People who read this blog regularly will know I have a common rant about the flood of cheap musical instruments on the market. It seems to be an endless tide, perpetuated by low prices on the likes of Amazon. People also (wrongly) claim I only review high end instruments, so I got hold of this model recently, from Amazon - the Stagg US10 Soprano. Their number one best selling ukulele! All yours for a shade over £20.
Now, to correct those who think I have a downer on every cheap instrument. I don't. I regularly recommend models that do it well, like the Octopus Soprano as an example. What I DO have a downer on is the regularly falling standards of quality control at this low end price. People will regularly respond to my warnings by saying things like 'But I have a Mahalo and its just fine'. I am sure they do, and I am pleased. I am not saying every single example is badly made, but what I AM saying is the chances of getting a badly made one are far higher these days than I think is acceptable. I could rant again that I see no sense in paying less than the cost of a basic lesson for a musical instrument, but people will still do it - lured by the likes of Amazon and their low prices. My advice is just that there ARE better alternatives and places to buy that will narrow those chances of getting a dud if you go carefully.
