This is a brand new ukulele, tuned in fifths. These Uma sopranos are supplied with GCEA strings and I’ve taken those off and fitted Aquila AQ-30U strings, which are designed for soprano uke to play in fifths. The tuning is GDAE, with a low G. That A note is usually the highest in GCEA, and you’ll note there’s a high E beyond that. This gives it the depth of a low G, but the scope of the sound you’re producing is even higher, as it goes up to that high E.

Why a soprano? Well the strings are designed for that short scale. A longer scale means more tension and getting that high E to stretch much further isn’t easy - and therefore they’re made for the soprano scale length.

How do you play it? Well the tuning is the same as a violin or a mandolin. So if you look up a mandolin chord chart, you can get up and running straight away. That’s what I did, quickly learning all of four chords to make the demo video you’ll be able to watch if you click additional information.

Aside from the strings, this is a standard Uma UK-20SS, solid mahogany soprano. You can read about it elsewhere on my website on the page for a regular one. To do that, click here. Just like that standard tuning model, this variant comes with a nice padded gig bag.

In the case of the video and the link above, they’re for a black one (which I originally did). I intended to make up more but the supplier ran out of black ones, so I now have the natural finish available. They sound the same though!

Sorry, I can’t send anything from my special offers section to the EU.