I wanted to pick up a small ukulele for traveling and to experiment with low G's on a short scale uke (just to see if it can be done) and this 18" travel sopranissimo fit the bill. It's actually 18" overall, but still has an 11" scale length making it a sopranissimo. The 18" makes it very hard to squeeze into a sopranissimo case (like my Ohana 17" that I really like) and it felt like the case may bend the wooden neck, so I bought a new Ohana Sopranino (19") case for it. The uke came bare bones - no case, tuner, spare strings, capos, etc.. so it's relatively a tad more expensive than other "starter packages" with all the extras, but it's a better price coming without them, which is great if you don't need all of that. It did come with 2 strap buttons pre-installed which was a nice addition.

Playability: The action was pretty good right out of the box. It has a fair width nut with good string spacing for my average sized hands, but still plays "tight" because the frets are very close together. It feels even tighter because the tuning machines are very close to the nut, so I bump the knobs while playing close to the nut, occasionally. The A string is very close to the edge of the fret board, too, so I've fallen off a couple times doing pull-offs. It didn't sound too great with the stock aquilas in the GCEA tuning so I moved it up to the standard A,D,F#,B which improved the sound a lot. It was still a bit plasticky-resonant so I changed the strings to an aquila red low G (as a low A), Thomastic Infield CF27 (as the D), and Worth Brown E & A strings (as the F# & B). Sounds way better (pretty good for the size - no it won't compete with a concert or soprano but you can't zip one of them up in a backpack either). It still needs a little fiddling with the Low A to perk that up a little bit. With the extra $25 in strings it now sounds better than my Enya brand sopranissimo uke, so I'm happy with my purchase.

I would buy this model again, because it does have a good sound for it's exceptionally portable size.

Hope this helps. Happy uking!

I was about ready to order an Alvarez Ukulele, when I stumbled across this K-Mise on Amazon. After watching several favorable reviews on Youtube, I decided to take a chance on it. After using a discount coupon and a few bucks of credit I had at Amazon, I got it for $68.00 for the kit that includes gig bag, picks, and a truss rod wrench.

First things first, I have a big problem with the way it was packaged at Amazon. The packaging from the manufacturer, thankfully, was very good. Nice thick box, foam wrap around the Uke, and snug inside it's padded gig bag. Amazon then chose to put that in a HUGE box, with only one piece of packing paper which did absolutely no good whatsoever. The box was badly damaged on the outside, and the inner box with the Ukulele was bouncing around all over the place. Luckily, thanks to the manufacturer packaging, it was undamaged.

The instrument looks and sounds great. A couple of minor points...the two wound copper coated bass strings were showing signs of corroding and will need to be replaced very soon. This is pretty common for instruments from China though, and isn't a big concern. The second minor thing was that there were a few frets that had a slight roughness near the edge of the fretboard. This, I am fairly sure is due to the winter weather and low humidity. I believe it will be fine after a little while in higher humidity with a home made humidifier bag in the case. If not, then some very slight fret dressing might be necessary. The frets are not terribly rough or poorly filed, just a little shrinkage I think. Again, fairly common with imported instruments that may have stored for a long period of time in a warehouse and then shipped in cold weather.

As far as the sound and play of the instrument, it is amazingly nice for the price range, and obviously cheap strings. The action is perfect. One of the main selling points for this ukulele for me was the adjustable truss rod. This is unusual for a ukulele, even at higher price ranges, and can be a major benefit if at some point the neck happens to warp a little, or the factory action adjustments leave a bit to be desired.

Overall, it is a 5 star product for sure. I've been playing stringed instruments for decades, and know the difference in junk and decent quality. If you have $300 up to spend on a higher grade instrument, and are that serious about it, go for it, but this one fits the bill very nicely for the casual picker, beginning student or amateur musician.

The media could not be loaded. I purchased this adorable little ukulele because I collect and play ukulele and don't have many sopranos. I prefer to play tenor, and sometimes concert size ukuleles.

Asthetics/looks: This soprano has a lovely vintage style look to it. The details are quite striking, yet it is also a very simple design. They have done very well to bring detail where you would typically see with more expensive ukuleles. The headstock is very pretty with it's curveture at the top, gorgeous silver tone tuning gears with glass buttons on the back to see the brass gear inside is a nice detail. The tuning pegs are colored which I always love but rsrely see. I think Kmise did well here, taking the opportunity to out a jewel on the instrument in a sense with the tuning pegs. They are a pinkish, more purplish copper color mix and quite sweet. The fretboard at the bottom where it meets the body also has a lovely curvy shape and is nicely done. The body edges have no binding but on this one, it adds to it's simplistic beauty. The body has a traditional shape which all together presents a throwback to ukuleles of the 1950's. They put a beautiful rope detail around the tradirional round soundhole and it too lends to it's overall vintage look and nod to this classic style. The color of the wood laminate wood grain is very nice, impeccably clean in it's outer craftsmenship. They used D'Addario strings which is a nice upgrade and attention to player interest for quality, and they are flourocarbon so they have a player friendly feel and a clean appearance.

Quality: Overall, this is a fantastic beginner ukulele. The volume is GREAT for such a sweet soprano. The sustain is pretty good too. It rings out pleasantly. I have many ukukeles and I am very happy to have this one in my wide ranging collection of sizes, brands, and qualities. Here are areas I think could be improved... I have played her for several days now. Two seperate tuning gears were loose at the nut back to back, creating a rattle that if I did not know about already as a player, I'd have been worried this was a more serious issue with my ukulele. With a little tightening, this was reaolved but it should not have maybe come out of QC that way if this is marketed to new players who would not know what to do with this. I also think the saddle and bridge could be sanded up a bit cleaner. Apart from that, the overall quality is very good on this and I highly recommend this not only for casual or new players but for ukulele collectors and enthusiasts as she is a doll! Also, the action is terrific! Very comfortable and not common to be as low on an economy priced ukulele. They are almost always very high. This is a play right out of the box uke. I super appreciate this.

Sound: Again, this has grear volume and clarity, good sustain. The intonation could be improved but once the strings settle more, this issue may also improve a bit.

Additional: This ukulele comes with everything and more that a new player would need to get started. I was very impressed with the booklet that covers so many important aspects of getting started as a new player. It's fantastic actually! It also comes with a chord chart for visual reference on basic chords, which is great, a tuner, a strap (uncommon for a soprano to come with strap buttons but this does!), and many other great goodies.

I recommend this ukulele and find it very well priced and fair for any new beginner.

Well made, attractive soprano BUT suffers from the usual inexpensive ukulele problem of protruding, sharp fret wires. Kmise usually does a good job on the frets but not on the most recent one they sent me. I could return it but a replacement from Kmise at this price point would most likely have the same issues and I wanted the zebra laminate.

The instrument itself came pre setup and had everything it showed in the picture. I wanted to get a baritone ukulele from guitar center but they didnt have any on display to try out and so I went here instead to get more bang for my buck. Instrument plays nice, but the wood leaves a funny smell on your hands. the gig bag isn't padded or anything and the one time I took it anywhere the straps ripped off. It's good if you need a somewhat decently priced baritone uke but I'd always recommend trying to find somewhere you can try an instrument before you buy it