Uma are great at making inexpensive, but quality instruments, and the UK-15ST tenor is no exception. At a price where some of the more well known names would be giving you a fancy looking laminate instrument, Uma have a really neatly made solid acacia top uke, with laminate acacia back and sides.

There’s pretty herringbone style perfling and a bit of sparkle in the soundhole decoration, plus nice, clear-sounding fluorocarbon strings and well made, cleanly turning geared tuners. Oh, and a decent gig bag as well.

The satin-finish UK-15ST has an open, woody sound, but one that’s still clear and gives you a nice chime when strummed. It’s a 35mm nut width uke, so standard feeling in your hands. Uma are good ukes for me to set up too, I can get the action really nice with minimal fuss at my end, which is always a bonus.

I came to this model a little later and it’s a funny thing but while I was impressed, I wasn’t blown away. But then I realised that’s simply because I was expecting it to be good because it’s an Uma. When I factor in the specification, the pretty looks, tidy construction and the open-sounding, earthy tone (sprinkled with brightness and clarity), it really is impressive for the money.

While this one has a gig bag, you can opt for common add-ons, like strap buttons, by scrolling to the bottom of the page for ‘stuff you might commonly buy with a uke, but that’s actually useful’.