I decided it didn’t have to be like this so I used a knife to make the grooves in the nut deeper meaning I don’t have to press anywhere near as hard. It is now far easier and the sound is still good. It may be small, but the ukulele is a serious instrument in its own right. Originally from Hawaii, it gained popularity throughout the United States during the early 20th century, then eventually internationally.

With an awesome selection of ukeleles, ranging from standard soprano through to a ukulele with preamp and premium solid top and solid koa woods, Ashton really is the ideal choice for ukeleles! In Hawaii, the name Ukulele translates to 'jumping flea', due to the energetic finger actions when one plays a ukulele. A fun, mood lifting instrument, the Ashton Ukulele is super portable due to its small size. Perfect when sitting around the campfire or hanging out with friends, jamming away on the Ashton Ukulele is sure to bring smiles to everyone faces! The popularity of the ukulele has grown to great proportions over the last twelve months or so and the ukulele is now being used by acts like Portishead to Van Morrison to Florence and The Machine. The Ashton This ukulele is designed to meet the demands of the market, by combining the elements of selection, quality and price. The UKE400S is a great concert ukulele for all types of players. Scores in 7s - reasonable, but some bigger issues you may need to be mindful of. Doesn't get a full recommendation but may suit you Barely a month in, I have upgraded to a Clearwater tenor uke, which I’m just getting the feel of as I write this. It wasn’t dissatisfaction with the Ashton, it’s just that I’m 6’2″, with rather large hands, so I fancied something with a bit more finger room.The brand may say, "yes but we are just meeting a demand / filling a gap and there are people out there that only want to spend this much", and that, of course, is both true and fair enough. But there's the thing - several other brands such as Octopus, Tiger and Makala have shown that you CAN do cheap pretty well. It IS possible. This one however is cheap done very, very badly. Very roughly and without much of care about the end result. At GAK, we supply a variety of ukulele types, including Soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone ukuleles, so you’re bound to find the one that’s perfect for you. Whether you’re just starting out or are looking for something more professional, our range will have you covered. Ashton ukuleles are similar to Mahalo ukuleles. They’re colourful and cheerful ukuleles and, above all, cheap. They’re one of those ukuleles that schools will buy by the dozen for classes. This ukulele is stronger than concrete and can basically be dropped off a building and not be damaged too much. Mine has a fair few dents due to being dropped lots but still plays fine. It also stays in tune brilliantly and the paint even stays on. The only minus for this ukulele is that the screws can sometimes come undone. This is easily fixed as you can tighten them up again very easily. Durability gets a nine out of ten. Ukuleles come in 5 main sizes - Soprano, Concert, Tenor, Baritone and Bass. Electric ukuleles are also

I found it to have one major negative feature in that the nut is very pronounced, making the strings quite high in relation to the fretboard, meaning you really have to press a long way down to play anything on the first fret. As a beginner I dreaded any songs featuring Bb or F as they were both difficult and painful to play on this uke. The Number of Strings - If you are a guitar player, you would already be aware of the fact that a guitar comes with six strings. A ukulele, on the other hand, comes with four strings. The smaller number of strings makes this musical instrument easier to learn, especially for those who already know to play the guitar. Anyway, play it I must. And after days and days of tuning, re-tuning and re-tuning, those nylon strings eventually got to a point of holding.. Incidentally, talking of tuning. You know I said the tuners looked bad? Well they work pretty badly too. The usual issue of some grinding, some feeling loose and there being lots of play. Oh well, being gears, they won't slip I suppose. Sorry Ashton - none of those statements mean a single thing as long as you are selling instruments like this one. This blows your credibility. They say that one of the best ways to beat stress is to play a musical instrument , be it a keyboard, trumpet or drums. But if you are the kind that likes singing along, string instruments are one of the best choices for you. When you say string instruments, one of the very first images that would obviously pop into your mind is the guitar. However, were you aware of the fact that you also have a range of other choices that would perhaps be more suitable for you? One of them that you cannot afford to overlook is the ukulele. If you are the kind that plays music that involves a lot of chords, perhaps this is one instrument that you would like to introduce to your band or music group. And if you are not in one, a ukulele is great to play by yourself at home. All you have to do is buy ukuleles online to find them available in different prices and choose the one that’s the most suitable for you.We know how important a great sound is, which is why we put so much time and effort into the research and development of our products." But before you go ahead, let’s have a brief look at what makes the ukulele different from the guitars so you have a better understanding of what this musical instrument is: I also found it painful to begin with, atleast for a couple of weeks, until I finally took a needle-file to work on the nut to lower the action. Problem solved! I say Australian, and that is because Ashton are an Australian company, but this particular ukulele is made for them in China. Intriguingly though, the box and makers label both say proudly that it is 'designed in Australia'. I am not entirely sure what that means as from a first glance at it I can't see any particular design cues and it all looks rather generic, but there you go. As a company, Ashton make quite a range of musical instruments and gear, including drums, a range of guitars and a number of ukuleles. It must be said that the UKE 100 is their entry level ukulele, but as a brand with a number of stringed instrument products in their line up, perhaps they know what they are doing. We shall see. All are welcome and all we ask is that you chip in a quid for admin and that you buy a drink from behind the bar to keep the Landlord happy.