Uluru Hoa Hana Solid Figured Acacia Baritone Ukulele

Whether it's the larger body, warmer tones or seemingly never ending sustain, bass and depth of sound - the baritone has always caught the eye of those wanting something a bit different. Historically, Jazzers and songwriters have favoured the baritone increasingly since its inception in the late 1940s so it's a wonder that more companies do not manufacture baritone ukuleles. You have the usual suspects - Kala, Cordoba, Ohana and Pono and at the high end Kanile'a and Kamaka but very few if any options in the middle.

We have often discussed this with players and friends in the past... One of those was Matt at World of Ukes in Carlisle and at some point in the conversation, one of us suggested that we find a company to fill that gap. Before we knew it - we were chanting 'Make Baritones Great Again' and Uluru were happy to oblige having worked closely with Matt on his own range of Lehua Ukuleles earlier in the year.

It took us a while to get there but the resulting ukuleles are the Uluru Hoa-Hana series. Hoa hana means partnership or collaboration in Hawaiian which seems fitting given the mutual love between SUS and WOU.

These Uluru baritones really do offer something extra special to the discerning baritone player. This beautiful figured acacia body brings that tropical island sound in spades... It's soft and warm, it can be almost delicate if you want it to be or have this slightly compressed brighter sound if you really dig in to it. The 35mm nut width and ebony fingerboard and bridge offer the player a familiar ukulele feel with a slender neck profile - like the established and super popular Pono baritones.

The ukulele feels lighter tension than many other baritones with a less common 20.15 inch scale length. This is about 2/3 of an inch shorter than most other commonplace baritones but I am convinced this shorter scale length makes the instrument feel less stiff and snappy than other baritones. The cutaway adds easier upper fret access and unlocks even more possibilities in your performance.

The ukulele has a greater projection and clarity than the more affordable Kala/Ohana baritones in the price range below and I do not hesitate in suggesting these ukuleles sit closer in quality and overall presentation to the £1000+ Kanile'a baritone ukuleles. High praise indeed and well deserved at that.

Specification:
Solid figured Acacia top, back and sides
Acacia headplate
Cutaway
Ebony fingerboard and bridge
35mm nut width
512mm scale length (20.15 inches)
Maple binding on fingerboard and body
Geared tuners with snakewood buttons
Maple ring rosette
High gloss on open pore finish
Ukes With Alex Low D DGBE Strings
Strap button on bottom bout