This American Made LoPrinzi ukulele is a bit of a hybrid, with its 16” scale being between a concert and tenor in length. You could argue it is a long scaled concert, or short scale tenor ukulele. But given the body size is the same as a tenor, I’ve opted for the latter. It gives a more tenor-esque tone, with a little bit more volume and richness, with a scale that isn’t too much of a stretch for those who prefer concerts. And to be fair, as a tenor player myself, it doesn’t feel particularly smaller than I’m used to either.

This was made by Donna LoPrinzi in Florida, perhaps the most well known female luthier working today. She’s great at producing vibrant-sounding, tidy and lightly built instruments, which squeeze out every ounce of sound through their thin tops - which vibrate freely and issue forth plenty of volume and harmonic richness.

The uke has been made from all solid cherry wood, which has a sweet tone which is really well balanced - a real all-rounder that’s not too bright and not too warm, it’s just right. Donna sets up her ukes well too (better than many luthiers), and produces instruments that are expensive enough to allow her to make something really good, but not so expensive that owning a luthier-made instrument is beyond the reach of all but the biggest budgets.

This LoPrinzi uke has fluorocarbon strings, an ebony fretboard and bridge and geared tuners. The nut width is a standard 35mm, and it’s neatly made, without going overboard on expensive decorations. That said, the abalone soundhoule rosette is well done and the maple and walnut stripe down the back of the (cherry) neck is a lovely touch.

For common addons, like cases, bags and strap buttons, scroll to the bottom of the page where you’ll find them waiting to be added to your basket along side this USA made cherry short-scale tenor ukulele from LoPrinzi.

There’s a video demo of this uke, alongside a concert uke from the same maker, if you click additional info below.