Tangi makes an EXCELLENT ukulele... by: Dennis Arnold
Since I enjoyed playing my 8-string tenor ukes so much (I have a Kala Koa a/e tenor, and a Sonny D koa tenor) I thought I'd like to try an 8-string baritone. They are VERY hard to find, especially at a decent price. I checked with several makers. Most just asked "Why?" when I asked about getting an 8-string baritone. Kamaka makes (or made) an 8-string baritone model, but the price was way out of the range of my uke budget. Then I stumbled on the Tangi Ukuleles website. They displayed some beautiful ukes AND one was an 8-string baritone. So, I emailed them and got a reply from Tangi Tully himself. He sent me pictures of what they could do to make me an 8-string baritone to my specifications, and for a very reasonable price. After a couple of weeks of anxious waiting my new Tangi uke arrived. To say it is gorgeous is an understatement. It's a solid, dark mahogany with an ebony fretboard and has the solid headstock. It's not real fancy since a lot of inlay and rope binding are not my style, but the beautifully grained wood and obvious attention to detail make it a very classy looking instrument. The action is low and easy, and the tonal quality is far beyond my expectations. The workmanship is excellent and the gloss finish is perfect. I even splurged and had my name engraved in the headstock. I'm glad I did because I am VERY proud to claim this Tangi uke as my own. I have more expensive ukes (and several that were a lot cheaper), but my Tangi 8-string baritone is the pride of my collection. Besides being extremely knowledgeable and very helpful, Tangi Tully is a great guy, and it was a true pleasure to deal with him. I highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a quality instrument at a reasonable price should check out Tangi Ukuleles before they buy something else.
