This is an unusual little soprano uke, which was made by Shinji Takahashi - a fantastic luthier who designed the Imua uke brand in Hawaii, trained the designers of Oulcraft ukuleles and produces the fabulous Seilen ukes - which go for several thousand pounds. Starting in the late 90's however, he made instruments under the 'T's Ukulele' brand. This is an early, custom example. It's a gloss finished, all solid koa instrument, with a wider, 38mm neck.

Now, the builder may have gone onto heady heights but this definitely his early work. It's not as pristine in build quality as the £4,500 Seilen ukes made now! There are a few tool marks and the kerfling is more chunky than you'd see these days. It is also used, and 20+ years old, so while it has been looked after, it does have some light surface strum marks. There's also a small mark on the top, pictured separately, which must have been a flaw in the wood as it was filled before the finish went on. It has a strap button which was at some point connected to an internal stick-on pickup. That doesn't work. But you can hang your strap from it. It also comes in a TGI ABS hard case.

It's tricky to value it. This was a custom model, made for 'Robert', and what he paid for it, we'll never know. And if you think what a custom model would cost now? Well, it would be hard to say that it's worth the several thousands it would cost now, as it's fair to say the luthier's art has improved from the promising beginnings shown in this example. The 'before' price then is somewhat plucked out of the air.

If you're into your history, are building a ukulele collection and would like a uke that has a pleasing, chiming sound, but one that's not as big or bold as an equivalent modern ukulele, then this is certainly an interesting piece. Given it's the early work of one of the greatest uke builders in the history of the world? Perhaps that will appeal to someone!