First Impressions: Aaron Oya MGM Thin Body Tenor

UAS bit hard last week with the new ukes from Ukulele Guild of Hawaii coming up for sale at HMS. I've always admired Aaron Oya's work, and love great playability. So when an MGM Thin Body (spruce/koa) tenor from Aaron was listed on HMS, I jumped on it. It arrived today and wanted to give my initial impressions of it.

This is the 3rd Thin Body tenor Aaron has made, a design that MGM had requested from Aaron. I was astounded with the loud warm clear sound from a uke that's about half the thickness of a typical tenor. The playability and comfort are superb. The fit and craftsmanship are top tier on this tenor too. Great fretwork and fretboard binding. The neck isn't overly thin, but it is really comfortable. HMS/Aaron had it set up perfect, so the playability is among the best out there. The uke is super light and Hipshot tuners are really nice looking and work so smooth. Ko'olau has a hardcase that apparently fits it perfect. The D'Addario T2 strings and wound D'Addario g work well with uke. The only thing that might be improved is that the gloss finish has a very slight orange peel texture to it in a couple places (micro mesh pads should take care of that). More info and specs can be found here: [video]http://www.theukulelesite.com/aaron-oya-mgm-thinbody-3-spruce-koa-tenor.html[/video]

It's a gorgeous uke (looks and sound). I'll let the uke do the rest of the talking.
Here's a sound sample:https://app.box.com/s/psxuxcuj34hhgiix6htriq1b73pnt6ww

And some pics:

More pictures



Here is Corey playing this Thin-body tenor, sounds this good in person (but of course I don't play anywhere near Corey).

Sweetness. Awesome, Hodge. Here's another good one from way back. Man, I miss MGM busting out these ole chords:

Might as well throw this other one up, too, before Len does

Very beautiful. Love the headstock.

Loud, warm, clear - that is amazing for a thin body. It's a beauty. Thanks for sharing Hodge and congrats!

bonesoup said:

Loud, warm, clear - that is amazing for a thin body. It's a beauty. Thanks for sharing Hodge and congrats!

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Everything Dan said.........just a fabulous instrument with a very interesting quality about it.

Hodge I just love when you keep buying stuff and suprising us. A Larrivee and now this in what......less than a week. My consciemce is always clear because of you. Carry on brother, carry on.

Oh, my! That's beautiful and different, my favorite combination.

I love ukes with clarity, note separation and this uke definitely has it!

You know I'm a sucker for bound fretboard and especially purfling between neck and fretboard and underneath the headstock vaneer. Very nice miter work. Seems like a bargain for the amount of work he put it in with great sound!

Another remarkable detail on Aaron's builds now is that the nut is slotted into the fingerboard.

Excellent score, Hodge! Really huge sound!

Thanks for nice comments everyone. I am really enjoying playing this awesome thin body tenor from Aaron, loving the big sound with just the right balance of qualities. It is also the most comfortable uke I own. The thin body has kept away my right shoulder arthritis pain (from old injury in my youth).

Dan Uke said:

I love ukes with clarity, note separation and this uke definitely has it!

You know I'm a sucker for bound fretboard and especially purfling between neck and fretboard and underneath the headstock vaneer. Very nice miter work. Seems like a bargain for the amount of work he put it in with great sound!

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Yep, indeed it does have the clarity, separation, and warmth, in a thin package. Definitely a bargain for a top quality luthier-made instrument. I'll be playing this one for many years to come.

DownUpDave said:

Everything Dan said.........just a fabulous instrument with a very interesting quality about it.

Hodge I just love when you keep buying stuff and suprising us. A Larrivee and now this in what......less than a week. My consciemce is always clear because of you. Carry on brother, carry on.

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Glad to enable Dave.

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Here is top comparison pic to show the thinness of this uke better.

+1 on bound fretboard. I have one on my Tenor Opio and it feels great. Congratulations Hodge...great looking and sounding ukulele. I'm a sucker for spruce tops. Can you comments on hipshot tuners! They sure look cool. You Said smooth to operate. How is the weight?
Thanks for sharing .......enjoy this great looking and sounding ukulele. Have. You found a smaller case to protect and house it yet?

Hodge, one last thing...... I missed you review of Larrivee tenor. Do you have link with pics.

M3Ukulele said:

Hodge, one last thing...... I missed you review of Larrivee tenor. Do you have link with pics.

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Didn't do a separate review. My pics/comments on my Larrivee are here: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?116945-Larrivee-Tenor-in-the-flesh/page2

M3Ukulele said:

+1 on bound fretboard. I have one on my Tenor Opio and it feels great. Congratulations Hodge...great looking and sounding ukulele. I'm a sucker for spruce tops. Can you comments on hipshot tuners! They sure look cool. You Said smooth to operate. How is the weight?
Thanks for sharing .......enjoy this great looking and sounding ukulele. Have. You found a smaller case to protect and house it yet?

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The Hipshot tuners are really nice, small, and not heavy. I really like them.
This thin body tenor is perfectly balanced at neck heal. It is light weight, noticeably lighter than a full body tenor. It came in a Koolau case for a Koolau chambered body electric tenor that fits perfectly.

OOOOOOH. I really love a thinner body. Beautiful.

Thanks Hodge for letting us see this one.

DownUpDave said:

Everything Dan said.........just a fabulous instrument with a very interesting quality about it.

Hodge I just love when you keep buying stuff and suprising us. A Larrivee and now this in what......less than a week. My consciemce is always clear because of you. Carry on brother, carry on.

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Just read your review ... fabulous Uke ... tone is wonderful and gorgeous head to toe.

Yes, please keep buying as it inspires us to raise the level ... and Dave has left me in the dust!

Oh, you're the one who snagged this one so quickly! Congratulations on a very special instrument! I've always been impressed with the unique design as well as with the sound samples of Aaron's ukes, and your review seems to confirm all that.

I would normally not comment on a review of one of my builds, so this is a rarity for me. I do have to thank you Hodge, for not only getting the instrument, but for the honest feedback. I have some goals this year, and your comments will certainly come into play.

I will say that I've never seen a thread where all three MGM Thinlines are present with vid/sound samples. Gotta admit, kinda cool from where I sit, and very good memories of a friend I've been thinking of recently.

Also cool is the fact that the instrument was listed for only a few hours. Andrew does so good at moving instruments quickly ( I think the last one was less than a day)

Aloha!