When a chum mentioned that there were some keenly priced ukes available from Kmise - a brand I'd never heard of - I thought I'd have a look on AliExpress. They're all over Amazon, too, but a bit dearer.
Six Chinese generic brand ukes have passed through my hands in the last few years and they've been good value, though sometimes needing some fettling. None have been great but they easily compare with branded far eastern factory-made instruments at twice the price.
But why do they have to choose a brand name you can't pronounce? Does it rhyme with pies or peas? Is the K silent?
I've never owned a tenor. As the mighty Sven Nystrom says: soprano is the scale of gentlemen; and the late, great Ray Shakeshaft maintained that Real Men Play Sopranos. But I sometimes feel the lack of one. I could be missing out on something.
There was a spruce top tenor for £37.74, including a tuner, gig bag and p&p. I'll say it again: £37.74.
Reader, I ordered one. It arrived eight days later, having sailed through customs as the usual $15 toy guitar. So what's it like?
THE BUILD
According to the spec, the top is solid spruce, the back and sides are mahogany (presumably laminate) and the neck is okoume, an African hardwood. The top, which has a decent gloss finish, does appear to be solid and isn't overly thick at about 2mm. The back is slightly arched. The sides and back are matte, which I like, and are fairly pale and plain with little notable figuring of the grain. The overall finish is very tidy both inside and out.The soundhole has an inlaid abalone rosette - a nice touch at this price. The front and back have black and white ABS binding, plus abalone on the front: a decent bit of bling, and not overdone. The neck is the usual three-piece and matches the mahogany quite well with a similarly smooth matte finish. It looks very good, in my opinion. And no bloody laser etching!
The bridge is rosewood in a distinctive "swoosh" shape and is of the tie-through type which is increasingly common, I've noticed. It's easy to manufacture and probably only adds a minute or two to a string change. The uncompensated saddle is stated to be bone. There are no strap buttons, which I think people may want on a tenor, but they're easy and cheap enough to DIY.
The fingerboard is rosewood, evenly coloured, and has a slight radius, which I wasn't expecting. It has 18 frets, with 14 to the body. The fretboard isn't bound but the fret ends are smooth. There are the usual outward-facing small, circular, pearl markers at frets 5, 7, 10 and 12 with (Oh Happy Day!) matching markers on the upper side of the neck.
Near the top, just below the nut, the neck and fingerboard seem to have been made a millimetre too wide, and it's been sanded down. It's not a biggy, but a niggle nonetheless.
The nut is bone. The headstock is a typical three-pointer with "Kmise" applied in thick metallic foil. The tuners are sealed chrome with black rubber buttons and are... OK. I noticed that one isn't screwed on absolutely square. This could easily be corrected, but it makes no difference to the tuning. The strings are Aquila, with the expected cardboard tag attached. It's strung with a high G.
It came with a lightly padded black gig bag and a perfectly adequate Joyo chromatic tuner. For £38, this would have to play really awfully to be bad value. Let's see...
THE PLAYING
It's nicely balanced, not at all top-heavy and sits well in the hands. The neck and fingerboard are smooth. The nut, though, is no wider than a soprano's, so the chubby-fingered will get little respite from this uke, despite its tenor scale.The action out of the box was OK. About 3mm at the octave, so I wouldn't bother lowering the bridge. It was a little high at the nut - not unplayable, but a few minutes filing down the nut slots improved the action considerably.
It plays nicely in tune, and is only very slightly sharp at the octave. Lowering the bridge would probably help this. But for most players, the intonation would be fine. There's no money up the dusty end, as Mr Doleman says.
And the sound? It makes a pleasant, tuneful noise that's neither particularly loud or quiet. No great resonance, sustain or subtlety, but it sounds pretty good. Not at all muddy or confused, and equally suited to fingerstyle or strumming.
SUMMARY
James Hill or Jake the Shake might not be impressed, but a beginner or intermediate player wanting the tenor experience would likely be more than happy. You get an awful lot for less than 40 quid.Will I keep it? No, it'll be raffled at the Xmas open mic. I reckon I'll wait for the funds for a Wunderkammer or TinGuitar before a tenor permanently joins the herd.
PROS
- Price
- Looks and finish
- Radiused fingerboard
- Top fret markers
CONS
- Sound doesn't inspire
- No strap buttons
UKULELE SCORES
Looks - 8 out of 10Fit and finish - 8 out of 10
Sound - 6 out of 10
Value for money - 9 out of 10
