This is an interesting model from Martin, an all solid koa tenor uke fitted with a professional Mi-Si pickup. It’s interesting in part as all solid koa ukes tend to be a bit more expensive - especially with a pickup that is around £200 worth of kit. So, while you don’t tend to associate Martin ukuleles with being inexpensive - it sort of is. It’s still a lot of money! But compared to a Hawaiian made uke, or, say, an aNueNue made from koa, it’s good spec for the money.

The finish is gloss, and while the koa is fairly plain, it’s pretty under the gloss and lifted by some nice black and white purfling, dark binding and soundhole rosette. It has good quality Grover geared tuners and a slim nut width at 34mm, but something that’s countered I find by a slim neck profile too - I like that shallow neck as it allows you to crane your fingers around nicely and not feel so cramped.

In terms of sound, the Martin TKE is something of an all-rounder. No one factor of its tone really stands out as the dominant feature, but as a whole it works really well. So, aided by the Martin fluorocarbon strings, it’s bright - but not too bright. The solid koa gives some warmth but not so much it sounds muddy. It’s just a really nice sounding ukulele that sustains well and chimes nicely when strummed, while at the same time sounding articulate and clear when picked.

Then of course you have a Mi-Si pickup, an active pickup that comes with an adaptor allowing you to recharge it in a minute or two. The supercapacitor it has provides 8-12 hours on a single charge, and you can’t overcharge it - so a quick top up each time you’re setting up and that’s you battery free for life. I use a Mi-Si. Writing this description mine has just passed the 10 year mark, of very regular use - so they’re reliable too (not just mine, but the many hundreds fitted at World of Ukes over the years). They sound natural and expressive - ideal for recording or performing.

I mentioned the price being good for an electro tenor ukulele of this spec. But you can probably get it even cheaper somewhere else - as Martin dealers seem to take turns it trying to out-do each other in price wars. I don’t get into that - what can I say, I need to make some money! My margin is less than any other brand of uke I carry even at the price I have here, and if I didn’t charge that I wouldn’t be able to spend 30+ hours a week in my workshop setting ukuleles up. And they need it - the action is on the high side - there are often frets which need some levelling… They’re playable from the box if you want to save a few quid from somewhere that doesn’t inspect ukuleles. They play properly when they’ve been on my bench. Whether that extra works justifies a little extra cost I suppose is up to you - but I wouldn’t send a uke out without it.

At the bottom of the page you’ll find a series of extras that can be easily added on. One thing you can ignore is the gig bag, as the Martin TKE comes with one - and a fantastic, heavily padded one at that. In fact, I’d suggest a hard case is unneccessary really as the bag is that good. There’s also things like strap button fitting and low G’s.