Best sounding ukulele

Tigeralum2001

Tigeralum2001

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Not to open a huge can of worms, but what is the best sounding ukulele you have ever heard? I ask because I am looking for an absolutely amazing uke.

I recently had the chance to play a Pepe Ukulele and a couple Tony Grazianos. The Steve Van Pelt that MGM showed looked and sounded amazing, though I have never seen it in person. My dream uke is a Moore Bettah, but I have never seen one in person, either. Then there is also the vintage Martin 5K that demands a fortune. Also, there are many other ukes out there- Collins, Compass Rose, all of the Ks, etc..

So, what sounds best, or at least the best you have heard?
 
Such a subjective question. I don't know if anyone can really answer it. Of the ones I have played or owned including the kala acacia and couple major k brands, I honestly like my mahogany mainland tenor best. Followed by my Ohana solid zebrawood soprano. Many will say I'm nuts, like I said, very subjective. Happy hunting :)
 
All the ones you mention sound good. Moore Bettah, Martin, Santa Cruz and Collings are outstanding to my ear. The Blackbird CF also sounds good. Unfortunately, I could probably add a few more names, which doesn't narrow anything down very much. I usually like an instrument that sounds and feels good. Moore Bettahs are hard to beat on that count.
 
best advice: play them first. The first time I played a compass rose......I was hooked. Now, I have one.
 
My ohana CK 20S...it sounds realy great !even better than some koa uku...
 
Best I've heard in the flesh was a solid-wood concert-size ukulele from Uke of Northumberland. It was made of century-old birdseye maple and oregan pine. Incredible sound.
I haven't had the chance to try some of the other high-end ukes like Mya-Moe etc, but I'm sure they all sound amazing at this level.
 
I think I am being a bit biased here, but I have to say... KAMAKA!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL :p jk but its all personal preference and what sounds good to your ears. No two ukes are the same, even from the same brand, so just try them all, experiment, and see which one suites you best. What sound good to one ear/person may not sound as good to another...
 
Two stand out to me. A Mya-Moe soprano made from mango wood is the sweetest sounding uke of that scale I ever heard. The other, a Collings UC2, mahogany body with adirondack spruce top. Unbelievable rich and full tone, so loud and yet so warm with the most incredible sustain.
 
I would have to go with my '64 Guild Baritone. The tone of this solid mahogany ukulele is wonderful. Nicely balanced, with great mellow body. Perfect for Jazz standards. Hard to find but worth it if you do.
 
I think it really depends on what you are looking for in the sound. I've got a few ukes that sound great to me but very different from one to another. I do think a good all-koa body uke probably has the most well rounded sound to my ears. In this case the best all-koa ukes I've personally played are a Glyph mezzo-soprano and an Koa Works tenor.

Even though I've not really played a Moore Bettah (I've played a couple 4 years ago that were not setup, so kind of unplayable), I don't think you can go wrong with one because Chuck Moore has tons of experience with all-koa ukes and by all accounts, his ukes are outstanding.
 
Totally subjective, of course.

To me personally, the best I've ever played is my KoAloha Sceptre - followed VERY closely by a 1920's era vintage Martin soprano (couldn't guess at the model), a wonderful Compass Rose Rosewood 5-string at Sylvan Music in Santa Cruz, a National Concert Resonator, Gillian's 6-string Kamaka Tenor, David Roth's Mya-Moe Concert, and a Pineapple Sunday at Ukulele Source in San Jose.

There's a custom made banjo uke that Ron Gordon owns (don't know the maker) that is absolutely superb, as well.

Looking forward to playing something from Mike Devine, Check Moore, Brad Donaldson, and Pete Howlett one of these days...


-Kurt​
 
Head to Gryphon Stringed Instruments and grab the Flamed Maple Compass Rose on the wall. You might walk out with a much lighter wallet. It was all I could do not to buy it when I was there last week. Might be the best sounding uke I've ever heard and that's comparing it to other Compass Rose ukes I've heard.

-Gary
 
I've not had the opportunity to actually play or hear in person all that many ukuleles. Even of those I've actually owned I'd have a hard time picking a "best." I suppose if I had to pick just one I'd say the KoAloha longneck soprano. But I also like the tone of my Mainland mango tenor and low G mahogany cutaway tenor though they are completely different from the KoAloha and from each other. The KoAloha concert that I sold after I got my longneck was also stunning.

Why do we always insist that there has to be a "best" of everything? :)

John
 
Seriously, I don't think that there's ''the best'' sounding uke... I think there are a lot of nice builders out there that build some amazing ukes but to say that this one is a lot more better than another one is like not opening your mind and ears to appreciate all kind of colors that can bring different ukes...

I think it's all about how you want and perceive the sound of what should an uke sound like.

If you like the traditional sound like GX9901 said, best bet is probably an all koa uke.....and for that, guys and company such as MB, koaloha, kanilea, kamaka all do very nice ukes...

But if you want something different then luthier like Luis Feu de Mesquita (LFDM uke) and Mike Peireira (MP ukulele) are building some that has not the ''traditional'' uke sound....but they do sound amazing though!!!

So it's more about different color and sound presentation than best sounding...

My favorites ukes are still the LFDM and MP ukes even if my Pahu Kani is just another amazing uke but more traditional all koa sounding...
 
My two favorites of the ukuleles I own are a Kamaka tenor and a Mya-Moe myrtle tenor. I love playing them both, but for different reasons. The Kamaka has a more traditional percussive ukulele sound, and the Mya-Moe has a somewhat more twangy sound, but they both sound wonderful to me and I don't think I could pick one of them as being the "best." As others have said, you should try to play and listen to as many ukuleles as possible, and decide which is the best for your ears.
 
I like my Donaldson tenor. I like crisp precise notes and the uke does a fantastic job.
 
You guys are all wrong! It's clear from reading the posts on here that the best sounding ukulele is always the one you just bought. ;)
 
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