A few years back in the USA I was talking to a colleague about setting up a ukulele based band and he commented “Is that a serious instrument?” Of course professional musicians know that the ukulele is one of the most wonderful and sonically fascinating instruments to grace planet earth. It’s no surprise to me that many of the most respected guitar builders like Bill Collings have ventured into creating these wonderful instruments.
In the last two years I have collected some of the very best ukuleles on the planet and now own a growing collection of really quite extraordinary instruments. My favourites include concert and tenor ukes from Bill Collings, some custom build ukes from Rob Collins in the UK and a number of extraordinary instruments from Shimo in Japan. Of course these are mostly high end instruments in terms of build and cost, but wonderfully great value as well. Aside from these top end ukes its also possible to find many reasonably priced instruments that sound and play great. Far from being what one rather daft uneducated person described as “toy guitars” these are extraordinary instruments that have a tradition dating back decades and for those with ears to listen produce the most wonderful uplifting inspirational sounds!
