This a stunning handmade Japanese tenor ukulele from one of the most respected builders there has ever been. It has arrived at World of Ukes after a two year wait, such is the demand for work of this standard.

Shinji Takahashi is one of World’s most highly regarded ukulele makers, renowned for his meticulous craftsmanship and beautifully considered instruments. With a background in guitar making dating back to 1980, Takahashi established his own workshop at a remarkably young age and has since developed a reputation for producing exceptional, individual ukuleles under his Seilen name. His approach combines traditional Japanese craftsmanship with a keen eye for design, carefully selected tonewoods and an obsessive attention to detail.

Takahashi’s reputation extends internationally, with his instruments having won awards and attracted a following among serious ukulele players and collectors around the world. Every Seilen is a highly personal instrument, reflecting Takahashi’s experience and craftsmanship rather than being simply another example of a mass-produced model. For players looking for something genuinely distinctive, a Shinji Takahashi ukulele offers the opportunity to own an instrument made by one of world’s true ukulele masters.

You know, owning something of this calibre doesn’t come cheap. And also it is difficult to rationalise. It is beautiful, sounds amazing and although I have said it already, it’s beautiful. (So beautiful I said it twice). But it is a lot of money and it’s not magic. It won’t make your skill level twice as good and while it sounds gorgeous, it does not sound ten times better than a £400 - it simply doesn’t work like that. But what you would get is something made by hand over many many hours, using the finest materials available and benefit from the expertise of one of the finest makers ever to stand at a workbench. Can you justify it? No? Unless you want to splash out and treat yourself. People do this with cars, watches, with cruises… would they get more pleasure than from owning this? The jury is out!

One thing that strikes me about this Seilen ukulele is the precision. Usually with a handmade ukulele, even the best ones you can tell they’ve been made by hand. That’s not a bad thing particularly, but you don’t get quite that absolute perfection that comes from something made by machine. Well, Shinji IS a machine as this is as flawless as anything I’ve ever seen. So precise and so flawless. To get from that 99% level to this sort of perfection takes time, skill, patience and love.

This tenor ukulele has a curly maple body, Honduras mahogany neck, a maple headplate and Hawaiian koa binding (the latter looking particularly lovely). It has abalone purfling and a koa/abalone soundhole rosette, and a custom inlay depicting the Tree of Life down the length of the ebony fretboard. That ebony is such good quality, it looks like dark granite. It’s good stuff.

It has a semi-gloss polyurethane finish which is light as a feather and super-tactile, and comes with Gotoh geared tuners and Savarez strings. The latter are a good choice, with a nice mix of ‘thickness’ (in sound terms) and sustain. The sound is delicate when you want it to be and forceful if you give it some ‘oomph’. It is a beautiful thing in every way.

Do you need it? You know… you don’t. Can you justify it? Again, you know the answer. Do you want to throw caution to the wind and own a piece of playable art from a true maestro of ukulele making? I’ll leave that up to you.

Although it didn’t come to me in a hard case, I have included one. At the bottom of the page you’ll find some optional extras, common to every uke on the site. As there’s a hard case now, you can ignore that one - but others like low G fitting might tickle your fancy.