This is a brand new instrument but it should have a hard case. When I moved my business to new premises, the hard case seems to have been misplaced. It had been up on the wall ready to be photographed and the case… nowhere to be found. I have put it in a second hand pod case, so there’s a case of sorts with it, just not the original posh one.

There’s lot of volume with the X1-HMS-S, and a traditional vibe. It’s an open sounding, woody sounding instrument. There’s that brightness backed up with a ‘bark’ and then a swell of warmth that reminds me of an old Martin. There’s enough clarity for effective picking and chord melody, and it sounds particularly good when playing chords that are cut short with a palm mute, when you can really appreciate that powerful attack.

This ‘Oli soprano has a rosewood fingerboard and string- through bridge, as well as a satin finish, X-bracing and fantastic Gotoh UPT tuners. The makers clearly have a confidence that it’ll go down well and therefore go for premium fixtures and fittings. They put the cost up, but they feel worth it.

This soprano has a 36mm nut width, with a fairly shallow neck profile. These feel great as does the slight radius to the fretboard, which I find particularly useful as a tall man playing a small instrument, as it helps me when squeezing my fingers into tricky positions. The Ko’olau fluorocarbon strings are silky smooth and nice under the fingers too.

Please note - items in my special orders section can only be ordered online, and can't be tried in store. Also, they're available to UK customers only.