This is a fantastic concert ukulele, made from solid spruce and flamed maple by the exceptionally talented luthier Martin van Humbeck. Martin makes his ukuleles in his workshop on Vancouver Island in Canada. So, as well as living in a beautiful place, he has access to some of the finest tonewoods in the world AND has amazing skills that produce some of the best ukuleles on the planet. If he wasn’t also one of the nicest people you could meet, you could start to resent him a little bit!

As ever with Martin’s work, there’s an amazing combination of top quality woods, great craftsmanship, excellent hardwear and a range of attractive visual features. Oh, and a sound to die for. To get through all these and not miss any out, I am going to start at the top of this ukulele and work my way down. Here goes…

We start with the headstock inlay, where Martin sensibly goes for a mother of pearl ‘Beck’ logo - rather than ‘Martin van Humbeck’, which, let’s face it, would be a bit long to go there. This is inlaid into a burled camphor headstock veneer. This is really attractive - the sort of wood you’d expect to see on the gearstick knob of a classic Bentley. There are also rear facing gold Gotoh UPT geared tuners with black buttons - the Rolls Royce of tuners (just to keep the classic car theme going).

We move down to the bone nut, which is a wider 38mm. The neck is made from mahogany and reinforced with a carbon fibre rod, and then you have an Indian Rosewood fingerboard, with a 16” radius. As someone who plays every size and shape of uke every single week, I tend to have an adaptable style - but I have heard plenty of people swear by a radiussed fingerboard, which gives them easier barre chords as that slight curve matches the curve of your finger.

Now we’re onto the AAAA grade one-piece sitka spruce top, a solid wood top with tight grain that’s surrounded by rosewood binding. There’s one of Martin’s signatures next, again in camphor burl, an asymetric soundhole decoration. On the sides, made from stunning solid reclaimed flamed maple, there’s a side soundport. The back is made of the same beautiful maple. Martin has used Worth Clear fluorocarbon strings, with high G, though he helpfully includes a Fremont low G in the hard case this concert uke is supplied with. Rosewood is used for the attractively shaped bridge, which also has bridge pins made from tintul (which I believe is another name for tamarind). Topping things off (although actually, we’re now at the bottom), there’s a hardwood strap button and a camphor burl tail graft.

Phew… I need a rest after typing all that. I know, I’ll relax and play this beautiful ukulele and listen to its perfectly balanced tone. It’s got loads of volume and lovely sustain - a sustain that still rings out in the higher reaches of the neck. It’s got a richness and a depth, that never sounds muddy. It’s got a brightness and clarity, that never sounds too much. These factors marry together in sonic harmony, with a fantastic chiming quality and lovely harmonics that almost gently pulse as they slowly ebb away after you strum. It’s versatile too, playing with a fingernail you can accentuate that bright character. With a thumb, you can bring out that warmth. It’s flipping good.

At the bottom of the page you can find common extras that can be easily added to your basket. This one comes with a case and has one strap button fitted, but you might want to add a low G or a ukulele strap.

For a demo of this Martin Beck ukulele being played, click additional info below.