TODO MUSIC Mount Fuji Concert ukulele - REVIEW

A new ukulele brand for me this week. This is the TODO MUSIC Mount Fuji concert ukulele.

TODO MUSIC are a Chinese brand who recently got in touch with me about looking at one of their instruments. I don't know a great deal about the brand, but know they are shipping into European stores now as well as having an Amazon presence and their own shopfront. They've also been doing the rounds at some European festivals at which they seem to have gone down well. As a new brand who very politely got in touch for a review (i.e did not do the usual telling me what to write approach or offered me payment!) I said I was happy to give one a go.

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

Their Mount Fuji ukes are models in their 'beginner' series, offered in soprano, concert and tenor variants and with a choice of solid top woods of either spruce or mahogany. This is the concert scale and the mahogany variant. It's a modern, rounded double bout ukulele with the exaggerated lower bout which pairs the solid mahogany top sheets with laminate mahogany for the back and sides. Now, mahogany is a plain wood, but can be improved with a bit of staining and gloss to make it look a treat (the Millar Yushan from last week being a perfect example). Sadly this wood is far too plain and pale in colour for my own tastes and cheapens it. Just a darker stain would have done it. The spruce version of this has the nicer looks for me, but then I prefer the sound of mahogany.. So i'm torn! Otherwise though, the body is very neatly put together and well dressed.

The 'Mount Fuji' name comes in the design of the through bridge, which has some added peaks in the wood. I believe this is made of very pale rosewood with the peaks being inlaid walnut. I generally like the design here, though I'd like it a bit darker to match the fingerboard and also think it's really chunky. To be fair, I think bridges are a prime area to add a bit of a unique stamp to your product so can understand the objective. There is a lot of it though! That holds a bone saddle with a straight top and string spacing of 41mm.

There isn't much other decor to these bar that bridge and an abalone type sound hole ring. It's finished in a well done thin and tidy satin. Despite the pale colour not working for me there is something about the simplicity of it I quite like. It looks 'clean'.

Inside is very tidy with notched linings, regular back braces and a central vertical top brace on the lower bout. All good in here.

The neck is made from mahogany which is similarly pale like the body. It has an obvious heel joint and a more well hidden one in the headstock. It too is finished in satin. The profile is not to my personal taste though with a rounded back and a narrow 34mm nut with 27mm spacing. Very far eastern and skinny, but it is average I guess.

Things improve for me with the rosewood fingerboard which is in great condition and evenly dark all over. Even better is the inclusion of semi hemi frets which don't quite reach the edge of the board so there is zero chance of sharpness or fret sprout. Good job.  You get 18 of those with a 14th fret body join. Pearly position dots face out at the 5th, 7th, 10th, double 12th and 15th and they are paired on the side.

Beyond the bone nut is a nicely shaped headstock which is more Kanile'a than Martin crown in shape. That's faced in a very thin veneer of slightly darker mahogany and the TODO logo is a black screen print on the top face.

The tuners are not for me either i'm afraid. Sealed gears which look better on a guitar than a ukulele and add more weight than is needed. They are very much 'parts bin' quality but to be fair they are evenly tensioned and work ok.

Finishing things off are a set of what they call 'TODO Carbon' strings (so some form of fluoro), a couple of strap buttons, a strap and a padded branded gig bag. Price wise, their current website listing has this at €139.99. That's fairly reasonable I suppose for a solid topper and is a bit less than the aNueNue Color concerts though equally can be undercut with something like the Flight NUC500, an Uma UK05 or the Enya EUC-25. They may want to adjust their UK pricing on these I think.

So a bit of a mixed bag for me this one. The build and finish are nicely done giving it that clean and exacting appearance. I like the bridge styling and the frets too. On the downside I have negatives, largely subjective ones such as the colour and nut width. But as a beginner ukulele, the most important part really is the playing, not the looks.

This one arrived setup with only very little tweaking that I would consider. Despite the closed tuners it's balanced and not too heavy either at 490g. The setup is just fine too with a well cut nut and a 2.5mm action height at the 12th.

The volume is the first big tick in the box here as it really punches it out. The sustain is pretty good too and for a cheap ukulele I am very surprised to sense a bit of shimmer in the notes as the uke is harmonising with itself giving it more character than I expected. This is not your usual cheap boxy sound at all.

Where another personal gripe comes in for me is with the tone itself which is too bright for my tastes on a mahogany instrument. When strummed it's a touch too strident for me though is very crisp and clear. What it strangely reminds me of is that aNueNue UC10 Color concert. That is a very crisp and direct sounding solid top instrument too, but that one is made of spruce, not mahogany. That really makes me think about what the spruce version of this is like! Still, a change to something like Worth Brown strings or Fremont blacklines could tone this back a little and I don't have an issue with the clarity of tone nor that self harmonisation. Strummed is just a bit too 'in your face' when I prefer laid back with hog wood. Fingerpicking suits it better with this brighter voice and it can sound very pretty and music box like played this way. Still doesn't sound like mahogany though!

All in all, this has turned out to be something of a pleasant surprise in many areas. To be fair to TODO the gripes I mention are largely subjective ones and you may like the pale look and the brighter sound. Certainly this works like a decent, accurately built ukulele with a touch of character to the voice, and, whilst not a stone cold bargain at this price, is at a reachable price for many people.

Yep, decent enough and may be worth keeping an eye on this brand.

https://todoukulele.com/

AMAZON USA SALES PAGE

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: TODO MUSIC Mount Fuji Series

Scale: Concert
Body: Solid mahogany top, laminate mahogany back and sides

Bridge: Rosewood through bridge

Saddle: Bone

Spacing at saddle: 41mm

Finish: Satin

Neck: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Rosewood

Frets: 18, 14 to body semi hemi dressed
Nut: Bone

Nut width: 34mm, 27mm G to A
Tuners: Sealed chrome gears

Strings: TODO Carbon

Extras: Strap button, strap, gig bag

Weight: 490g

Country of origin: China

Price: €139.99

UKULELE PROS

Very clean accurate build

Tidy finish

Nice bridge design
Excellent fretwork 

Great volume

Good shimmery sustain

UKULELE CONS

Too pale on looks for me

Bridge / board colour mis-match

Too narrow a nut for me

Guitar style tuners

A little too bright on tone for mahogany

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 8 out of 10

Fit and finish - 9 out of 10

Sound - 8 out of 10

Value for money - 8 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 8.3 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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