Millar (longneck) Soprano ukuleles demonstration/Comparison

Jan Haasler

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In this clip I demonstrate a Millar (longneck) soprano ukulele (spruce top, descritption in the video) witha fantastic feel and sound quality straight out of the box. Those Millars really have a wonderful tone. You can compare its tones next to the Martin S1 and Brükos I demo in this video too.
Good action, punchy and sweet tones. I am still a Brüko fan and play my old Martin Style 0 the most but if I'd like to have a new ukulele I might get my hands down on a Millar too. To me it is somehwere between modern with building tradtion in mind and a fantastic quality (and price point around 360 Euros).

The Martin S1 from solid mahagony strongly reminded me of the Flight WUS 3 model or the Kiwaya KS-1 (both high quality laminate woods) which I played a lot and excessively for a while (and recorded with them).
Fantastic sound and feel (Barry did a well known "Got a Ukulele review" for this model).
Of course my old MArtin Style ß which is aged and has been played a lot has a more open, punchy and barking sound. But for the price point and the quality you get with the S1 (plus the well padded gigbag) you can not go wrong for a good quality soprano ukulele with the typical sound (even straight out of the box).



It was just a fun video to demo those models and compare them a bit to what I play usually.
HAppy strumming and do not hesitate to ask things or comment.
Jan
 
In this clip I demonstrate a Millar (longneck) soprano ukulele (spruce top, descritption in the video) witha fantastic feel and sound quality straight out of the box. Those Millars really have a wonderful tone. You can compare its tones next to the Martin S1 and Brükos I demo in this video too.
Good action, punchy and sweet tones. I am still a Brüko fan and play my old Martin Style 0 the most but if I'd like to have a new ukulele I might get my hands down on a Millar too. To me it is somehwere between modern with building tradtion in mind and a fantastic quality (and price point around 360 Euros).

The Martin S1 from solid mahagony strongly reminded me of the Flight WUS 3 model or the Kiwaya KS-1 (both high quality laminate woods) which I played a lot and excessively for a while (and recorded with them).
Fantastic sound and feel (Barry did a well known "Got a Ukulele review" for this model).
Of course my old MArtin Style ß which is aged and has been played a lot has a more open, punchy and barking sound. But for the price point and the quality you get with the S1 (plus the well padded gigbag) you can not go wrong for a good quality soprano ukulele with the typical sound (even straight out of the box).



It was just a fun video to demo those models and compare them a bit to what I play usually.
HAppy strumming and do not hesitate to ask things or comment.
Ja
In this clip I demonstrate a Millar (longneck) soprano ukulele (spruce top, descritption in the video) witha fantastic feel and sound quality straight out of the box. Those Millars really have a wonderful tone. You can compare its tones next to the Martin S1 and Brükos I demo in this video too.
Good action, punchy and sweet tones. I am still a Brüko fan and play my old Martin Style 0 the most but if I'd like to have a new ukulele I might get my hands down on a Millar too. To me it is somehwere between modern with building tradtion in mind and a fantastic quality (and price point around 360 Euros).

The Martin S1 from solid mahagony strongly reminded me of the Flight WUS 3 model or the Kiwaya KS-1 (both high quality laminate woods) which I played a lot and excessively for a while (and recorded with them).
Fantastic sound and feel (Barry did a well known "Got a Ukulele review" for this model).
Of course my old MArtin Style ß which is aged and has been played a lot has a more open, punchy and barking sound. But for the price point and the quality you get with the S1 (plus the well padded gigbag) you can not go wrong for a good quality soprano ukulele with the typical sound (even straight out of the box).



It was just a fun video to demo those models and compare them a bit to what I play usually.
HAppy strumming and do not hesitate to ask things or comment.
Jan

Great Demo! I really like the Mexican S1 best. The way you play I suspect that you could make a straw broom sing.
 
Thank you Tom51251 ;)
May be, I did not do it before.
Interesting. Listening to the clip I really like the Martin S1 a lot too. To me those Brükos get in a similar direction with a bit more midrange/higher midrange focus which I like (coming from years of playing resonator guitars).
Of course a uke I would take as an all rounder.
I still somehow stick to my Brükos.

Have a good day and happy strumming too.
Jan
 
This is the single demonstration for the Martin S1 Soprano ukulele by the way.

 
In this clip I demonstrate a Millar (longneck) soprano ukulele (spruce top, descritption in the video) witha fantastic feel and sound quality straight out of the box. Those Millars really have a wonderful tone. You can compare its tones next to the Martin S1 and Brükos I demo in this video too.
Good action, punchy and sweet tones. I am still a Brüko fan and play my old Martin Style 0 the most but if I'd like to have a new ukulele I might get my hands down on a Millar too. To me it is somehwere between modern with building tradtion in mind and a fantastic quality (and price point around 360 Euros).

The Martin S1 from solid mahagony strongly reminded me of the Flight WUS 3 model or the Kiwaya KS-1 (both high quality laminate woods) which I played a lot and excessively for a while (and recorded with them).
Fantastic sound and feel (Barry did a well known "Got a Ukulele review" for this model).
Of course my old MArtin Style ß which is aged and has been played a lot has a more open, punchy and barking sound. But for the price point and the quality you get with the S1 (plus the well padded gigbag) you can not go wrong for a good quality soprano ukulele with the typical sound (even straight out of the box).



It was just a fun video to demo those models and compare them a bit to what I play usually.
HAppy strumming and do not hesitate to ask things or comment.
Jan

Thanks Jan as always for taking the time to do these comparisons. I just received the Millar SP-210LL and love it (!) but precisely for what your video and text here demonstrates - that it has a very different sound from the traditional Martin style ukuleles. Btw in your video you show it as Spruce and Mahogany when it is actually Spruce and Acacia which I think is why the sound is sweeter but still with some punch. As I said in my NUD write up I will use the Millar for music I would not want the mahogany sound for - like classical or more contemporary jazz standards rather than 1920-1930 jazz. As to the Martin s1, you certainly demonstrate its full potential. Not sure tho if it is worth the extra $$$ when compared to say the Flight WUS3 or Famous line of Kiwayas which are much cheaper than Kiwaya label models. So thanks again.
 
Thanks for the demos, love watching them! I’m still thinking of getting a Bruko soprano… it is one brand I really hope to try one day.
 
Thanks for the demos, love watching them! I’m still thinking of getting a Bruko soprano… it is one brand I really hope to try one day.
I find the Brukos to be such great value. They have their own sound which I like. I have a 1980’s model in spruce and ovangkol which I put gut strings on to play early music.
 
I find the Brukos to be such great value. They have their own sound which I like. I have a 1980’s model in spruce and ovangkol which I put gut strings on to play early music.
I totally agree with that. I like their distinct sound and tone and end up to hear their mostly focused (some may say one dimensional) sound quite sparkling and detailed, depending on the model (Mr Pfeiffer offers various model shapes and tonewood combinations). One of my most played (on stage) one is a plain "classic" model a maple soprano with an arched back.

They ship world wide and they are so affordable. Models of that quality usually cost a lot more. They do their thing and try to keep their buisiness locally/regional which I find worth to support too.
However, yout old model must sound great too. My first uke is a 1980s Brüko maple soprano with an aged deep tone.

Kind regards.
Jan
 
Thanks Jan as always for taking the time to do these comparisons. I just received the Millar SP-210LL and love it (!) but precisely for what your video and text here demonstrates - that it has a very different sound from the traditional Martin style ukuleles. Btw in your video you show it as Spruce and Mahogany when it is actually Spruce and Acacia which I think is why the sound is sweeter but still with some punch. As I said in my NUD write up I will use the Millar for music I would not want the mahogany sound for - like classical or more contemporary jazz standards rather than 1920-1930 jazz. As to the Martin s1, you certainly demonstrate its full potential. Not sure tho if it is worth the extra $$$ when compared to say the Flight WUS3 or Famous line of Kiwayas which are much cheaper than Kiwaya label models. So thanks again.
Yes I agree with the potential of the Martin S1. I guess the main advantage compared to the high quality laminate WUS3 and Famous/Kiwaya KS-1 might be the potential opening up due to the used solid tonewoods. Listening to what I played there I find the Martin S! quite complex in sound.
I still prefer the more hitting midrange sound of the Brükos and the one old 1950s Martin Style 0 that I had the chance to purchase.

Interesting points how you find specific models/tonewood compositions fitting for certain styles you want to play on them.
I had a long phase of 15 years playing resonator guitars nearly exclusively and played different styles with them like "classical", "contemporary fingerstyle material", Swing/Jazz, Rock/Blues, Folk and Country and of course the typical slide guitar styles and beyond.

With the ukulele now I tend to go a similar direction where I favour a certain sound in general (like a dry barking tone) and try to play different styles on those models.

I learned about the different potentials of different instruments for certain styles though and do not mean anything against it I just wanted to highlight what I am after in sounds/instruments.

The Millar, you are right I guess concerning the tonewoods and the more modern sound. I liked the one I had as a demo instrument. It felt very very well made, comfprtable to play and it sounded sweet and barky, surely would open up a lot while playing it a longer term.

Kind regards.
Jan
 
Recently I managed to get my hands down on theese two Millar longneck sopranos.
I am really curious about those conparisons.

The L model sounds a bit more crisp and Sparkasse while the LL model (a bit more decorated) has a bit more detailed Sound I find. But just nuances.

I can recomment the Millar ukuleles (the ones I had so far). On their Youtube channel their models are demoed very well.

In the end here I compare the longnecks to my Brüko longneck soprano. I liked both sounds and playabilities but will stick to Brüko anyways.

What do you think?
Jan

 
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