Ratings

Overall 0
Sound 0
Playability 0
Value for 0
Looks 0
Construction 0

Ashbury Ukulele

Ratings

Ashbury are a UK firm who sell a wide range of instruments including a range of ukuleles. Their ukuleles are fairly inexpensive (but not the very cheapest) and very similar to other ukuleles out there (such as Oscar Schmidt). The range includes a resonator ukulele very similar to the Johnson resonator.

I have an Ashbury Koa Concert ukulele and it's my favourite day to day ukulele and I play it far more than my other ukuleles. It's very easy to play, the action is low and the fretboard smooth. It was my first 'proper' ukulele and I don't think I could have made a better choice for a starter uke.

It should be pointed out that the koa wood is just a laminate - it's not solid koa wood - and you wouldn't expect it to be at this price.

On Video

Me playing my Ashbury Koa Concert Ukulele.

On eBay UK

5 Comments

  1. Vincent Wright July 27th, 2010 12:48 pm

    Hi I just wanted to say that I went to a ukulele jam a few weeks ago and a guy there was playing a Ashbury AU-60 Concert Ukulele made out of oak (laminate i imagine). I must say that this ukulele had such a nice sound to it I was quite blown away. not quite but even gave good sound this girl sitting next to him playing a Kanile soprano uke so I would agree these ukuleles are worth every penny and then some.

    thats my two pence worth

    I think some one would love one of these as a starter ukulele

    vince

    Overall Not Rated Sound Not Rated Playability Not Rated
    Value for Not Rated Looks Not Rated Construction Not Rated
  2. Dan September 15th, 2010 2:40 am

    I’ve recently bought an AU60 oak, after trying to learn on a cheapo uke. My playing has come on in leaps and bounds,I would say that it is an excellent instrument for the serious beginner, and you won’t need to trade up as your playing improves. It seems well made, is a reasonable price, sounds great and comes with a fairly decent gig bag.

    Overall Sound Playability
    Value for Looks Construction
  3. Andy November 12th, 2010 12:21 am

    Recently bought an AU-24T tenor Ashbury uke in all solid Rosewood cherry (£179). It’s a lovely colour and has a really great tone and I love the understated style (‘A’ is my initial too, nice).

    Build quality – or at least finishing – isn’t great though, with varnish drips, fading and bubbles everywhere, and i’ve had to do some work on the tuners straight away (like screwing them on properly). But those things aside, it’s a keeper just for the music, which is what its about. It takes a lot for me to look this far beyond physical quality, but I want this sound and fingers crossed it will last as the problems are with finishing rather than construction. Worth the risk.

    It’s certainly enough to inspire me to play my way to a better one when the time comes, until then I’ve just decided to close my eyes and enjoy it with my ears.

    So: looks (from a distance) and sounds really great, but somebody might wanna look at quality control.

    oh, didn’t get a gig bag with it.

    Overall Sound Playability
    Value for Looks Construction
  4. Kris January 11th, 2011 12:57 am

    This is my second Ukulele and I gotta say, it sounds like Andy up above had a duffer – My Ashbury Koa-top Tenor (159 quid) came with the gig bag, tuners screwed on properly, and has withstood three months of furious fan strumming without any kind of damage to the instrument itself.

    I spent a good few hours driving around and trying out 15 different Ukuleles and the sound on this one was unbeatable for the price. Stocked with Aquilas out of the box, the added length takes a little while to get used to if you`re making the leap from a soprano, but being a former bass player helped out with the fret spacing. It also helps that the instrument looks BEAUTIFUL!! I absolutely love it, and its made my Lanikai-friends jealous. Couldn`t recommend it enough.

    Overall Sound Playability
    Value for Looks Construction
  5. allan shaw February 3rd, 2011 8:41 am

    well l bought a ashbury tenor ukulele and l am sorry if this goes against the grain but the preamp did not fit right it kept coming lose in fact there were only two screws holding it in the other two screws were just about and l mean just about touching the wood on the inside. l had to take it back to Johnny roadhouse in Manchester which they then changed it for the same model. l took it home but after a week l still could not get it to stay in tune. i changed the strings to see if that would make things better but no matter what l tried after play a couple of songs l had to re tune. the sound quality was ok but it never jumped at me as much to say yes that it. the Finnish seamed ok but on a closer look the body stain had a smudge on the rear. would l buy one again well yes providing next time l would take a closer look, and that the sound quality had a better response. I do have other Uku’s such as a pono and mainland and a ovation, how would l compeer the ashbury to these well sorry but it would have to be at the bottom of the list

    Overall Sound Playability
    Value for Looks Construction

Got something to say?





Click the stars to rate
Overall
Sound
Playability
Value for
Looks
Construction