Makala are an interesting brand, made by Kala. They're basic ukes, with basic spec, but if you look at ukulele forums, you'll see they get a lot of respect and admiration as great instruments to start the ukulele with. They're good quality, no frills, decent sounding and nicely set up. This Makala MK-TE offers a tenor uke with an under saddle pickup, allowing you to plug it in to an amp - which at this price level is a rare thing indeed. Add to the mix it's a decent uke to boot and it is a bargain and a good one at that.
What is so good about the Makala MK-TE? Well, it plays very nicely for a start - with a better set- up from the factory than quite a few more expensive models, and we'll tweak it in our workshop to make sure it's at its best. The build quality is good, it's nicely made. The tuners are of decent quality - they're geared and open, adding less weight and making the MK-TE feel natural and nice to play.
What is not so good about the Makala MK-TE? You'd have to say it is plain. It's neat and tidy but they've cut costs by not adding any fancy bits. Nothing wrong with that-if you're going to make a cheaper uke, it's better to have it look plain and perform well, rather than look nice and sound horrendous. The Makala MK-TE is fitted with black nylon strings and these aren't the best. It actually sounds decent, with a reasonable tone and an average volume - but switch to Aquila or Worth strings and you'll find it louder, richer and ,crucially, with more stable tuning.
The uke sounds decent through an amp, with passive tone and volume controls. Active pickups are usually considered better, but there are more and more performers who prefer the raw, natural sound of passive pickups so that is no bad thing here. Annoyingly the jack input is on the bottom bout rather than as part of an integral strap lock - which would be useful - but it's out of the way and inoffensive! That is just a personal gripe - they have to drill a hole to get a jack input - so why not put it bang in the middle of the bottom and you can hang a strap off it? Still, small grumble, most electro ukes are like that these days.
In conclusion, the looks are plain, but the sound with better strings is potentially very good indeed. It's nicely made, it has the versality of being electric without the big price tag electro tenors usually have. You can do better than the Makala MK-TE, but you will have to pay more for that. And as it is, this is a thoroughly decent ukulele to get you up and running.
