Kala MK-B Makala Baritone Ukulele

👋 hello... I bought this just to see if I really wanted to start playing a uke. I'm very glad I did. I've been playing guitar for about 61 years. The arthritis has just about taken my ability to pay guitar away, so I am scaling down to the baritone ukulele. It tunes like a guitar so learning to play it is proving to be easy. This little guy surprised me. I thought it would not tune until I found my clip on tuner and now it's great. The sound is really good for as small a it is. The highs and lows are all there. Good projection and resonance is great. It's in tune all the way up the neck. Being the largest of the four types of ukulele, the frets are far enough apart that it is more comfortable to play. If you want an inexpensive uke to learn on, buy it.

I used to play a standard gCEA uskulele. Then I moved to GCEA tuning. Then I decided that wasn't what I wanted either and got a cheap guitar. My fingers proved to be too short and fat to make that work gracefully. Finally, I settled on this baritone ukulele from Kala's Makala line. A lot of people confuse it with a guitar, and I'm okay with that--at least no one is asking me to play "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" for them anymore. For anyone who really wants to know what instrument I'm playing, I tell them that a guitar and a ukulele got together and had a beautiful Lovechild. I've used it in videos for Youtube. I've played it in a group with other musicians. Kala does a great job with their Makala series of ukes. They make them affordable while still keeping good quality control. I used to have an MK-P and it was also great. The intonation on these isn't perfect, especially as you go higher up the neck, but a visit to a luthier could probably fix that pretty easily, and it's not off enough that most people would notice--only if you have perfect pitch (I don't. I only know it's a little off because of my digital tuner). For chord-playing strummers who mostly stick to the first 5 frets, this does the job just fine. The finish is great. The Aquila strings are great. The only things that make these less luxurious than Kala's low-priced mahogany laminate line are that the tuners, nut, and bridge have ivory-colored plastic parts and this uke is made of agathis laminate (which I actually think is prettier than mahogany). The tuners still hold the uke in tune just fine (after the strings finish stretching in, of course), so the quality issues are all based on cosmetic preference. I installed strap buttons on my uke with the help of some Youtube videos. It was not hard. The uke does not come with a case/gig bag, tuner, metronome, extra strings, capo, strap, etc. you will have to buy those things separately if you want them. The Snark Chromatic clip-on tuner is a good choice. I have a bunch of other stuff, but the only thing that is absolutely essential to buy when you get a ukulele is a tuner.

This is a well-made, great-looking and great-sounding baritone ukulele. The standard tuning is the same as the first (top) 4 strings of a full-sized guitar in standard tuning: DGBE. I retuned mine to DGBD which is the same as open G tuning on a 5-string banjo (without the 5th string) because I'm more familiar with that tuning. I should have bought the carry bag with it at the same time, since I ended up buying it later anyway. The only issue I had with this uke was with the strings (which is why I only rated this 4-stars instead of 5). The 3rd & 4th strings are wire-wound, which is not unusual, but these particular ones are VERY dead feeling and sounding compared to other wire-wound strings and the 1st & second strings on the uke, which are black nylon. This makes the upper and lower strings contrast in quality quite a bit. The lower strings did improve in sound over time with playing, but I will be replacing all the strings with nylon (not available on Amazon as far as I could tell) soon. Update 9/3/12: This uke was restrung with all-nylon Worth brown strings. For comparison with the original, a video is on[...]. Now I have a 5-star baritone ukulele.

Overall a wonderful beginner instrument with that affordable, decently good quality you always get at Makala. I would recommend this to any beginner to intermediate baritone ukulele players, though advise you to replace the strings with higher quality ones when they inevitably break. Pros: beautiful and sturdy real wood body, good sound, easy to use, stays in tune well. Cons: cheaply wound strings that break after medium use, sharp edges on nut that may dig into your hand, buzzing from loose strap button. All of these issues are fixable with replaced or altered parts, though it will require additional work and/or money.

First of all, the quality is excellent. Not only is it made well but it's also set up with a nice low action right out of the box. It also comes strung with a set of top-shelf strings so you don't have to immediately replace them like a lot of beginner instruments. The tone is rich with strong harmonics and shockingly loud for such a small instrument; we're talking almost steel-string guitar volume when you use a pick. Now for the best part: It's tuned DGBE which means anyone who plays guitar can pick this up and immediately play it with very little effort. Obviously, you have to change some chord shapes a bit but if you already know your fretboard notes, you can easily play scales and melodies. I don't think I would recommend a beginner to buy a baritone ukulele because there aren't many song tabs available online but I would 100% recommend it for a guitarist who has at least a few years of experience.

I started playing guitar around 1962, taught by my jazz guitarist daddy. Later on I married a man who didn't really care about music, so I stopped playing. Twelve years later I married a professional musician and didn't pick up an instrument again for some unknown reason. Now I have two grandchildren and I thought it would be fun to teach them to play the uke (because their hands are too small for guitar). I bought this baritone because it's tuned the same as the top four strings of a guitar and I already knew the chords. The sound is amazing for such a reasonable price. The strings have a nice, bright tone. The action is good, though a little higher at the nut than I would like. I asked my musician husband how much he thought I paid for it, and he said, "Around $299?" He was really surprised when I told him what it cost. He haunts the music stores and says that compared to the ukes he's played or tried out, this is as good as any of the more expensive ones. LOVE IT!

This is my 4th Ukulele, and I am loving it! I also own a Pocket Soprano (too small to be more than a Toy) a Concert Caramel Uke (love the sweet island sound) a Tenor Kala (my stand by favorite for awhile now) and now this Makala Baritone. I immediately restrung it with Aquila 23U High GCEA strings. The sound is fantastic. It's a bit deeper and more mellow than my other Ukes. The soulful sound just begs me to play all my favorite songs, but just a bit slower, and with more feeling. I love this thing! Now this ukulele is much much larger than even my Tenor. It feels ridiculous at first, and I'm 6'3" but soon starts to feel right. The top frets are very far apart compared to my other ukes. The first 3 frets on my concert size fit in just the first 2 frets on this Baritone. Even with my large hands it's a bit of a stretch on some chords. (By the way, Baritone Ukes come with different tuning than smaller Ukes, and require different chord shapes - that is why I spent the $8.00 to buy the GCEA tuner strings so I wouldn't have to relearn different chords). 5 Stars! Can't believe what a fantastic value this Makala is. I strongly recommend.

Cute little ukulele, and when it's in tune it sounds great. I switched the strings to Martin Ukulele strings, and I was amazed at how cheap and poorly manufactured the pegs are. The instrument will not stay in tune, even after hours of playing, the strings are well worked in, it will not stay tuned over night.

ich bin kein Anfänger mehr, aber muss sagen, dass mir die Ukulele richtig gut gefällt. Sie ist sauber verarbeitet...hat einen sehr guten Klang und durch den großzügigen Saitenabstand sehr sauber zu greifen....sie ist optisch ganz schlicht gehalten, woher auch der günstige Preis stammt. alles in allem..sehr empfehlenswert... die Bariton ist ja auch eine wunderbare Alternative zur Gitarre, da man praktisch keine neuen Griff-Muster lernen muss.

Muy muy buena calidad. Las cuerdas son buenas (2 son de metal). El acabado es muy bonito, el color precioso y el sonido aún mejor. Estoy muy contento con el resultado.

Sonorité potable. Pour le prix on ne lui en demande pas plus. Léger mais semble "relativement" robuste. En revanche les cordes sont a changer au plus vite. Attention, accordage BARYTON !

This is a 2year use review. This is a baritone ukulele and perfect for children who want to learn guitar later down the road, because the tuning is similar. It is fairly easy to start learning and decently weighted. Sounds good for the price, the wood is laminate which is not the best material but in India you won't get solid wood baritone. For people with big hands playing a baritone ukulele is easier than playing a tenor. Now for the cons.. The strings are expensive compared to other models, on amazon they cost about 1000. There is a website named ukefinity which is good for buying ukulele strings. Much cheaper than Amazon. I modified my ukulele and added a pickup, now I got an electro acoustic uke under 10,000. Also for those people looking for other companies like vault, kadence, Kala makala is a much better brand so don't buy those. To conclude, just buy it, you won't regret. If you can spend a bit more money, go for the Kala version. Makala is a subbrand of Kala. Kala ukes have better quality. Kala baritone ukulele costs about 9000.

Excellent quality beginner baritone ukelele. once tuned and strings fully "stretched". Bought as a present for 8 yr old grand-daughter as a stepping stone to guitar playing. Updated October 2025: I have just bought a second one for my grandson so he doesn't feel left out! The quality of these ukeleles is outstanding for the price. They must easily be the best value instruments for a beginning player as a prelude to transitioning to a guitar.