New Tiny Tenor Production ("Affordable") Uke Impressions
I just bought one of the "affordable" Tiny Tenors (Solid Sitka Spruce top, laminate mahogany sides and back), and I'm very happy with it. As most people have observed with Pepe Romero ukes, the intonation is spot-on along the length of the fingerboard. Sustain in amazing (although the E string has a bit less sustain at the 3rd and 4th frets). Fit and finish is excellent, and the thing sounds great--very bright, clear, and loud. Mine is strung high g, but it came from Romero Creations with Pepe Romero low g (wound) and his own fluorocarbon strings (La Bellas). The thing sounds amazing with low g -- huge sustain with a great full bass note. Tuners are matte black and very cool looking (I heard they are Grover, but unbranded). Saddle and nut are real bone, and saddle is compensated.
When played, the thing feels alive. It pulses, vibrates, and feels like it's living--much more so than any other uke I've played. Jason Arimoto at U-Space played it for me (he's an amazing uke player!) and showed me just what this instrument is capable of doing in the right hands, and I was blown away with the clarity and projection of the sound.
The wide lower bout makes it really comfortable to hold and play, and allows for a much more comfortable and natural hand/arm position than most concert scale instruments offer.
Also came with a nice Romero Creations-branded nylon/polyfoam case that is perfectly fitted to the instrument's paddle shape, and offers a lot of protection. Will also fit in most standard concert size gig bags (but not hard cases). I bought a Road Runner gig bag from Guitar Center and it fits like a glove. The Ohana gig bag. As I said, I'm very impressed with the quality and sound of this instrument, especially at this price point (~$269 case included). When you consider that you would pay ~$80 - $100 for a decent hard case, it become apparent that you can get a nice Romero Creations Tiny Tenor for basically the same cost as a cheap Cordoba or Lanikai plus an add-on hard case. Pretty amazing deal, imo!
As for construction, the instrument is very light and lightly built (which probably accounts for the great intonation and resonance). Lovely and flawless French polish finish on the entire body. My only niggle is the label inside the body—it's a black and white paper "Romero Creations Tiny Tenor" sticker that, to my eyes, looks a bit unrefined. The pyroengraved wood label in the ~$500 versions looks much nicer. The internal construction is pretty clean (no glue marks). Pepe uses a 3-fan bracing method on the top and back, and on mine the center back brace seems to run at a slight diagonal down the centerline of the instrument (meaning it doesn't meet the tail block at the center, but to one side). Not sure if this is intentional or not, but it certainly doesn't affect the sound so I'm not concerned. Other than that, very nice build all around.
They can be a bit hard to find right now, but U-Space in Little Tokyo (Los Angeles) carries them regularly. I highly recommend this instrument, and suspect it will be very popular!