Trying a sopranino ukulele

I had the chance to try one of the most unusual ukuleles in the history of the Hungaria Ukulele Blog. A few years ago master instrument maker Levente Késmárky contacted me and brought me two beautiful baritone ukuleles to try. You can read the blog post about them by clicking here .

Levente and I have stayed in touch ever since. In mid-September I asked whether he might be interested in making a miniature ukulele. He liked the idea and enthusiastically set about building not one but two mini, sopranino-size ukuleles. As you probably know, besides the standard ukulele sizes—soprano, concert, tenor and baritone—manufacturers and individual makers also produce instruments in other dimensions. Probably not much larger, because those would genuinely be guitar-sized, but ukuleles smaller than soprano are indeed made in various workshops and factories.

From time to time Levente delighted me with one or two photographs taken as the ukuleles took shape and came to life, and I waited for the final result with enormous excitement. That excitement was fully justified. I had the privilege of holding and trying exceptional, wonderful instruments. And as if the ukuleles themselves were not already beautiful and flawless, Levente also made them very sophisticated custom carrying cases.

Here are the instrument specifications:

• scale length: 29 cm
• top: spruce
• back, sides and headstock veneer: cherry
• neck: alder
• fingerboard: osage orange
• bridge: ovangkol
• nut width: 30 mm
• total length: 44.5 cm
• body depth: 4.6–4.0 cm
• 12 frets
• bone nut and saddle
• tuners: Stagg
• oil / shellac finish
• custom-sized plywood case
• Aquila sopranino GCEA strings

As I mentioned above, Levente made two of these ukuleles, and both are for sale. The price, including the case, is HUF 200,000 each. Seeing that figure, most of us will naturally think it is a lot of money—and it is. But if we look into the market and do the maths, it turns out to be realistic. Better-quality, mass-produced solid-wood ukuleles already cost well over one hundred thousand forints, and with some brands prices above two hundred thousand are not unusual. It is therefore clear that this pricing is not excessive for an individually handmade instrument, especially when the excellent case is included. If you are interested in Levente's ukuleles, use the Contact menu item to get in touch with me and I will give you the maker's contact details .

UPDATE:After discussing it with Levente, we concluded that here in Hungary people are unlikely to pay this much for a sopranino instrument. We would therefore like to ask—and indeed encourage—you to contact Levente or me, even by private message, and tell us how much you would offer for this exceptional instrument—or rather these exceptional instruments, since two were made.
Levente would like these beautiful little instruments to find owners as soon as possible.

And now for lots of photographs of the building process. Levente documented the stages thoroughly; I took a few photos of the finished ukulele and also made a long video. Enjoy!