Introduction: a foreword about the best tenor ukuleles
Picking the right Ukulele can be tricky! There’s so many brands and models that can easily get confused. That’s why we went over the current models on the market and found the best tenor ukulele for every skill level and budget!
Regardless of your age or gender, it is essential to find a comfortable, high-quality instrument, because you are going to spend numerous hours with your beloved wooden new toy. After we go through the detailed reviews, we will talk a little bit about tenor ukuleles in general! Remember, if anything seems too confusing, you can always look up our beginner ukulele guide, baritone ukulele guide and electric ukulele guide for more clarification and additional ideas about your new music tool. Let’s dig in!QUICK RUNDOWN
If you are in a hurry these are our TOP 5 Picks for the Best Tenor Ukuleles:
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Product
Features
1. Martin T1K Koa
- Solid Hawaiian koa back, sides and top
- Select hardwood neck with solid morado fingerboard
2. Cordoba 30T-CE All Solid Acoustic Electric
- Solid mahogany top, back, and sides
- Handmade with Spanish heel neck joint and fan bracing
3. Kala KA-SRMT-TRI Mango Tri-Back
- Solid rosewood/mango back and sides
- Solid spruce top
4. Kala KA-T Mahogany
- Mahogany body and neck
- Walnut fingerboard
5. Lohanu Tenor Ukulele Bundle
- High Quality at Low Price!
- Unconditional Lifetime Warranty
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Table of Contents
7 Best Tenor Ukuleles Reviews
Best Tenor Ukulele Under $600:
Overview:
No other ukulele comes close to this example of flawless craftsmanship and unique design. Martin’s T1K tenor ukulele is truly a masterpiece with great materials and the best price to value ratio of this list.
Product description and details:
The care and precision put into this instrument can certainly be felt and heared, which makes this uke precise instrument. The ukulele sounds great, plays effortlessly and looks wonderful.
We consider the price tag to be super reasonable, this Martin‘s instrument is undoubtedly as close to perfection as an instrument can get.
All in all, if you are a professional who can’t afford to play a cheap instrument, you may be looking at your next big investment right now. When only the highest caliber is of consideration, Martin’s T1K is the only natural choice!
- Tone & Sound Quality 100%
- Playability & Feel 100%
- Quality 100%
THINGS WE LIKED
- Top quality instrument
- Very organic and rich sound
- Beautiful minimalist aesthetics
- Martin’s Applied Dovetail Neck Joint
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Somewhat overpriced
Overview:
Cordoba’s 30T-CE is a perfect example of what happens when a company designs the ideal blend of quality and affordability. This uke boasts with incredible sound and fantastic features, all delivered in a Polyfoam Case for a reasonable price.
Product description and details:
Handmade with Spanish heel neck joint and fan bracing, the wider fingerboard and the soft cut-away offer effortless playability.
That is because these boutique, all-solid tenor ukuleles are approached from a classical or Spanish guitar building perspective, which means that the design is meant to aid the sound production.
This instrument really exceeds expectations, mostly because full size guitars made with similar woods and techniques reach prices of thousands of dollars.
The instrument offers great projection and is highly resonant and responsive. The tone is very smooth, deep, rich, and dynamic with a wide range for different playing styles and excellent sustain.
If you want to play a fantastic hybrid ukulele with acoustic and electric elements, then the Cordoba 30T is not going to disappoint you.
- Tone & Sound Quality 95%
- Playability & Feel 96%
- Quality 94%
THINGS WE LIKED
- High-quality instrument
- An affordable instrument with great features
- Decent case contains a set-up instrument
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Additional color options would’ve been nice
Best Tenor Ukulele Under $500:
Overview:
This Solid spruce top ukulele by Kala is very unique because it mango back. While it is not the most recommended instrument for a beginner, it is a nice addition to any touring, performing or recording musician who wants a huge sound in a small package.
Product description and details:
The tone is very rich and loud as long as you tune the strings correctly and precisely. Luckily, the tuning machines that Kala uses are of the highest quality.
The beautiful fret-markers and the modern design make this instrument a pleasure to play.
That being said, it is not an instrument suited for beginners and it will require some practice before you can produce good sound.
But if you have some experience, you will probably enjoy this instrument, too!
- Tone & Sound Quality 94%
- Playability & Feel 92%
- Quality 94%
THINGS WE LIKED
- Big sound in a small ukulele
- Very unique instrument
- High-quality build
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Not suitable for beginners
- Requires practice and habituation
Best Tenor Ukulele Under $400:
Overview:
This Oscar Schmidt instrument takes the best of both worlds and delivers a great Ukulele with nice sub-mellow tone.
This Uke holds it’s tune for a long time and with the current bunsdle you get Aquila string a hard case and a clip-on tunner.
Product description and details:
This is a 4 string ukulele, allows a pure Hawaiian sound, making the chords fuller and richer, but preserving the unique sound of a standard uke and keeping the melody-playing simple.
The fantastic Grover tuners make sure that the uke is always in tune.
While the ukulele comes in a case, which is a nice addition, the ukulele is not always properly set up and you may want to bring it to a technician. More precisely, the strings are sometimes set up too high.
The sound is not as good as with some other, more expensive models, but it is still a fantastic blend of unique design and affordability. Definitely not something you see every day!
- Tone & Sound Quality 94%
- Playability & Feel 90%
- Quality 93%
THINGS WE LIKED
- Somewhat louder and fuller than normal models
- Versatile instrument
- Beginner-friendly despite unique features
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Somewhat uncomfortable neck
Best Tenor Ukulele Under $200:
Overview:
This is one of the most modern Baritone Ukuleles available on the market. Made from high-quality mahogany, the tone and playability of this remarkable instrument make up for the somewhat high price-tag. Fender produces a few different ukulele models in different sizes, but our favorite is the tenor sized mahogany model.
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Product description and details:
This is the ideal instrument for any acoustic guitar fan who wants to try a ukulele.
Fender instruments are known for their durability and high-quality build.
This 4-string baritone ukulele is made from mahogany, a wood used in guitar building. This type of wood makes the ukulele sound as good as it looks. The body offers deep, loud tone with full, balanced projection in a large ukulele body. The mahogany neck adds strength to the instrument’s construction, while the rosewood bridge and fingerboard complement each note’s sustain and decay.
While this is technically a tenor ukulele, it is still big enough to be tuned to a baritone tuning. Because of that, you’re technically getting two instruments for the price of one.
If you are a professional musician, then you can not afford to play a cheap instrument, so getting this ukulele made by a famous brand will be a great investment.
- Tone & Sound Quality 89%
- Playability & Feel 92%
- Quality 90%
THINGS WE LIKED
- Very stylish
- Many variations available
- Fantastic acoustic sound
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Somewhat cheap electronics
- Uses button batteries (not included)
- Comes without gigbag or case
Overview:
Kala’s KA-T series removes all fancy details, delivering a very solid entry-level instrument that comes with a lot of useful goodies.
This is a fantastic instrument for beginners who can afford it, a wonderful present, and a good addition for guitarists or bassists who want to expand their musical horizon.
Product description and details:
This huge bundle is aimed towards beginners and people who want a decent practice instrument for a fair price. That is why Kala delivers the ukulele with a Gig Bag, a Clip-On Tuner, an Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD, and a Polishing Cloth.
Most of the details have been stripped off, giving the ukulele a very simple design, but the white binding gives it a somewhat fancy look, nonetheless. Kala also offers similar instruments for a comparable price.
A common problem with low-end ukuleles is that sometimes the frets aren’t spaced correctly. This might be the case with this model, too.
On the other hand, a good technician could probably tell you whether or not the nut and bridge could be adjusted to make up for it. Be prepared to invest a few bucks into additional modifications.
- Tone & Sound Quality 87%
- Playability & Feel 88%
- Quality 89%
THINGS WE LIKED
- Nice design
- Affordable beginners’ bundle
- Good sound for a low end instrument
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Intonation issues
- Truss rod issues
- Requires professional set up
Best Tenor Ukulele Under $100:
7. Ukulele Tenor Size Bundle From Lohanu (LU-T)
Overview:
This Lohanu Tenor Ukulele bundle is massive and very affordable. The instrument itself is decent and the addition of strap pins is a big plus. The bundle comes with a strap, case and tuner, making this the most affordable beginner package!
Product description and details:
High Quality at Low Price – this beautiful ukulele has a simple design, but manages to keep some nice visual elements to it.
Soundwise it is not the worst ukulele available, but not the best one either. It is a rather cheap, entry level musician, or something you would use while traveling as a practice travel guitar. At this price point, you shouldn’t expect too much.
The additional gear that comes in the package makes this a good choice for a beginner, but it has intonation and tuning issues. It seems that not all models are created equally well, but luckily, the ukulele comes with a guarantee.
This is definitely not a professional instrument, but it is still a nice gift for young children or beginners.
- Tone & Sound Quality 82%
- Playability & Feel 86%
- Quality 80%
THINGS WE LIKED
- Visually pleasing design
- Very affordable ukulele bundle for beginners
- Acceptable sound for the buck
THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE
- Tuning and intonation issues
- Somewhat shallow sound
BUYING GUIDE – Things To Consider:
Beginners have multiple ukulele sizes to choose from. The most beginner-friendly sizes and tunings are soprano, concert/alto and tenor, and they come in form of acoustic- only, but also in the form of acoustic – electric and electric ukulele models.
If you’re a total beginner, don’t worry! All of these use a similar tuning and the tuning is also similar to the guitar tuning!
The baritone ukulele is not the best idea for a beginner, although it is not wrong either if you want to expand to guitar later on. While soprano is the traditional ukulele size and the one most often used by beginners, it is also the smallest one, so people with bigger fingers often find it very uncomfortable.
Concert and tenor sizes will give you more room to maneuver on the fretboard. Tenor is the size used by most professional players these days. Both concert and tenor will work well for new ukers.
The tenor ukulele is just a tiny bit bigger than the concert uke. The overall sound and tone is fuller than the sound of its smaller brothers.
The tenor ukulele is great because you get a rich full soundwhen playing chords, and since you have more frets, you’re able to reach higher notes on the fretboard more easily.
Tenor ukuleles are commonly tuned in standard re-entrant or linear tuning, but they can be tunedlower, like a baritone ukulele. This makes the tenor ukulele the arguably most versatile instrument of the ukulele family. The most common tenor ukulele tuning is G-C-E-A, also known as the C Tuning and Island Tuning.
Considering what we’ve mentioned by now, let’s go over the best tenor ukuleles you can get!
CONCLUSION
There are many things that can go wrong when buying your first ukulele. Make sure to double-check all the information on the website before ordering.
Also, if possible, try to decide on your purchase with somebody who is already a musician, preferably a ukulele or guitar player.
Always make sure that you are happy with your purchase. At the end of the day, you will need to appreciate your instrument and be happy with it as that will both affect your motivation, but also whether or not you can physically play the instrument for prolonged periods of time.
Keep in mind that tenor, concert and soprano ukuleles are usually tuned in the same way, while a baritone ukulele is tuned more like a guitar.
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