetic (TUSQ, Nubone, and Micarta), and plastic are the materials used to make a saddle. Bone is the superior of the three, offering loudness and clarity of sound. Since plastic is soft, the sound transfer quality is poor. Synthetic materials come in between the other two in terms of performance. Go for synthetic materials or bone if you ever need a saddle change.

To find out if a ukulele is an acoustic-electro variant, look for an equalizer on its side. Such ukes will also have a metallic socket for connecting them to an amplifier using a 6.3 mm jack. A feedback (an undesirable howling noise) normally occurs when a microphone is placed in front of the ukulele (sometimes inside too) for playing the music through the speakers.

The amplified sound that gets played through the speakers will get picked up by the microphone again. The cycle goes on, resulting in feedback. A ukulele connected to an amplifier through a mono jack (a 6.3 mm) won't cause such issues. Here is some extra information for you. Remember the equalizer we talked about earlier?

It's a physical tool that you can use to control the bass, treble, and mid. Basically, it helps you alter the sound of the ukulele, enabling you to play various styles. Some ukuleles come with an equalizer and a tuner too. Beginners will find this feature helpful for learning to tune a uke on their own.

Keep scrolling to find out the best ukeleles you can buy online from top brands like Mahalo, Kadence, Vault, and more. Our recommendations include all four ukulele types like soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. Choose one depending on various factors like build materials, type of sound, extra features and accessories, and more.

We are sure you don’t want to sound rough, so to get a smoother experience, learn how to tune your Ukulele first. This video includes steps like;

1. Importance of putting on the clip-on tuner
2. Tuning in G, C, E, and A
3. How to strum, and more.

Need to know more about a very close relative of the ukulele? Follow the link below to read the buying guide for choosing the best guitar for beginners. We have covered topics such as choosing a guitar based on the quality of the build materials, size, accessories offered, and more. You can also shop from our top 10 list featuring the best guitars for beginners to buy online in India.

Before you start shopping for a ukulele, here are some questions you can ask yourself. Invest in one for long-term use or buy a cheaper laminate one, so you can buy a premium one later after mastering the ukulele. Buying a cheaper one also has another advantage. The next time you are out shopping for a uke, you would be more careful about the size and build materials.

You can choose from several ukulele types like soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. The choice can be made depending on the type of sound each type produces or the size (think which would be more comfortable for you to hold). Check if an onboard equalizer and tuner are available for easy tuning and sound control for stage performances.

Author - Arun F Xaviour