Yolo Pineapple

Vaguely scrolling through the offerings on the Bay of e, I came across a very colourful pineapple Ukulele. It was only shown in its box which has a clear plastic window but from what I could see it was, at least, properly made. There was no other information apart from the one thing that was key to getting an invite; a VERY cheap starting price!

There was also a very cheap "buy it now" price and I thought "well as it's Christmas; and I haven't bought a new Ukulele in a long time; and I did sell the Banjo, (and still haven't got a new camera)..."

So now its on the way to Ukulele Corner and having looked further into it, (having already paid the money), I found out that its all plastic, (I thought it was basswood), and its a Mini, (I thought it was a Soprano). On the plus side it is bigger than the really cheap, unplayable ones the Ukulele Doctor gets to salvage the tuners from, for old Maccaferris and Carnivals, and it does look from the pictures like it is more substantial. If nothing else it does come with proper metal geared tuners so that should be an indication of its playability?

It's here and its a tricky Ukulele to asses quality wise, however it is certainly colourful and I am a sucker for a Mini. The build is OK and definitely better than the unplayable things. In reality its probably as good, if not better than the 1950's plastic Minis, and the modern First Act plastic Sopranos that Disney is fond of using. Its certainly more solid, (with a ridiculously thick sound board!) and there are some nods to playability like having an attempt at a slightly compensated saddle, (don't know how much of an improvement to intonation it gives though. As you would expect the action is way to high and the strings it comes with are not good, (though a spare set is included in the package, along with a strap, a plectrum and a how to play book), there are only two thicknesses, thin for the A and B strings and fat for the D and F# strings, (still way better than what use to come with the Carnivals).

After tuning, (and a LOT of string stretching), its quite difficult to play properly partly due to the size and partly due to the action, but on single note play it is surprisingly melodious and I am torn as to if it would be worth putting on some proper strings and trying to set it up properly?