Hamano U-35PK Sparkling Ukulele Outfit - Pink

What can I say about this uke? Everything! Making this review about 9 years later. Let me tell you, me and Razz have been through a ton. I brought her to the beach, on a plane, got kicked off a Megabus for playing her, brought her to California, PA, NY, every beach I have been to in my life. I love this uke! It was the start of everything for me. Even after 9 years and 2 ukuleles later, I can still say this ukulele was the best starter ukulele. The paint chipped a bit over the years, but that's because I'm an idoit and dropped it on my foot of which swiftly felt the pain of a wood floor soon after. I have played this thing on a sidewalk and homeless people gave me money and said some gibberish I honestly didn't understand. This uke has since been passed down to another young learned. But honestly, if you're thinking about buying it don't think. Impulse buy. It's cheap enough and it will last you. Then you will be so good, that people on the streets will give you money. Do it. You know you want to.

This is a toy. Luckily, I bought it as a gift for an eight year old who only wanted a toy. It is cute, but it is not a true instrument. The strings are the lowest quality, and hold tune for seconds at a time. The worst problem is the tuners. They are cheap, and of very poor quality. The gears barely mesh, and the slightest brush knocks the strings out of tune.If you're looking for a toy, this is for you; if you're looking for a musical instrument, it is not.

I purchased this in November for my little sister's birthday, I immediately got a call before she had played it saying she loved it so much. 6 months later I went to visit and asked her to play me something, she said kind of embarressed she didn't want to. Later I found out it was because she's too nice and didn't want to tell me it was because it didn't work. The knobs arent stable and if by chance you are able to tune it, it only stays tuned for 1 strum. It would be 5 stars if it were purchased as a decorative piece but unfortunately it wasn't she was really looking forward to learning to play the ukelele.

Update: While I love my little blue sparkly ukulele I've had a chance to compare it to others. If I had to do it again I would have spent the extra $10 for the Makaka Dolphin uke. That one is really much better. However, This has been a fun little uke that I don't have to worry about and I did use it to learn to play. But really it kinda sucks in comparison to a real ukulele. I see that it's selling for $50 now. I paid $28. I would not pay $50 for it when you can get the Makala Dolphin ukulele for $40-$50.Original review: I love love love this ukulele! No it's the the finest instrument ever made. But it's pretty darn good. I replaced the strings that came on it with the highest quality strings I could find at the local guitar store (about $8). It was totally worth it. That improved the sound and ease of playing dramatically. It has a nice bright sound and is perfect for me to learn to play. I can take this thing places without worrying about damaging it. I let my kids play with it. It's easy to learn and super fun. Additionally, the tuning pegs have little dolphins on the back! Who doesn't love dolphins?

The media could not be loaded. First off, I'm NO ukulele expert. That being said, I'll just say that this seems fairly decent considering the price tag. The strings are cheap, and I have upgraded them to D'Addario Set Hawaii Uke Black Nylon which has improved the sound tremendously, but the standard issue strings are not completely unacceptable once tuned. The usual "stretching" of the strings will take place and so you'll need to tune it pretty much every 15-30 minutes until they settle. The finish is a very pretty pink color with glitter. I was afraid that the glitter would come off, but there's a nice thick clear coat on top of the glitter and so it's not going anywhere. The fret marker inlays are a nice perloid, though there was some fringing of the wood around the markers (not complaining for this price) which I fixed with a small amount of filing. It looks well put together and other than some very minor paint smudges near the nut, there are no major body flaws that I can see. The "gig bag" it comes with is a thin piece of vinyl with a zipper, but it will at least protect from dust and scratches. The geared tuning pegs look nice enough and not shown is that the portion where the pegs screw onto the uke, are shaped like dolphins and you can see this on the video (and very cute indeed).There's a DVD that is included and it's actually a nice intro for beginners. There is a code on the cover of the DVD that you can use to register with Rockhouse Method website that has free uke lessons and much more. Overall, for the price, it's a keeper, and I would recommend it for a beginner.The video shows the unboxing of this model (U-35) and also the Mahalo UNG-30RD Painted Uke-Guitar (Red, Gig Bag).UPDATE: After playing this for a few weeks, I noticed one of the strings sounded "sick" for lack of a better way to describe it, despite tuning. It turns out the tuning pegs were just slightly loose. It was a simple fix with a screwdriver to tighten them up and the problem is pretty much resolved. So just a tip, but you may want to check to see if they are secured tightly if you order this.