Kala KA-ZCT-B Baritone Ukulele

A beautiful looking ukulele with lovely sound.
It has been much admired by fellow players who love the sound it adds to a group play.
I sought a quality instrument from a known brand.
SO it's really disappointing that after just 3 months of use its had to go back because the silver coated strings were showing copper at each fret, two of the frets are showing signs of wear and the fret board edges are ropey.
I'd live with this if it was 2 or three years old and had rough use but it is just 3 months old.
After Thomann dressed the frets it is already wearing again so I am obliged to restring it using softer flouro-carbon strings.
Contacted KALA Inc. They apologised but were basically indifferent
I won't buy another

This beauty arrived in perfect condition. The strings it arrived with took a few days to settle in but and they're still doing an excellent job 5 months later. The finish on the instrument is gorgeous, and the neck is very comfortable to play. There is a contour where the neck joins the headstock that my thumb loves resting in when I'm playing near the nut. Nice balanced range of tones from neck to bridge with fingerpicking. A plec no doubt would be great too. Frets are all smooth at edges and no buzz on neck. I've recorded with various mics/distances and got satisfying results. In my opinion, worth every cent and would recommend to anyone looking for a baritone uke that will cater to any skill level and will also just look and feel awesome😀

I was expecting an outstanding instrument for the price. I have watched YouTube videos where this ukulele is played and was charmed by the sound of it. I had to have it.

My review is based on 2 ukuleles, since I have returned the first one and got a brand new replacement. Witch I am currently also returning for a refund!

So the problem is buzz when wound strings are played. The first ukulele I have received was not brand new and got signs of usage. At first I thought that Thomann has set it up for me. However right away started hearing the buzz when played. It seems that sometimes it comes from the frets, but most of the time from the saddle area. I have started looking and noticed scratches on the saddle. I lifted the wound strings and they audibly popped out from the grooves they have been embedded in. It looked like someone took a file and filed the saddle where the strings were. At first I thought that this is how Thomann has lowered the action. Also saddle and the nut had the wood like pattern and texture, so I had doubts that it was a GraphTech Nubone. So I have returned and received new one.

The new one was properly packed with all the flyers and other papers inside the box, that were missing from the previous one. I inspected the saddle and it was nice and smooth, although still looking a lot like wood. I have tuned it and played if for a week every day for ~30 mins before I started hearing the buzz again. Since the strings were not settled yet, I was not worried much. However it was getting worse every day. After two weeks strings have settled and I was now worried. I measured and noticed that fret 15 was much higher compared to surrounding ones, but also I noticed that wound strings have embedded into the saddle again.

By now I am pretty sure the saddle is not made of GraphTech Nubone as advertised, it took only two weeks for wound strings to embed into saddle. The frets are not even! They are also made from very soft material. Only after 2 weeks of playing I have started seeing flat spots on the most used frets below the wound strings.

This is the last Kala I have ever bought!

The instrument sounds exactly like all the video's you've probably watched. I fell for the soft, dark and slightly grainy and 'imperfect' sound. It's stunning to look at and of course that enhances the experience of the sound as well. Half a year in, it does not disappoint one bit.

I did find a couple of minor flaws:
The only disappointment in the finishing of my instrument are the tuners. They are very stiff to turn and it feels slightly damaging to do so. Also they are plasticky.
Then the instrument is a chunky boy with a flat back and sharp edges. It's comfortable on your knees at a 90º angle, but not so much if you want to hold it as a ukulele at a 45º angle pressed against your chest. A mandolin strap offers some relief, but for attaching it there is no peg at the top of the body. Binding the strap to the neck impedes somewhat on the manoeuvrability of your fret hand.
The Nylgut strings that come with it do not do it justice! I wish I had put clear nylons on right at the start. It makes the instrument sound so much more mature. I can imagine other types of string (fluorocarbon, titanium) will give a sharper guitar experience.
Lastly, and this is of no fault of the instrument, there is no fun music for the baritone! I was hoping to be able to play classical finger style Spanish guitar music with it, but so far I have found but one obscure music book. It's all of the usual GCEA-ukulele genres, just transposed.

Although the flaws take more than half of the review, I still love the baritone greatly. Especially if you're a guitar player that can do some freestyle playing, I would recommend it very much.