I decided to try out one of Moana's new ukes, I plumbed for the solid spruce top with laminated mahogany back and sides, it cost me £42.50 including postage (they're running 15% off for January) http://www.themusicroom-online.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/4009
Out of the box it looked good, but it also had those cheap black GHS strings, the action was way too high at the nut and the intonation was poor. The tuners are also pretty cheap.
Using my trusty needle file I deepened the slots and replaced the strings with concert aquilla's. I'm now loving the sound, completely different tone to the Mahogany's. Its quite bright and doesn't sound as subtle as my other two. Here's a sound sample I did to give an idea :-
http://www.box.net/shared/ca125gk1z3
and a couple of pics, notice the picture of the nut how deep the slots are, before adjusting the strings were practically sitting on the top.
Here's how it now intonates
If you're willing to put some time in to fix the action and intonation I'd recommend one of these as a great value uke, otherwise pay extra on say an Ohana and get one ready to play on arrival.
