This is a one-off ukulele from Millar’s custom shop, made by their head luthier. They love experimenting with new and different wood combinations and I like that enthusiasm and love for the instrument and its possibilities. Even if it is occasionally frustrating when you say, ‘how are those 10 ukes I ordering coming along’, and they say, ‘ah… they are still being made, but in the meantime, we made THIS!’

That was the case with this one, made using Taiwanese fir from the Yushan national park on the island. They’ve paired this with solid ziracote for the back and sides. They’ve fitted Worth Brown strings, and put that with a wound low G. There’s a maple neck, which is lovely and smooth (it’s a standard 35mm), and a satin finish.

It also has a really gorgeous wood inlay around the soundhole, and a slotted headstock.

It really is a lovely thing to look at, and a lovely thing to play as well. And it does sound very nice but it’s more ‘nice’ than ‘outstanding’. The thing were these one off custom models is you (and me, and them) never know quite how they are going to turn out. With this one, if I check out what my margin should be, the price should be £799 to work for me, or possibly a bit more. I’ve listed it at a more modest £599. Now I realise that’s still a lot of money, and it’s an amount of money that doesn’t work for me and my business. It’s a gorgeous thing but just a bit overpriced for me to feel comfortable about listing it as the price it should be.

I don’t know - I could rave about it and someone would buy it. I’d get my money and that would be that. But I can’t help the need to be honest and say it’s too much to pay for me to feel comfortable with. Honesty eh? Not going to make me rich!

At the bottom of the page you’ll find a selection of extras you might want to conside, like a gig bag or a hard case, or strap buttons. It has a low G on already this one, so you can ignore that.