Zachary Taylor ZT Tenor Ukulele Solid Spruce/Acacia with case #TU1016B

Here is a quite astonishing new product from Zachary Taylor. Made in Vietnam to a very high standard, the new ZT range of ukuleles uses only the highest quality materials, and forms them into these unique shapes, which are anything but style over substance.

A lot of thought and effort has gone into making the best sound. This is an instrument where form has followed function, not the other way around. The soundhole design is as such because it leaves more of the top to vibrate for longer, making a fuller, more complex sound which rings for longer. It just so happens that the soundhole design is extremely pretty....but that is a wonderful and very welcome by product, not the main objective. And each ZT ukulele is internally braced to allow the large expanse of top wood to vibrate to it's fullest, never dampening it but reinforcing only where necessary to make the soundboard stiff and responsive - the holy grail of ukulele building.

Although the body is slimline, this in no way inhibits the sound. Because of the lack of a traditional central soundhole, this uke has more than the average top area working to reinforce and amplify the sound of the strings.  The player also gets a very nice earful courtesy of the personal soundhole on top. And that wide bridge setup is there to transmit more vibrations than normal into the top....lots of little things adding up to one of the most impressive sounding instruments we have heard for a while.

Owing to the Acacia used on the back and sides, this Tenor has a bright, pingy and crisp sound which make fingerpicking sound wonderful. It could be mellowed out with a different string choice, like Fluorocarbons - but it sounds exquisite the way it is....

Strung with Aquila strings it has impressive intonation (a few cents sharp on the G and E strings), and it is extremely easy to play all the way up the neck. This is in no small part due to the nice comfy 38mm nut width with 9.5mm string spacing, which flares out a lot less than is standard so the measurement at the 12th fret is 44mm with 10mm spacing, so the strings remain fairly equidistant all the way. 



Spec:

Solid Engelmann spruce top
Solid Acacia back and sides
Maple neck
Rosewood fretboard and bridge
Bone nut and saddle
Grover geared machine heads
38mm nut width, 44mm at 12th fret
Satin finish
3 year warranty!

This model has been reduced by 20% to clear. Normal price £950.