Ukuleles are not just little guitars.
Some Guitar makers get it right, many don't.
My advice is generally to Stick with a specialist ukulele maker that loves what they do and you rarely go wrong. Their whole business depends on their ukuleles reputation, to them a ukulele is not an after thought, a 'tacked on extra' to the guitar line.
Some Ukuleles just sound "Dead and Box-like"
Some Instruments just do not encourage you to play as they just feel stiff and hard to play. Even worse some actively discourage you from playing because as well as being hard to play they sound just awful with all the tone of a cardboard box.
You can fit a set of Italian Aquila strings to liven them up, and a proper set-up always helps. This will almost certainly improve volume and playability. But alas as they say "You can't polish a Turd, but you can spray paint them gold". Cheap or expensive, if your ukulele suffers from Dead Boxy Syndrome its probably the basic design that's the cause.
Yeah but my favourite Fancy Guitar Makers just released a Mega-Expensive Ukulele, So it must be good, Right?
You would hope so, but it is no guarantee. These days it seems that just about every Guitar brand has tacked a ukulele or two onto their model range. And people assume that if they make good guitars then they must make a good ukulele too. Plausible but sadly flawed logic.
It's not just the cheap end of town that suffer this Dead Boxy Syndrome. Even expensive ukuleles by well know guitar makers can be lack-lustre and "boxy" sounding even when you have paid $600 plus Aussie Dollars.
Constructions Methods
Just because you are a big Guitar maker does not mean that you know how to make a great ukulele. Ukuleles and Guitars are very very different beasts, with very different design considerations.
A steel String guitar is literally trying to pull itself apart with string tension as those six tightly stretched steel strings have a lot of energy in them. A thick solid top, back n sides and ultra stiff bracing works well on steel stringed guitars to keep it from breaking under the strain.
But big thick and heavy just what you Do Not Want in a ukulele.
With a steel string Guitar you need strong bracing and a strong top to stand up to high string tensions without deforming. Little short scale ukuleles with their nylon (or new modern Gut like Aquila strings) have no where as much tension being exerted on the neck and top.
People rave over the "olden days" ukuleles. When you get a chance to play a vintage ukulele you generally find that they are light, very light in fact, with minimal bracing, and the tops sides and backs are Ultra thin by today's modern standards. They really are very delicate animals the old ukes. Some 'Johnny Come Lately' modern ukuleles weigh a lot more by comparison. The wood seems too thick and they are over braced IMHO.
Some Guitar brands do make pretty good ukuleles. But generally I find they are the brands that in their past made ukuleles. Often they are resurrecting models and adapting the old designs to modern manufacturing methods. You are getting their vintage designs made in modern factories. Look into their History and Ukuleles have been major parts of their business in the 1920's/30's.
Traditional Ukulele manufacturers simply know how to make ukuleles, obvious really, it is all they do. If they were to turn their hand to guitar making it might not turn out too well, similarly why assume big guitar maker can stamp out a ukulele.
I'll say it again, Stick with a specialist ukulele maker that loves what they do and you rarely go wrong.
A blog about Ohana Ukuleles and Why people Love Them
