This is the Life is Good OXK soprano ukulele from Martin Guitars. It’s interesting I think that Martin produce instruments that either confirm as much as possible to their traditions - or completely abandon them, as in this case! Still, a little innovation doesn’t hurt, and this Life is Good soprano is either going to annoy traditionalists, or delight people who like something a bit different. (The good this is, there’s room for different people and different ukes, and something for everyone!)

This uke has a satin finish, with a high pressure laminate top, with a printed design (more on that later), with a HPL koa back and sides. It is fitted with good quality friction pegs and comes with a nice, blue padded bag. The neck is formed from strips of birch, bonded together. This is both very strong and rather pretty.

What is the print then? Life is Good is an American ‘positive lifestyle brand’. Well, I thought I’d get this into stock to see if some rubbed off on me… I don’t know much about them but a little postitivity doesn’t hurt I suppose!

The sound is really nice, better than you might expect. The HPL body gives some depth and the Martin fluorocarbon strings balance that out with some punch. There’s decent volume and it’s nice to play too.

Whether, in years to come, this Martin soprano ukulele is as desirable as the vintage ukes people go mad for remains to be seen. But… while waiting to find out you’ll have a very nice soprano uke to play in the meantime!

At the bottom of the page are a series of optional extras, including low G fitting (not my favourite on a soprano, but don’t let me impose my tastes on you), strap buttons and a hard case. It does have that gig bag though, so you can ignore that part!

For a video demo of the Martin OXK Life is Good soprano ukulele, click additional info below.