Hilo Wood Soprano Ukulele

 Good starter uke, but flawed
The price is right at around $40. A great starter Uke to learn the basics on, but the one I have has a major flaw...it's impossible to tune...you can tune the open strings to the notes they are supposed to sound like, but (on the particular Hilo Soprano Uke I have) Low C (Open 3rd String) does not match its 3rd fret 1st string counterpart of High C. I assume the Uke is slightly flawed in some way and I would expect other Hilo Sopranos to contain similar flaws. It's just slightly off, enough to be detected.

However, most ukes go out of tune a lot, but if you tighten the screws on the back of the machine heads, this one seems to hold its tule pretty well.

Serenading your would be prom date? Buy it!

Learning the Uke? Buy it.

Going on stage to perform with Herb Otah? Don't buy it.

 One step above a toy
I bought this as an entry level ukulele to learn the basics on. Unfortunately, the intonation is so bad that the instrument is basically unplayable. Played open, the strings stay in tune and sound good. If you press on the second fret on any string, the resulting note is almost a half step sharp! I filed down the nut a ridiculous amount to try and fix this problem, and it did help slightly, but it's still sharp and any more filing will give me a terrible buzzing problem. Higher up on the neck, the problem gets worse. If you're just looking for a novelty instrument, I guess it's okay; however, I'd recommend spending a bit more and getting a higher quality uke if you plan to do any more than win best dressed at the yearly luau.