Ibanez Ukulele

Ibanez have a long history in guitars. Despite the name, they are made by a Japanese firm called Hoshino Gakki. They adopted the rather more Western-friendly name back in 1929 when they began importing guitars made by Spanish luthier Salvador Ibanez. As it happens, Salvador Ibanez made ukuleles. However, it wasn't until 2009 that Ibanez the firm launched their first ukuleles.

One interesting thing to note about the ukuleles is that they have a radiused fretboard i.e. they're curved outwards slightly. That's a common feature on guitars but ukulele fretboards are usually flat. The idea is that they make the large barre chords on guitar easier. I'm not sure how much that logic would transfer to the uke.

With them only having been launched recently, there's no consensus of opinion on them yet (and I haven't tried one myself) but their reputation as a guitar maker suggests they'll be worth checking out.

Models

Ibanez UKS10 Soprano Ukulele
Ibanez UKC10 Concert Ukulele
Ibanez Maple Concert Ukulele UEW10QM
Ibanez Spalted Mango Concert Ukulele UEW20SG
Ibanez Koa Soprano Ukulele UKS50

Yup, at the time of writing there's no tenor Ibanez ukulele. Strange since the other big guitar to uke transfer Fender released only tenor ukuleles.

On Musician's Friend

UKS10 Price: $49.99
UKC10 Price: $79.99
UEW10QM Price: $149.99
UEW20SG Price: $169.99
UKS50 Price $179.99

On eBay

On Video