I have reviewed many budget ukuleles for beginners and I have tried a Vangoa ukuleles before.
But now I’m going to try the Vangoa 26-Inch Tenor Mahogany Ukulele Starter Bundle and see if its adequate for beginners.
For those not familiar with Vangoa,the company is known for providing inexpensive ukulele (especially a tenor ukulele under $70). They are made in China, but many ukulele’s are made in China, what it comes down to is quality and there are those who feel Vangoa ukes are well-made and great for beginners.
I am reviewing the Vangoa 26-Inch Tenor Mahogany Ukulele Starter Bundle which is offered for under $70. You get a gig bag (not a lot of padding but better than many other companies in the same price range), a strap, tuner (does it all…guitar, uke, violin, chromatic, etc.), plastic picks (standard plastic picks), cleaning cloth, spare/backup strings, capo and instructions. Which is awesome and great for those looking for an introduction, first-buy ukulele for the price!
The ukulele features a mahogany finish that has an open style finish with 9-cycle grinding and polishing process. Around the soundhole area, there is a inlaid pearl shell which adds to the style of this ukulele.
You’ll also find strap pegs on the bottom and one near the neck.
You get fret marks on the side which is great for the beginners and action is not high at all. The low action deducts string pressure and features smooth fret ends (Years ago, Vangoa used to get criticized for their sharp fret ends but they have since fixed that).. You also get 18 brass frets with fret position at 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th frets on neck and top of fingerboard.
Neck is narrow towards the top, nut is flat and tuning pegs are covered via a chrome-lated sealed design to make it anti-dust and durable.
Bridge is easy for one to change their strings, via easy access.
One of the things that worry me about inexpensive ukulele are the tuning pegs. Even after heavy use to stretch out the strings, they lose tune because the tuning pegs are poor. One of the reason why I took my time to review the Vangoa ukulele, is because it uses a sealed design which no other company utilizes.
At first, I was getting upset because as much as I stretched the strings, I felt I kept losing tuning. But after a month of playing on it, it took a while for the nylons strings to be stretched enough and for me to play on it without having to constantly tune it.
So, fortunately, the tuning pegs have held up, but it’s important to note that you really need to stretch out the strings. It takes some time, depending how much you play, so in the beginning, you’ll do quite a bit of tuning. But to make sure they are stretched and played, pluck the strings a bit (not too much) but enough to stretch them out. Strum a lot, play a lot and tune until you notice that you don’t have to tune as much.
Overall, as a first-purchase tenor ukulele for under $70, it’s actually a cool deal considering you getting a tenor uke, a gig bag, tuner, strap, nylon strings and a few picks.
This is a very good ukulele for the price. I’ve reviewed ukulele for around the price point and not only do they give you less, the tuning pegs are terrible and you literally can’t play more than 2-3 minutes on it. This is not the case for the Vangoa 26-Inch Tenor Mahogany Ukulele Starter Bundle.
I really like the build and after a month and a half, the nylon strings took a while for me to get things situated. I more than likely will replace the strings because I’m selective when it comes to the strings that I use. But for those who choose to stay with the provided nylon strings, you should be quite fine. Just be patient and keep stretching the strings and give it a few weeks for the strings to settle.
Its important to note that Vangoa also sells another tenor ukulele for the same price, one in walnut with a much different design that I like a lot.
But as a starter bundle, I felt that this could have been much cheaper, may it be $10 off (considering its other ukuleles are the same price). But still, it is priced affordably against other competitors and if anything, I am quite pleased with how Vangoa has positioned itself as a budget ukulele brand but offering a lot for its price under $70.
Again, Vangoa’s nylon strings are not Aquila and they take some time and in the beginning you may find yourself having to tune it often (that’s why I prefer to use different strings). But stretch them out, play it and eventually within a week or two, the strings should be much easier to play without having to tune that much.
But overall, I give the Vangoa 26-Inch Tenor Mahogany Ukulele Starter Bundle a thumbs up.
