Bumblebee Ukuleles BUC23 Concert Natural

This thing became, by far, my most-played instrument for a full year, and this really only ceased because I bought a guitalele to fill my cute super-portable instrument needs. If you want something more convenient to pluck away at than a chonker of a guitar, I couldn't recommend it more.

I can't speak to the stock string experience because I bought a Low G set to go with it, but this thing sounds wonderful (almost a lute-ish tone when you do fingerstyle, which is exactly what I was looking for!), stays in tune well, and is really easy to play even with bear hands, probably much thanks to the string spacing which feels even wider than on a classical guitar.

It should be mentioned that I needed to modify it ever so slightly to make it comfortable for me. This thing dug into my forearm like a mother. Maybe I gripped it too tight, but nevertheless most sessions ended with a sore, red forearm. I fixed this by wet sanding that edge at the bottom of the body ever so slightly, just running over the length of it a couple times. I've had no issues since. So I would recommend doing that right away, alternatively installing a strap button (it has an end block and can take the screw — I've done it) so you don't have to grip it at all. Of course, none of this will matter if you rest it on your lap when you play.

At the end of the day, though, I couldn't have been happier with the purchase. I've gotten dozens upon dozens of hours of joy out of this thing and am strongly considering getting one of the colored variants as well.