Anna
The Donner Concert Ukelele is perfect! I have played it every day since it arrived, and have no complaints. The tuner works perfectly, there are guides for chords and finger placement, I am thrilled!
jla
I am loving this ukulele. I’m a beginner so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money. At the same time I wanted a ukulele that had a reasonable level of quality. This ukulele is the right balance for me. It has a nice sound. After 1 week of tuning it several times a day it is holding its tune for several hours. I appreciate the clip on tuner for times when I’m not at home with my piano. The case is of good quality and looks very nice. There are buttons for the strap to attach to so there is no need to attach a strap each time you use it. Just one thing - the picks are plastic and I’m told that they should be felt. All in all I am very happy with it. I think it’s a good ukulele for a beginner.
Tanager
I bought this on Prime Day 2017 and couldn't be happier with it. It is more beautiful than the pictures, a deeper caramel color, which I tried to capture in the photo. The mahogany grain is beautiful and shimmers as the light changes, enhanced by a subtle satin finish. The tone is rich and resonant. The body is fairly large for a concert, which opens up the volume. The back is slightly curved. The Donner logo is inlaid into the headstock. The tuning gears work smoothly and hold their position, with pegs similar in color to the mahogany. The nut is a full 1.5" wide, which makes it easier for people with larger-sized fingers to play. The frets are level and beveled on the sides for comfort, and the fret ends are covered. I haven't had any problems with strings buzzing. There are side position markers in addition to those on the fretboard. The saddle is compensated for consistent intonation. The slotted bridge makes it very easy to change the strings. Strap buttons are already installed. While the rope rosette is not flashy, there are some nice stylistic touches in the shapes of the bridge and the end of the rosewood fretboard.
I noticed that the nut on mine was a little high on one side due to a glue defect. I popped it off with a pocket knife and scraped the glue off, then sanded the underside of the nut just a little to lower the action. This is something I wouldn't have dared to do myself to a more expensive instrument. (Caution: If you try this, be very careful you don't go too far and cause a buzz.) In terms of balance, it's a little neck-heavy, but it's not something you'd notice if you use a strap.
In terms of the accessories, the bag is well-padded, with an outside zipper pocket for accessories and clip-on shoulder straps. All new strings take while to settle in, so it's great for tuning to be as easy as possible. I liked the Donner tuner so much, I bought additional ones (Donner DT-2) for each of my other ukuleles. The included strap is lightweight and narrow, but it works. The extra strings are nice. I see the kit now comes with flat plastic picks; you won't need those -- ukuleles are generally played with the fingers, or rarely with a felt pick.
After buying it, I noticed it was the top-rated concert-sized ukulele in the online The Wirecutter review of the best ukuleles for beginners. Of course, you won't mistake it for a $500 solid-wood ukulele, but it's an amazing value for the price, and you can take it anywhere without worry. I bought a hard case for it (the Musician's Gear concert ukulele case fits it like a glove) and packed it in my suitcase for a recent plane trip. It came through fine.
Update: After playing it for about 5 months, I changed the strings to Aquila Super Nylgut. The sound became significantly louder, if not quite as sweet to my ear. 5 months later, I changed to Aquila Sugar strings. Now it is really bright and loud, with a lot of projection and sustain. For the first time, in a group of 20 strummers, I can always hear myself play. The Sugar strings settle in pretty fast, but be forewarned, they do squeak when you pluck them, rather like wound strings. This gets better with time but doesn't entirely go away. The string maker recommends using hand lotion on your hands to minimize the squeaking.
Second Update: Today after a couple of months with the Aquila Sugar strings, I replaced them with Martin M600 flurocarbon strings, and I really like them. There was something about the sugars that sounded just a little odd, a little artificial. The Martins have a clear bell-like tone that is equally loud as the sugars but sounds more natural. Of course, string choice is a matter of personal preference, but I'm really happy with the Martins. Martin M600s are smaller in diameter than the sugars and less stretchy than some strings, so they may seem a bit harder to your fingertips at first, as flurocarbons generally do. But they give a brilliant, rich tone.
Third Update: I liked the Martin strings, but I became frustrated by flaws in the intonation. Switched the strings again, and this time it's the fantastic. Fremont BlackLine Mediums are thin black fluorocarbon strings. They give it amazing clarity, volume, resonance and sustain, and the intonation is near perfect all the way up the neck. I was thinking of upgrading to a solid wood instrument to take my playing to the next level, but now I'm not sure I need to. It looks so sleek with it's ebony strings that I gave it an elegant new strap befitting the look.
Lyn
Purchased this item on December 16, 2017, Received it January 19, 2018. 5 weeks waiting, but its worth the wait! the ukulele is coming from china going to Canada. I love it, good quality of wood and nice tune. I'm just disappointed because they didn't give me tuner which I expected along with ukulele, I e-mailed the customer service, they replied to me after 1 one day and they're willing to replace the lost item! What an awesome customer service! While waiting for my tuner, I downloaded an tuner app which is also effective! The bag is also nice and sturdy, Overall I love my Ukulele Donner! Will definitely recommend this product!
Cass
I have been playing guitar for about 8 years, and I tent to always get very nice high end instruments since normally "you get what you pay for" applies for them. This is my first Ukelele and my children like to play around with instruments as well, so I decided to give this a shot since I didn’t want to pay a lot for something that the kids might be rough with. All I got to say is AMAZING!
The look of it is simply super high end, tough it is not solid wood it looks just as if it was all mahogany. Beautifully built.
SOUND: Very clear and nice resonance from the woods which plays very well with an acoustic guitar in terms of volume. It is little, but puts out a nice warm yet Ukulele like crisp highs
STRINGS: I have kept the ones that are on and they do match the additional ones that they sent out (which is really cool), again not a Ukulele pro, however the strings are holding up very well and after the first week of playing and stay in tune quite well
BODY: For this price, SUPERB! It is solid built and I can tell it will also take on some beating for a while. The neck is beautiful with a satin finish which makes nice to slide back and forth as you play
TUNERS: These in combination with the strings that it comes with have worked super well to keep the instrument in tune for days at a time only minor adjustments every other day, and good to go.
PLAYABILITY: Right out of the box this Ukulele feels very smooth around the fretboard, the frets are well polished and do not catch your fingers, the back of the neck allows for easy position change.
BAG: Sturdy, extra pocket with zippers for any accessories you might want to carry (tuners, strings, pics, etc.), and it has two shoulder straps sot that you can wear it like a backpack. Nice!
EXTRAS: in most cases the “bundles” are a combination of a few cheap items along with the main Item just to catch attention. Not the case here, the tuner (of the same brand as the guitar) works super well, and the plus is that it can be used for any string/vibration instrument. I haven’t used the extra set of strings, but if they are the same as the ones that came installed, I am in good shape. The strap as a really nice pattern and works very well, it can even be adjusted to fit a smaller child.
If fits right in with our instrument collection.
If you are looking for a starting instrument with an affordable price and that you can actually play. In my opinion that is it.
p.s. I did not get this guitar for free from the manufactured (paid $55 for it), and I am not affiliated with Donner, just enjoy good music and nice instruments.
Debbie H.
Bought for my granddaughter, she wants to learn to play. She loves it!!!
Kathleen R.
Great uke for great value
Debra M.
I am very satisfied with my purchase. High quality product. It is exactly what was advertised.
Rupp
Sounds great
The sound of this ukulele is pretty good. This ukulele is made of mahogany, and the sound is much better.
Javier
This is a great ukulele. It is very well made
Outstanding. I expected it to be just OK. But its much better than I think! It sounds great. It holds it's tune. It is good looking.
Javier
This is a great ukulele. It is very well made
Outstanding. I expected it to be just OK. But its much better than I think! It sounds great. It holds it's tune. It is good looking.
Sdunicchand
Excellent quality
This really a good purchase I have to share. When I got it, the quality really surprised me.
Sdunicchand
Excellent quality
This really a good purchase I have to share. When I got it, the quality really surprised me.
Jnter
I may be a horrible musician. But this is a nice Uke
I am definitely not a musician. But I love this!
Chris
A gift for girl. She like it very much!
Great sounds! Good deal! Good quality!