Ibanez UEWT5-OPN - Retoure (Zustand: sehr gut)

Well-made tenor ukulele with a nice warm sound and unusual tuning in E due to the strings (Ibanez/Aquila Nylblack, actually for soprano/concert ukulele). Very pleasant to play and also quite loud and full sound. I like it very much!

I couldn't resist: A tenor with 19 frets, cutaway and arched fingerboard! Since I often go into the high registers on the ukulele due to the limited tuning range, this alone was quite tempting. I was already familiar with the locked mahogany top from two other ukuleles (baritone and concert) and had not had a bad experience with it in terms of sustain and sound in general. As it turned out, it also has a tension rod in the neck, the set screw of which sits in the sound hole; an Allen key is included.

Right out of the box, it proved to be ready to play immediately. It was obviously pre-tuned, yet somehow it was different.... It turned out that it had originally been tuned in GCEA, but during the long transport it had become EAC#F#. Amazingly, three semitones lower than usual, the strings still sound good, don't buzz and the intonation doesn't suffer either. On the contrary, it is sufficiently clean in octaves. Sufficiently, because it is hardly possible to achieve absolute perfection on such short scales, not even with the compensated bridge inlay used here. I have really taken a liking to this tuning, which was quite common on tenor ukuleles a long time ago, but has now almost fallen into oblivion.

In contrast to some other instruments the original strings are really good. They are none of the cheap fishing strings that you often find even in this price range, which I have noticed time and again when testing ukuleles in music stores. Although I'm actually a fan of carbon strings and have also had some bad experiences with Aquila, I like these ones a lot. The only criticism is the slotted bridge: Sure you may be doing some players a favor by only having to tie a knot and just hook it into the bridge, but I never minded making a loop on a traditional knot bridge and threading the string through it. The problem for me was the slot for the G string. I don't like traditional tuning and wanted to string a low G string. Only thing was, the slot was too narrow for it. With a Dremel and matching router bit, I was able to widen it out accordingly. By the way, here for EAC#F# the A-string of a guitar set was just right; for the usual GCEA tuning Aquila, for example, supplies suitable single strings. Despite the compensated bridge action, the octave purity is still OK even with the low string. Whereby it should be mentioned that something like this is rarely installed on instruments with nylon strings anyway, because the effect is actually negligible and a straight bridge insert placed with precise offset is also sufficient.

Overall, the workmanship is good, but not very good. There are some stains on the top finish and glue residue inside. For perfectionists, the dressing of the frets might not be OK either, but I can live with it; there are no really sharp edges that you could hurt yourself on. Advantageous is the matt varnish especially on the neck. Glossy varnish squeaks when changing grips, even if it may look more "noble". The tuners have just acceptable play, I will perhaps eventually replace them with better ones.

In summary, I would say that the Ibanez is a good choice. Admittedly, compared to the masses, it doesn't really look that great: typical "upgrades" like body binding and fretboard ornamentation or a more pronounced soundhole rosette are missing. The designer also did without the usual flowery, symbolistic stuff on the top, which gives the instrument more of a toy character. In terms of proportions, however, it is really well done. No oversized headstock that could save a shipwrecked man's life as a paddle, and the cutaway doesn't look like it was just cut out with a jigsaw. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, the harness buttons are missing, but they can be procured and retrofitted for little money. But you can't hear all that anyway. The sound is probably hard to beat in this price range, unless with a solid top, but that could have a completely different character depending on the type of wood. The Ibanez is well on the way to becoming my favorite instrument.

Great optics, good sound, workmanship impeccable and very playable. Typical Ibanez!

Even in the pre-Christmas period, the order was shipped the next day. Very good service!