This is a one off instrument which has now sold.

This is a beautiful looking tenor ukulele inspired by the archtop guitars of the 20’s and 30’s, with gorgeous curves everywhere you look. The white binding provides a great contrast and details like the shape of the end of the fingerboard exude plenty of class. The instrument has a hand applied French Polish, giving it an authentic look, as opposed to mirror gloss perfection.

I first thought to comment on the strength of the trebles from the steel strings, which ring out brightly with gusto. But then I couldn’t ignore the bass response which nicely creeps through and resonates to a degree where you can feel it vibrating in your chest. It’s very responsive, even with a gentle touch, with the sound effortlessly springing forth. There’s also a huge variation from the brightness of playing with nail or pick, to the easy warmth when strummed with the pad of your thumb.

The body is constructed from a solid hand-carved European spruce top with solid hand-carved maple back and sides. The solid 3-piece Maple neck sports an ebony fingerboard along with mother of pearl fingerboard and headstock inlays. Rear facing geared Der Jung tuners maintain the vintage aesthetic, paired with the usability of modern geared tuners. It is supplied with a hard case too, and fitted with 11 gauge acoustic guitar strings.

Low down the fingerboard, this instrument is exceptionally easy to play, with a great set up and allows pressure-free fingering. If you’re up at the 12th fret and beyond, the feel of steel strings is something you get used to, once your fingertips harden up a little! The larger body is well balanced by the extra density of the maple neck, for good balance. The nut width is 37mm.

I can count on the strings of one uke the number of tenor scale, effective steel string acoustic ukuleles that I’ve come across. When I have, they’ve been very thin sounding. This archtop design and larger body really overcomes that issue, giving a nice depth. It took a lot of work to carve the body, and that’s reflected in the price. But if you’ve got the cash, it is a lovely thing to own.