The ‘Oli L2-TCR is a very attractive tenor ukulele and it’s a uke that sounds lovely too. I will go on and give some for information, but that’s the headline: Looks great, sounds great.

These ‘Oli ukuleles are made in Indonesia by the team at the most famous ukulele retailer in the world, The Ukulele Site in Hawaii. Obviously well placed to gauge what players want and the what the factory can achieve, they’ve come up with a series of extremely impressive instruments together. The results are very exciting, taking the best of tradition and putting in the modern touches and twists that players are looking for.

The L2-TCR from ‘Oli was the first one that gravitated towards from my first shipment, as I have always been a fan of solid cedar tops. I like the directness and volume that it gives, with a brightness that has a slightly softer ‘edge’ that spruce. Add in solid rosewood for the back and sides and play the L2-TCR and you realise it’s a classic combination for a reason.

While the wood choice might be a traditional favourite, moving on to the rest of the instrument and the creators of the brand have taken a list of features that modern players like and basically included them all. There’s a side soundport for example, giving you a burst of volume directly to you as a player, and, potentially increasing the sweetness of tone (well, that’s what Martin Beck finds with his ukes at any rate, and I’ll not argue with him!)

The you have Gotoh UPT rear facing tuners, one of the great innovations of the recent era of ukulele popularity - which are lightweight, neat and reliable. Before my first shipment arrived, I wasn’t sure about the string they’d arrive with - Ko’Olau Aho fluorocarbons with smoothwound low G. I’d not tried them, but having done so now I am very impressed - they’re lovely smooth-feeling strings, with plenty of punch without so much tension to be painful. A very good choice.

You also have an ebony comfort edge, which is very well done, with a smooth chamfered edge. There are classy visual touches, like the rosewood used in the soundhole rosette which naturally works visually, as it matches the back and sides. You have position markers that wrap around the edge of the ebony bound fingerboard, which look very good in maple and then that headstock… with its floral inlays that are semi-abstract, colourful and classy in my view.

The thing about ukes like the ‘Oli L2-TCR is that just when you think you’ve finished talking about the looks, you realise you’ve missed something like the curved end of the fingerboard where it meets the soundhole, which really does it for me! And facts like it comes with a hard case too.

Moving on to how it plays, this ‘Oli uke has a nut width just a shade over 36.5mm. I think is sensible, as it’s wider than the 35mm I favour, but not so wide as to put me off. And not as wide as the 38mm Barry Maz from the Got A Ukulele website would favour, but not so narrow as to put him off. I am absolutely not suggesting that either of us have any influence on this, but if you put us down as examples of the two ‘nut width camps’, then the choice seems a good compromise.

There fingerboard also has a slight radius, so the frets follow the curve of you finger nicely, in theory making it easier to play barre chords. (I say ‘in theory’ as I don’t want to give the impression is makes them completely simple, but it does help!) And the set up is fantastic too. I include a card with all my ukes that details what I have to do to each one as part of my set up process. I’ve written, ‘action lowered at the nut’ on virtually every one, to the point where I’ve thought - you know what - I need to just get this printed on rather than write it in pen each time. And then along comes the ‘Oli L2-TCR and I didn’t do a thing to the nut as it was perfect!

The bone saddle has a curve as you might expect with a radiussed fretboard, a curve which gives a greater string height under the low G than it does at the A. I’ve adjusted this so the curve is more even across the strings and you can get the action at 2.5mm at either side - and done so without issue. I didn’t anticipate any problems as the frets are perfectly level, so no buzzing at all. This is why getting to know new brands is tricky when you’re fussy - you get instruments in and you want to sell them, it’s what I do after all, but it’s good to get to know them too - even if it is a pain!

Phew… this is like War and Peace and I’ve not even got onto what it sounds like yesterday (aside from the opening statement, of the short but accurate description, ‘great’). One thing that did strike me immediately was the very very impressive sustain. These lattice braced instruments have nice, thin tops, and that cedar vibrates and pours forward it’s lovely, balanced tone for ages and ages. I am trying to think if I can remember another ukulele with sustain that was better. I am struggling to think of one. The sound is punchy, but not brash. It’s expressive, rich, and yet clear. It’s great, as I said! The name of the brand means ‘joy’, and this is a joy to listen to.

At the bottom of the page you’ll find various options you can easily add to your basket. As this ‘Oli L2-TCR has a low G already and a hard case, you can ignore those. But you might be interested in a strap button or strap.