This is an all solid mango baritone ukulele, produced by Kala in Indonesia. It’s made from all solid mango - very much a tonewood that’s in vogue - with stunning looks that are matched by a really beautiful sound. The Metropolitan series is Kala’s attempt to bridge the gap between their cheap-but-good Chinese made models and their high end California-made instruments, and they’ve done a really good job of making an instrument that sounds ‘premium’ in every sense. This Kala baritone uke is good (in fact, it’s really good!), but perhaps the biggest challenge the series has is persuading people to pay a price for a Kala that’s usually associated with brands that concentrate more on the high end of the market. Yes, it’s good, but it’s not cheap. But the facility that produces these (and other Kala models like the Revelator Nautilus Horizon), also makes things for other top end makes. Yes, there’s big input from Kala in what they wanted in this uke - but it’s not a traditional Kala in other senses. In fact, it’s a great step up.

One thing to note quickly about this KA-METD-BMR-B is not its cumbersome name, but the slender, slim neck, which is 35mm wide. I am used to playing this width, with a 28mm G-A string spacing, and find it’s slim neck profile and satin-finish neck is a real delight. A wider 38mm nut width is perhaps the norm for baritones, but when paired with a chunky neck I find them a little cumbersome. With this Kala Metropolitan, it’s really comfortable. It won’t please those with giant hands I suppose, but for those of us out there used to this width, it’s a great option to have.

The KA-METD-BMR-B is made from all solid mango, a particularly nicely sourced mango that has a lovely pattern and grain. In its natural form, mango is very pale (which you can see in this uke, on the inside). It’s amazing the extra definition you get by staining, with the dark stain given here allows the grain to really shine, particularly under an excellent gloss finish.

This Kala baritone uses the Kala Revelator string set, with DGBE tuning and two wound and two fluorocarbon strings. These are a clever combination of D’addario (wound D and G) and Worth Brown (B and E), giving the definition and clarity of wound strings at the bottom end, but pairing them with more powerful, well-sustaining B and E strings to create an excellent balance. You still get warmth and creamy smoothness from the mango, with plenty of depth. But you can pick out melodies and hear them with clarity against all of that warmth and chocolatey richness.

With this model there’s a set of quality, open geared tuners from Grover, bone nut and saddle, black binding and red purlfing, plus a pretty inlay on the rosewood faced headstock. You also get a reasonable padded gig bag as well.

Talking of bags… you’ll find a number of standard ‘add ons’ at the bottom of the page - which appear for every uke. You can ignore the ukulele gig bag as this has one. You might consider a hard case, strap buttons or strap - but the low G option? Another you can disregard as this baritone uke has one already - plus a low D, for that matter!

For a video demo of this Kala Metropolitan series baritone in action, click additional info below.