This is the L.Luthier Sand model, a tenor electro ukulele and a very nice one at that. The first thing to unpack is the name… You might be familiar with L.Luthier models being called ‘Le’ something… that’s the ukes with the unusual off centre soundhole. So if it has ‘Le’ in front (like Le Sand), then it’s got the modern unusual soundhole. If it doesn’t, like this one, it’s a regular soundhole and usually a slightly lower price as it’s a bit easier to do. Then we look at the ‘EQ’ part, which means it’s an a elecro model with an active pickup. And finally all those woods… The Cedar and Mahogany are sandwiched together in a ‘double top’, with solid rosewood on the back and sides.

So this L.Luthier tenor electro ukulele has a double top… which is an interesting concept. It sounds a good idea, with two different woods used, each cut half the thickness of a regular ukulele’s top, and then glued together in a sandwich with the idea of bringing a combination of the tonal qualities of each of the woods. It sounds an interesting theory and yet you might be forgiven for thinking it’s better in theory. I was the same. Except it really works! On the top you get stunning looking quilted mahogany, which delivers some richness and balance, and underneath, cedar which gives power and projection. The designers of this instrument would have you believe that it therefore gives you some sort of supercharged mahogany… something with richness and some creamy warmth, that’s then catapulted out with the brightness and sweetness of cedar. And I would have you believe that as well, as I think it’s exactly what it’s like. Even if I too was a doubting Thomas!

The back and sides are made from solid Indian Rosewood, and the cutaway body has a flawless gloss finish. The cloudlike formations of the quilted mahogany look particular stunning with a grey to cream sunburst, bringing out sandy coloured tones. You can almost miss the inlays of abalone around the top, especially as it’s separated from the back and sides by some nice flamed maple binding.

L.Luthier, a Malaysian based company, aren’t ones for sticking by traditions particularly. Instead, with this Sand tenor ukulele, it’s as if they’ve gone through a big list of features that modern ukuleles can have and put them all on the one uke! There’s a bound fingerboard, fantastic Gotoh geared tuners, a rosewood headstock cap (with a little corner that’s chamfered off because… why not!), and a side soundport on the shoulder of the uke.

If that wasn’t enough, there’s an active pickup which has soundhole mounted controls that allow you to vary the uke’s tone by blending between the undersaddle pickup and a high quality internal microphone.

This L.Luthier tenor ukulele has a 37mm nut width, mahogany neck (with satin finish), side position markers, an ebony fingerboard and bridge and bone nut and saddle. It also has a particurly well padded gig bag - the sort where you could drop it down the stairs and the uke would survive. Probably. Don’t quote me on that and don’t put it to the test. Ukulele-throwing down the stairs experiments are done at the owner’s risk!

At the bottom of the page are a series of optional extras. These are standard across all ukulele pages on my site and therefore aren’t always suitable. Like the ‘add a gig bag’ option. Having extolled the virtues of the one that’s included, you don’t need that - and it’s so good the hard case option isn’t needed either. You could go for strap buttons (although the jack input doubles as one at the base of the uke), or a low G fitting.