Kala Brand Music Co. The Waterman, 4-String Ukulele, Right, Transparent, Soprano (KA-SWT)

As soon as it arrived I had to remove the bridge and saddle assembly and do some work on it, because the action was way too high for what I'm used to and the playability was awful. After a few minutes with a dremel tool and a sanding block....WALA! Put it back together, stretched the strings and tuned it, MUCH BETTER. If you don't know what you're doing I don't advise you do this though. Find someone that knows instruments or you cound permanently ruin it. That being said, the one I ordered need work, but incidentally a week later, I received another one exactly like it, as a gift from my sister in law. As far as playability and action on this one, it was exactly like the one I had altered, right out of the box. It needed nothing, other than strectching the strings enough to tune it. Now, I have many ukuleles, I purchased this one for playing in the pool. I already had an "Outdoor Ukulele" that I purchased through another company, that cost twice as much as this little gem, and although it's a fine instrument in it's own right, it cost twice as much, has a square neck instead of a round one (which is somewhat awkward), has friction peg tuners, and is solid black, which does not fair as well for staying in tune in the blazing sun as a clear one with geared tuners. Since getting these clear ukes, I have reassigned the black one from pool duty to the back of my SUV. For roughly $50 you can't go wrong with one of these. I love mine now. Try it, you'll love it too!!!!!

for playing in the rain on top of Pillbox, out in the line up surfing at Canoes, behind (o' below) my fav waterfall with my sweet wahani, on my kayak, in my outrigger canoe, fishing boat...yeah I'm that guy who comfortably whips it out to play with any where it's wet. Been playing ukulele fo long time ya, got plenty, all kine, expensive, cheap, all wood, Koa, mahogany, most solid, not lams. Living part time in Waikiki, this is the absolute perfect lil all weather uke. No more worries about tropical weather tweaking my wood. Once ya let the awesome Aquila strings stretch out, it stays in tune just fine. I have to tune mine often ( by ear) due to the constant changing humidity in Hawaii andbecause I get it wet a lot out in the ocean so wash off often. The sound is something one would expect from a soprano ukulele, tinny but the Aquila strings ring well enough. I eventually changed to Aquila Lava strings, mo beddah ya! I gotta say, for a lousy fifty bucks, this gem has more than paid for itself in versatility not to mention fun value! It has entertained my local friends/neighbors and many a tourist as well. Who doesn't love to hear "Ovah Da Rainbow" played live during a lull in the surf at a crowded Canoes? Haters gonna hate and whiners gonna whine but I love to wail on mine, ah da time...

Kala's transparent Ukulele is so good-looking, so well-made and so inexpensive, it would rate 5-stars -- were it not for one sour note: the sticker pasted to it. The instrument tunes up and plays beautifully, but if you're looking for an item that's see-through, you do not want to see a black sticker advertisement on it!Normally, it would be simple to remove a product sticker, except that in this instance, it's been stuck to the inside of the instrument -- so it's very difficult to reach. Nonetheless, I attempted to get rid of the sticker, since, as a rule, I do not display company logos, branding labels or product stickers in my home.After scratching and scraping at the ukulele for quite some time, I was able to remove the 2 1/2" black sticker using generous amounts of Goop Gone and Goof Off. However, this left a white residue all over the plastic -- and since the residue is inside the instrument, it's impossible to fully clean away.The acrylic instrument has a surprisingly pleasant sound and I would be extremely happy with the unique transparent ukulele -- were it not for the fact that it is not truly transparent. Thrilled about the idea of this item and its very reasonable price, I'm disappointed that it arrived marred with a logo sticker -- and I'm forced to rate the product only three stars.