Ortega TourPlayer Series Tenor Ukulele - REVIEW

Here's a ukulele that caught my eye, but i've not seen much fanfare about (in the UK at least). This is the new Ortega TourPlayer Series Tenor Ukulele.

Ortega are a German instrument brand that have featured on this site several times though never really lit the fire for me for various reasons. But then you are scrolling and something catches your eye that immediately looks interesting so I grabbed one. The TourPlayer ukuleles are a range of new ukes from Ortega that pair with their fairly new TourPlayer series of guitars. These are all tenor scale ukuleles that use the same chambered solid back and sides with solid drop-tops to complete the chamber Ortega call it the 'ultimate stage ukulele'. Let's dig in...

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

So as I say, this caught my eye and I don't mind saying 'in a very good way' as it's quite the looker when you first see it. The models come in four flavours all with the solid chambered okoume bodies, though with different tops. You have a choice of two with spruce tops (one in natural colour and a left hander in black), a blue stained flamed maple top or this one, a gloss burst finished acacia top. That use of the word 'solid' for the back and sides is an interesting one because they don't use the term 'solid' for the tops. Routed out chambered back and sides are technically 'solid' I guess, but not in the normal meaning of the word with ukes - it's a chunky block. I'm not against laminates as you know, but the bigging up of the back and sides seems misleading to me.  Anyway, as I say, I do like the look and think the development certainly has chimes of the successful Kala Night Owl and Revelator ukes which both are built on similar principles. It's in a fairly standard double bout shape with slope cutaway on one of the shoulders that looks great. The okoume block is glossed in a deep reddish stain and seems to be made from about three large pieces. The top is very attractive too with a warm burst and some interesting flamey wood grain in the acacia. The soundholes are also head turners in multiple teardrop shapes on the upper bout. I like it. It's showy but classy at the same time and I can see the 'stage ukulele' element in this respect.

The bridge is similar to that I have seen on several Ortega ukes and is a tie bar made of Purpleheart wood that look stained black to me. I'm not that impressed with how it is finished as it looks rather rough and unfinished and needs a sanding! The saddle is bone with a straight top. Spacing here comes in at 42mm. This finish lets the body down.

Finishing the body is a gloss finish that looks a bit thick to me on the top with some obvious 'gloop' around the sound holes and some unsightly polish left around the inner edges. I can't see other flaws though and it is uniformly shiny. It also has an attractive top binding strip in flamed maple which looks great. I think it comes together nicely and reminds me of the Taylor T5 guitars. Then I spy the ugly fat control paddle thumped into the side and sigh... OK, it's a 'stage ukulele' so I get the pickup, and it's also USB rechargeable too so no heavy battery. But I just don't want or NEED all this gubbins. Kala went with a good quality passive for the Revelator and Night Owl and that was totally the right choice in my view. Oh well.. That terminates to a jack plate on the bottom bout. Incidentally it's branded as a 'Magus X' under saddle system which is Ortega's own line.

I can't show you what is inside as I can't get a camera in there, but I can spy back braces and presume the top has them too. It looks tidy though.

The neck is a bolt on to the body (please - don't get me into the debate about bolt on necks.. plusses and minuses...) which isn't obviously specified but I think is mahogany. It's nice to see it is finished in satin and because of the bolt on the neck heel is quite diminutive. I can't see any jointing in it either and I do like the small veloute at the start of the headstock. What I am less happy with is the 35mm nut (27mm spacing) and broom handle round back which is not my cup of tea at all. It reminds me of Fender necks and I simply don't like it. Your mileage may vary of course.

Topping that is a fingerboard which is unspecified but may also be purpleheart. It's even in colour but needs oiling badly. It's attractively edge bound in more flamed maple and I like how the end floats over the top of the body. It has 20 frets, joined at the 14th and some of these are on the edge of being sharp despite the binding. There is only one outward facing position marker at the 12th in the form of three pearly 'moon phase' dots, but you also get black side dots at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 10th, 12th, 15th and 17th. Overall the neck is a mixed bag.

The nut is made of bone (with annoying sharp sides, also Fender-esque) and beyond that is a slot head headstock faced in matte black. I'm not totally against slot heads, but I think this lets the look down both on account of it looking massively chunky but also that it lacks gloss and looks, well... bland, especially against the body. It's like all the work went into the body and this was an afterthought. The Ortega logo is screen printed on the top face.

The tuners are side mounted open gears in black which work ok, but looking at them closely they are pretty generic and cheap.

Finishing things off, aside from the pickup, are a set of Ortega branded white nylon strings and a fairly decent branded gig bag with colour accents which is quite funky. These are not really about in the UK yet, but the price I paid to get one in from Europe was around £215. That's pretty reasonable I think for an instrument with these looks.

So it's a slightly mixed bag so far that I will come back to in the summing up. But bar one or to finish and subjective points I still think it's a great looking uke. Set up wise it seems ok despite that narrow nut. It's a chunky thing weighing 860g which I suppose is understandable considering the construction though it doesn't feel uncomfortable and balances nicely too.

Sometimes with these more unconventional electro acoustic ukes I find that whilst the plugged in tone is good enough, the acoustic side is a let down. The Epiphone Les Paul and the Fender tele and strat acoustic electrics fall in that category and leave me thinking 'why didn't you just make a solid body. Of course it CAN be done with the Revelator, Night Owl and some of the Bonanza ukes being good examples, so we will see how things go here.

The basics actually surprised me a bit here as the volume is pretty good for such a construction. It's not the loudest I've played, but quite passable. Likewise the sustain, whilst not out of the park is perfectly reasonable. It's clearly not a 'dead' instrument so this is a good start.

Acoustically though the tone is less impressive for me. It is clear enough, but somewhat one dimensional, bright and a bit 'reedy' to my ears. It's less of an issue when played strummed as you can get some fun jangly patterns out of it, even if they are a bit on the shrill side and don't sound like a tenor to me. Fingerpicking though these traits come more to the fore and it has some quite weedy sounds, particularly as you go up the fretboard which are not that pleasant to me. It's not terrible by any means and many people like the thinner sound, but i'd like a bit more beef. Now, of course this has a pickup and whilst I didn't plug it in on the video (sound you would hear depends entirely on your amp) I have done so and...well.... it makes the same core sound but louder... (Well duh!!). But, once you are plugged in of course you could use an EQ pedal, effects or tone shape on your amplifier to change the sound up. And I guess that will be where it shines.. they do call it a 'stage uke' after all. 

So overall I still adore the look of the bodies on these and like the concept, but I think it's let down by some of the finishing, a neck not to my tastes, a bland and enormous headstock and my own personal views about active pickups. Still, it IS the looker and I get that stage credential thing on that point. It's also not hugely expensive either. Yet that core tone is a bit thin and uninspiring and I am not sure I could see myself playing it for pleasure without plugging it in. It's not a 'bad' tone and certainly not an Epiphone Les Paul played this way, but the Night Owl for example is a much nicer unplugged sound and the TourPlayer lacks some body. Though, as I say, people will say 'it's meant to be plugged in'... so, yes I could tweak this through an amp, but I judge acoustic electrics on core tone first and foremost when they have sound holes. 

That all sounds a bit harsh but much of it is subjective and I'm actually a fan of this one for the money so the scoring is better than I had originally envisaged. Gets a recommendation if you bear in mind the points made, and I remain in love with that body!

https://ortegaguitars.com/en/ukuleles

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Ortega TourPlayer

Scale: Tenor

Body: Chambered Okoume back and sides, laminate acacia top

Bridge: Purpleheart tie bar

Saddle: Bone

Spacing at saddle: 42mm

Finish: Gloss

Neck: Mahogany?

Fingerboard: Purpleheart?

Frets: 20, 14 to body

Nut: Bone

Nut width: 35mm, 27mm G to A

Tuners: Open gears

Extras: Active pickup system, gig bag

Strings: Ortega white nylon

Weight: 860g

Country of origin: China

Price: Circa £215

UKULELE PROS

Great look

Nice wood grains on top

Half decent volume

Surprising sustain

Good price

UKULELE CONS

Some finishing gripes

Neck is not my thing

Slightly sharp frets

Not a huge fan of the core acoustic tone

Passive pickup please!

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 9 out of 10

Fit and finish - 8 out of 10

Sound - 8 out of 10

Value for money - 9.5 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 8.6 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

GOT A UKULELE IS NOT PAID BY BRANDS OR SHOPS - YOUR KIND DONATIONS ARE WHAT KEEP THE SITE GOING! THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!

SAY THANKS WITH A BEER!

BECOME A GOT A UKULELE PATREON

OR THRU PAYPAL

THANKS!