AKLOT Concert Ukulele Review

★★★★★★★★★★

“This is 7th ukulele that my family has purchased in the past 9 month, all of varying price ranges, brands, and sizes.UNBOXINGThe ukulele arrived promptly and with all of the promised accessories. The starter pack comes in a nice box resembling a gift. The ukulele was securely wrapped inside of the bag inside of the box to prevent scratches. The bag is of good quality and is thicker than bags I received with ukes that were twice the price. The ukulele is a beautiful color and is quite pleasing to hold. The edges of the fret board are very smooth. The top of the ukulele has a rounded edge that is quite comfortable in your arms. The back of the ukulele has a slight curve which helps to project the sound. The dove bridge is really pretty. The ukulele came with pins for straps. Strangely, the strap that came with it is not the kind that uses the pins. The included tuner is adequate, but you must remember to set it to UC for it to work correctly. One felt pick and one plastic pick were included in the starter pack. This is important because felt picks are really the best for the soft ukulele strings where as guitar strings are tougher and can handle a plastic pick. The cleaning cloth is a nice touch, however the matte finish of this ukulele doesn’t really show fingerprints and using the included case should help keep it clean.FIRST TUNINGI’ve purchased ukuleles both on-line and in speciality music stores. Right out of the box the strings on this ukulele were much closer to being in tune than many of my other purchases. The included book does a great job of explaining how to tune the ukulele. Many ukuleles are shipped with such loose strings that you really need to understand the c scale to figure out how to get them tuned. My first Amazon purchased ukulele had really loose strings and didn’t come with tuning directions causing me some anxiety. So, the included starter guide is a HUGE bonus to this kit especially if it is being purchased for a beginner.SUBSEQUENT TUNINGSAs expected, it takes a bit of playing before the strings settle/stretch enough that they can stay in tune for an entire hour. This is NORMAL for all new stringed instruments. I’ve played this ukulele for about 6 hours over the past week and it now stays in tune for an entire hour practice session. I have noticed that the E string becomes really flat when the instrument sits for 48 hours without being played.SOUNDI am very impressed with the sound of the Aklot ukulele. It is very warm and pleasing to the ear. It is of comparable sound quality to a “name brand” solid mahogany concert ukule that a family member purchased for twice the price. I personally feel like the action on this ukulele is a bit high. Therefore, I needed to press the strings a bit harder to keep them from buzzing than I do on my more expensive “name brand” uke. This was only a slight problem for the first few days I was using it. My fingers have since gotten use to the feel and I do not have trouble with the buzzing.CONCLUSIONThis is a fantastic ukulele for the price! The starter kit is a great value and the included instruction book is a real bonus. I would recommend this ukulele to anyone who wants to play but doesn’t have a lot of money to fork out on a “name brand” instrument. You can take this uke to jams and group lessons with no fear of being embarrassed. The quality is so good that no-one will know it’s not a “name brand” unless you tell them. Keep in mind, instruments want to be played. Their sound quality continues to improve the more they are played.”

★★★★★★★★★★

“Came safely packed and exactly as listed. Holds tune fairly well, after 1 weeks still needs tuned at every play but not by much, strings as still stretching. I am new to this... it has been easy to learn and fun to play. Beautiful little ukulele.”

★★★★★★★★★★

“I bought this ukulele model specifically after I had borrowed one from a family friend for a few weeks. I enjoyed playing it so much that I took a picture of the logo so that I could buy it for myself. It's a really solid, gorgeous-looking ukulele that feels great to play and sounds beautiful. And for the price, it's a great deal. It comes with everything pictured- 2 picks, extra strings, a shoulder strap, a tuner, a case, a cloth, and an instructional pamphlet. I'm happy with my purchase and excited to learn some more songs on it!UPDATE:I had this ukulele for a good 4 years and I had a lot of fun with it, but I decided to give it to a friend since I didn't end up using it as much as I thought I would. The ukulele sounds as beautiful as ever- I'm just a very forgetful person that doesn't always end up using the things I buy, haha. Still, it was a good purchase and it's a very nice instrument, especially for the price. I'd definitely recommend it for any beginners that can't afford an expensive ukulele.”

★★★★★★★★★★

“I would have given 5 stars if it were not for the minor faults with quality control of stain color and the saddle; despite those errors the uke plays wonderfully and displays well on the wall when not in use.Rec'd 07/20/18I inspected the entire ukulele visually and tactilely; No noticeable flaws; made sure the tuning pegs were securely fastened; checked the action height @ fret 12 and it measured 3.25mm, a deduction for that; I took it down to about 2.5mm. The saddle is definitely bone!The color is actually red, really red, like a cranberry red (the photo misrepresents the true color); instead of reddish brown or medium brown mahogany (this is a replacement of another ukulele which was more natural in color that had playability issues). It is a stain so the grain does show. I would like to see Aklot be more consistent in with stain color (another deduction). The fingerboard has a nice grain pattern to it.After tuning and stretching the strings I played some chords, notes and scales; then went up and down each string at every fret; no buzzing.It plays well; general appearance shows as a nice ukulele, with exception to the color; sounds very good ( I am considering changing strings to a brighter style, maybe a fluorocarbon or the D'Addario titanium; it will give a different look than the Aquila white Nylgut, also).This Aklot solid mahogany top concert uke is nicely constructed.The gig bag is okay, I've seen better for $$$ and even worse cardboard hard-shell guitar cases; the tuner is great to have; the cloth can be handy; the other extras aren't really needed; don’t know why there are strap pins and the kit has a clip-on strap.If you don't want to put out $250 or more for a nice ukulele that doesn't look or feel like a toy but is a nice solid wood top ukulele that sounds like a more expensive uke then this could fill the bill.11/29/18Recently I restrung the uke with D'Addario nylon strings because the Aquila strings were wearing over the frets. The nylon strings sound much better. Still a great little instrument!Also, because of the color I hung the uke on the wall for the holidays!”

★★★★★★★★★★

“It was handled carefully bcoz no cracks or damages to the ukelele. I was reading comments for other ukelele reviews with different brand and the purchaser said for the beginners, AKLOT is the best to use and I search right away that brand here in amazon. And I was not wrong to choose Aklot. Nice ulelele and the sound is whole, great sound coz it’s solid mahogany. With complete inclusions as well! That is the best part. With casing, extra strings, cloth to clean the ukelele, it has picks, tuner as well, it has ukelele straps too. I’m so loving it now and can’t stop to strum it. Thank you.”