I enjoy playing this uke, it has a nice low action and good intonation (both of which were lacking in the cheaper ukuleles in the local music store I bought from). The D’addario strings it came with were a bit too muted for my taste so they were changed for Aquilas, which brightened it up nicely. It is still a relatively quiet instrument when played acoustically — which is actually a good thing for me as I don’t get complaints from neighbours and can take it into hotel rooms and practise when away from home.

The tone is pleasant, but it doesn’t sound entirely like a classic all wood soprano uke. It is a rather more mellow and muted until it is plugged in and amplified (via its passive piezo pickup) — at which point it becomes more alive. Once plugged in however a problem appears — the C string resonates more strongly than the others and needs careful EQing to balance it out.

I’m very new to ukulele and can’t play this uke without a strap — the rounded back makes it rather slippery and it tries to slide away. A more experienced player would probably have no problem, but I resorted to a Uke Leash ( http://ukeleash.com/ ) which sorted it for me.

Reading back over what I’ve written it looks a bit more negative than I intended — I actually rate this a keeper.