Kala KA-T Mahogany Tenor Ukulele

I've always been disdainful of baritone ukuleles. My only experience of them was at ukulele jams when people sitting next to me playing them would drown me out with their enthusiastic strumming on the larger-bodied instrument. Then my girlfriend's sister found an old, inexpensive Sikova baritone uke that had been sitting in the back of a closet in its vinyl gig bag (with snaps not a zipper) for over 50 years. I took a look at it, determined that it was unplayable due to bad tuners and old strings, then decided to replace the tuners and the strings with cheap tuners and new strings. Once I did that and broke in the strings I found that it had a really good sound. Unfortunately the neck had started to separate from the body and the tuners were not very good so I decided to get a new instrument to add to my collection. I own several Kala ukuleles and have always been happy with their quality and sound so when I saw the KA-B and its low price I decided to get it. It is a good-looking uke with a mahogany veneer body and a deep rich tone. The tuners are super nice and the action is low. It has good sustain, too. I'm very happy with it. I also bought Liz and Jim Beloff's Daily Ukulele Leap Year Edition for Baritone Ukuleles (green cover) and that makes it easy to play with regularly tuned jammers who are using the same book with the blue cover. Or another option is get baritone uke arrangements of many songs at Doctor Uke's website. Many chord shapes that I use on a tenor uke transfer to the baritone--I just get different chords. I'm a reformed guitar player and I'm much more pleased with my efforts on the baritone with its D-G-B-E tuning than I ever was with over 30 years of mediocre guitar playing. I highly recommend the KA-B as a very decent value-priced baritone ukulele.

What an awesome instrument for someone like me who had to give up a six string guitar because of arthritis in my hands and fingers. I’m having fun again! Did my research and came back to this Kala every time. Fantastic price and great sound for an introductory baritone. If I can stick with it I’ll probably look into a higher price range Kala koa wood, but for now I’m more than pleased. I was worried about the setup, but this one came just fine, no tinkering needed. Hope yours does too!

I bought this here on Amazon. I give it it 5 stars because value was a prime consideration - and this was a great deal. I was stunned by its volume and clarity. The action is good. Solid tuners, too. The strings it came with are good quality. It is an easy transfer from guitar because of the tuning, but has a solid deep uke tone that uke lovers want. Intonation is good and it stays in tume well once tge strings settle down after a couple of days. I do a lot of bends and don't have to retune that much. It works for most styles of music, save for lead bluegrass picking (unless you tune to GDgd and swap out strings correctly). There are many models with better woods and fancier parts, but for me, they aren't worth the price - and the sound and playability of this baritone is comparable to ukes in a much higher price range. I recommend this highly. Hard to put this down once you pick it up!

Before buying, I read as many reviews as I could first and I kept reading about this uke arriving with Aquila strings, ready-to-play, requiring little tuning (strings pre-stretched enough that the usual uke 2 week breaking-in period could be skipped); so I spent a bit more than I had planned. I am not disappointed. (In fact I wish I'd invested more and gone for fancier inlays.) I already had soprano, concert and tenor ukes--re-entrant tuning, standard GCEA--so I was eager to hear the baritone's more guitar-like voicing--linear DGBA... The Kala baritone has a beautiful voice. The mahogany sound is warm and full. And the action is easy--no need to lower the saddle or bridge. Intonation is excellent as well--every first fret note on each different string is right in tune--clean half step... The sound to my ears is almost closer to acoustic guitar than ukulele--and as a result, I expect I'll use this uke frequently instead of acoustic guitar for accompanying vocals. But I'll still play most of my other ukulele repertoire on the Kala (except for claw-hammer style, which isn't as effective without re-entrant tuning)... I'm really glad I didn't just buy an inexpensive baritone ukulele--my hands can feel the quality, my ears can hear it, and it looks great lined up with my other ukes!! Definitely worth steering clear of the bargain prices and going for craftsmanship and fine materials...

I love this thing. It's my new favorite instrument! (I have 5 guitars and 2 ukuleles). There's a little buzzing on the first string first few frets that I wish wasn't there but the sound is so warm and full has really revitalized my playing. After a while you get bored with the same sounds! Baritone is such a fun mix of small and big. The buzz seems to have lessened the more I play but I suspect it may need a set up. Would have appreciated if the seller maintained their instruments better so as to not incur an extra expense on the customer. I can say that I recommend the KA-B, but maybe order from Kala. They probably care for their instruments but have a smaller return window which is why I went with Amazon. I'll probably just keep it and get it set up because that's less of a hassle.

I was very impressed by the quality of this product for the money. Baritone Uke is tuned the same as the 4 highest pitched strings on a guitar, so this could also be used as a "4 string" beginner or travel guitar. I was impressed that this is the first ukulele I have bought that comes pretty well "set up" already -- I did not feel the need to immediately file down the nut slots to make the strings sit lower. That and relatively low string tensions makes this a very easy to fret, very easy to play instrument! I don't know why beginners are started out on a high-string-height high-string-tension 6-string guitar! I am really happy -- and I don't write reviews like this!

This was a gift for my husband and he's really enjoying it. It sounds great, looks and feels good, seems to be built really well, and it's easy to play. It even comes with Aquila strings! He said it was 5 stars all the way.

The sounds is good, it's loud and rich. But (and I saw this in a previous review but decided to chance it anyway), there's a nasty buzz on the third string, right out of the box. From the first to sixth fret, it's noticeable even in chord strumming but especially irritating when finger-picking. I tried the usual doctoring (checking all the tuners, re-stringing, filing down the buzzing fret) but without more filing than I'm willing to do it doesn't make much difference, the string is just seated too close to the frets or maybe there's a subtle warp in the neck. I've ordered some new strings (non-wound Worths) to see if they work any better than the Aquila wound ones. In any case, I'm disappointed that it sounded this way out of the box and that it needs modifications to work properly. The look and feel of the instrument is good, I like the weight and the feel of the neck and it has a nice touch for hammers and pull-offs.

Un superbe instrument avec une belle sonorité pour le prix. Au début se désaccorde souvent mais au bout de deux semaines, tiens très bien l'accordage. J'ai changé la corde de Sol par un Low G, c'est parfait :)

Smooth,, loved it

Ich hätte um den Preis ehrlich gesagt kein so gut bespielbares Instrument erwartet. Die Ukulele kam zwar schon gut voreingestellt bei mir an, ich habe es aber durch Feintuning noch geschafft, die Saitenlage (gemessen am 12. Bund) auf 2,20 mm zu senken, ohne das irgendwo was scheppert. Der Sound ist für ein Laminat-Produkt SEHR GUT! - Resonant, laut und warm. Man merkt einfach, das KALA hier den Chinesen sehr genaue Vorgaben aufbrummt und diese auch gut kontrolliert. Ein einziges Minus ist mir aber leider aufgefallen: Es befinden sich am Griffbrett und an der Verklebung des Halses ein paar Micro-Kleberrückstände. Diese sind aber teils mit dem Fingernagel wegkratzbar und beeinträchtigen die Geometrie oder den Klang in keinster Weise. Und von einem so günstigen (billig wäre der falsche Ausdruck) Produkt erwarte ich mir keine Perfektion, deshalb auch kein Stern Abzug. Ich habe mittlerweile 3 verschiedene Ukulelen von KALA und an keiner habe ich etwas auszusetzen. Entweder ich erwische immer die "guten Chargen" oder Kala hat echt weniger "Serienstreuung" als andere Firmen die in China produzieren lassen. Daumen hoch! - Irgendwas machen die meiner Meinung nach besser als die anderen Hersteller!

I really like this Ukulele. I started with a cheaper concert size kit. Used that for a while but wanted a slightly higher quality tenor sized model. This ukulele is exactly what I wanted. Sounds great, looks good, comfortable. Note there is no strap button. After using the Uke for some time I’ve noticed that it has a slightly narrower nut than some other Tenors. Overall the sound quality is quite good. Construction is good.

La fama della marca precede questo ukulele, tanto che il prezzo è leggermente superiore a tutti gli altri competitors che sulla carta vantano caratteristiche simili. Alcuni utenti si sono lamentati di varie imperfezioni di lavorazione, in particolare sul manico e questo, purtroppo, posso confermarlo. Anche nel mio modello si vedono e si sentono al tocco una serie di imperfezioni, spigolature, carteggiature non perfette e simili... ma sono davvero poche e piccole cose che non disturbano all'atto pratico del suonare. Certo, per marca, fama e prezzo, ci si aspetterebbe già il "top"... ma effettivamente questo è il modello "entry level", dunque si può anche chiudere un occhio su questo. Il suono, la cosa più importante, c'è e sembra abbastanza buono. Molto sustain delle note, una buona risonanza generale (soprattutto sulle ultime due corde, le più gravi). Tastiera abbastanza comoda e scorrevole, ma che si perde un po' in precisone dei tasti e capotasti, soprattutto nelle note più acute vicino alla cassa di risonanza e qualcosa anche a metà dello strumento. Insomma, secondo me, è un buon ukulele per iniziare, ma non un top di gamma. Buon suono, ma non eccellente. Presenta un po' di imprecisioni di fattura e lavorazione, a livello estetico, pratico e sonoro. Nel complesso un buon compromesso per un ukulele baritono iniziale, che comunque ha dignità anche concertistica senza troppe pretese. Tutte queste piccole imperfezioni si meritano una stella in meno, e un'altra se la meriterebbe (ma il suono è sufficiente a bilanciare questo altro aspetto negativo, per cui non la ho messa) il fatto che giunge senza custodia. Cosa coerente con la descrizione, ma per il prezzo superiore agli altri competitors, e con le diverse imprecisioni presenti.. beh forse si sarebbero potuti "sprecare" inserendo una custodia anche di semplice e basilare fattura... avrebbe compensato meglio il tutto e fatto digerire con più gioia l'intero acquisto. Una nota negativa al servizio di consegna, arrivato con consegna anticipata (non sempre è un bene)... non trovandomi a casa, il pacco è stato lanciato oltre il cancello... fortuna era ancora tutto intatto... ma non si trattano così né gli strumenti musicali, né i pacchi in generale.