This is a lovely instrument, made by Millar’s head luthier in Tawain, after picking up a very attractive set of sapele, an African hardwood that is reminiscent of mahogany.

Like mahogany there is some warmth from the solid wood, with a helping of light and breezy trebles and a pleasing traditional mahogany ‘bark’. The strings, Fremont Blacklines, are soft and gentle in nature, so while there’s still decent volume, the overall sound delivers a vintage-style tone.

This Millar custom model has fantastic Gotoh UPT geared tuners, which look like pegs but contain gears for accurate and easy tuning. A set of tuners which would cost around £70 on their own, so only the best for this little delight of a uke. The 35mm nut is unchallenging and in keeping with the size of the uke, while the set up is excellent - with a light, low and easy action.

With it’s petite, slim waisted body, it hasn’t got huge volume (but it has enough - around average), but it is sweet, complex and harmonically rich. It’s really lovely and the wood looks like it’s been reclaimed from dashboard of a Jaguar E-type (it hasn’t!).

There’s no case with this Millar custom sapele soprano, and you can find those and common extras like strap buttons, if you scroll to the bottom of the page.

You’ll find a video demo of this Millar custom ukulele, in comparison with another custom from the same company, by clicking additional info below.