Double NUD: Millar TM-240 & SP-240W

Dohle

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No, I didn't buy these ukes at once but I'll tell you what I did. I bought the Millar TM-240 from World of Ukes first and I was so impressed with the quality (and the price) that I immediately wanted to get another Millar. I had to think about it for a while since Millar has quite a nice range of ukes but eventually I chose the SP-240W because I didn't have a spruce top concert yet. Here they are in all of their glory.

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Sound samples:
TM-240
SP-240W

You've probably heard/seen Bazmaz and Alex from SUS gush about Millar ukuleles and there's a reason for it. They easily rival some of the more popular mid-range ukes like Pono or KoAloha Opio or the Rebel but they're often cheaper than their equivalent competition.

The TM-240 particularly is ridiculously affordable when considering the quality. It was 269 GBP which is equal to a tad over $300. For your money, you get an all solid mahogany concert ukulele, rosewood fingerboard and bridge, really nice Der Jung tuners, and a satin finish. It's a very traditional build and even comes with black nylon strings. There's just nothing really wrong with it. Well ok, maybe the neck joint is a bit too obvious but that's just aesthetics. I wonder what kind of mahogany it's made out of. First I thought it was sapele because of the stripiness but with the naked eye it looks darker so maybe it's African mahogany. It plays great and is surprisingly loud considering the nylon strings which I will keep using, although I already switched to clear nylons just to test. Speaking of loud...

The SP-240W is a cannon. You might've seen Bazmaz and some others review the SP-210L which is the long neck soprano version of this one, so you can consider the SP-240W the big brother since it's a concert scale and body. It's quite incredible how the volume barely drops off at all when played further up the neck. The tone doesn't only have the brightness of the spruce top (Engelmann spruce, I believe) but also plenty of sweetness and warmth from the acacia back and sides. I also can't hear much of the restrained harmonic tone that acacia can sometimes produce, and I like that a lot with this uke (this is a bit difficult to describe for me, sorry). The spruce top doesn't have that nice tight grain that some spruce can have but... it's spruce, innit. It's always going to look at least somewhat boring. The acacia on the other hand looks fabulous. The flaming is so nice that the photos above really don't give it justice. There's also the rope binding of course which I think looks really nice on this uke. This one was a bit pricier than the TM-240 at 499 GBP but it really is as nice as anything you can get for that amount of money.

Both these Millars (all Millars most likely) have a really nice neck profile with a fairly thin neck and a really pronounced flat point at the back. Definitely no broom handles here. The quality for the money here is just so good. I own a few high-end ukes but these are just as much fun to play, sometimes more so. I would definitely recommend you give Millar a try if you have around $500 to spend on a uke. I know they aren't really available in the States but both Southern Ukulele Store and World of Ukes will ship to the US and they often have a decent stock of these.
 
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Nice! and congrats!

I like the photos. The first one reminds me of a pair of lovers sitting together. Then they did something embarrassing in the second; so they have their backs toward us in the third.
 
Congratulations on your new babies!
 
Nice! and congrats!

I like the photos. The first one reminds me of a pair of lovers sitting together. Then they did something embarrassing in the second; so they have their backs toward us in the third.

Haha, I didn't mean it but I can see it now that you mentioned it. :D Maybe it's best not to think about what they did in the second photo... I do like the fact that they look about as different as they sound.


Congratulations on your new babies!

Cheers.
 
Nice review. Looks like you got some very nice concerts. Congrats.
 
I hadn't heard of Millar ukuleles before, but those really look nice, and from the sound samples I found on the Southern Ukulele site, they sound great too.
They seem like a really good price for a ukulele (or 2!) that should keep you happy for a long time. Enjoy!
 
I hadn't heard of Millar ukuleles before, but those really look nice, and from the sound samples I found on the Southern Ukulele site, they sound great too.
They seem like a really good price for a ukulele (or 2!) that should keep you happy for a long time. Enjoy!

Thanks. That reminds me, I forgot to do sound samples which would've been particularly pertinent given I showcased two ukes at once. Even with my crappy recording equipment you should be able to hear a clear difference between the two. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow.
 
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