It’s time for another quick post to let everyone know about the newest addition to the Noah range.
Introducing the Noah Tenor X – a special anniversary model to celebrate 10 years of Noah Ukuleles! I started my ukulele business after moving back to the UK from Vietnam in 2013. For the first few years, it was something which I did only in my spare time – evenings and weekends – while I worked full time as an English teacher. I had only a handful of models, and with both a limited marketing budget and a lack of time during the week, needed to clock up the miles at weekends visiting ukulele groups and festivals in order to try and let more people know about my ukes. Fast forward to 2023 and now there are over 20 models in the Noah range, and teaching has now taken a back seat to the ukuleles 🙂 Therefore, it felt right to celebrate getting to this point by introducing a new 10 year anniversary model.
The story for the design and features of this ukulele actually begins with a guitar. Mr Anh, the head luthier at Noah Ukuleles, made an acoustic guitar for me a couple of years back which I just absolutely love and is by far my favourite instrument I’ve ever owned. When I was trying to decide what kind of model we should do for the 10 year anniversary, the idea of trying to replicate the design features of this guitar in a ukulele form kept coming back to me, so in the end that was what I went for.
It has the classic wood combination of Indian Rosewood back and sides, paired with a Spruce top, giving it a lovely bright tone which responds really well to both strumming and finger-picking.Â
The body has a striking florentine cutaway, which will appeal to players who enjoy utilising the frets higher up the neck where it meets the body. There is a small side-mounted soundhole – this is something that you might have seen on other ukuleles and acoustic guitars and the reasoning behind it is that it allows some of the sound to be directed towards you. If you’re playing in a large group, this would be very useful in enabling you to better hear what you are playing!
‘So much to like here so far and I’m smitten with the looks. Setup is good too… Volume and sustain are both excellent with no complaints on me with either. It’s a very punchy instrument that will suit all play circumstances‘.
Barry Maz from Got A Ukulele in his review of the Noah Tenor X in May 2023.
Some other nice design features are the angled bridge, often seen on high-end acoustic guitars, and the beveled armrest. I have to admit that before owning my guitar, I wasn’t convinced about the need for a beveled armrest – but now I’m a big advocate! It basically removes the sharp edge at the point where you would rest your picking arm, and is extremely comfortable, particularly if you’re playing for a long period of time.
I’ll give the final word on the Noah Tenor X to Barry, who has been incredibly supportive of Noah ever since I started. His reviews have helped me so much over the years not just in generating sales, but also in identifying where we can make improvements when we next go into the workshop.
‘I just keep going back to that price as the tone here is punching WELL above the ticket price. It’s a lovely balanced sound…This is a fitting model to mark Noah’s ten year anniversary I think – a great looking, characterful sounding ukulele for not a lot of money at all. Very highly recommended!’
The Noah Tenor X is selling out fast, but there are still some in stock and available to order for the Noah Ukuleles website shop. If you have any questions at all about this model or indeed any other of my ukuleles, send an email to: matt@noahukuleles.com
Matt