Tenor ukes boast a rich, unique tone that complements their playability, size, and arguably even weight. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that this is one of the most popular ukulele types for intermediate players, especially teens and adults.
Quick Look: Best Tenor Ukuleles
★ #1 Best Tenor Ukulele Overall: Kala LTP-MH ★
- Best Cheap Tenor Ukulele: Aklot Tenor Ukulele Beginner Kit
- Best Tenor Ukulele Under $1,000: Flight Victoria Tenor Ukulele
- Best Tenor Ukulele Under $500: Cordoba 28T Hawaiian Koa
However, there are so many different models that have dissimilar aesthetics, designs, sonic performance, and obviously different price tags. That’s why I’ve chosen the 10 best tenor ukuleles for your convenience. Without any further ado, let’s dig in.
What Is a Tenor Ukulele?
Tenors are just slightly shorter than acoustic guitars, with an average model being 26 inches. Basically, the reason why I believe their popularity is well-deserved is that their fretboard offers less punishing fret spacing while their bigger bodies provide better acoustics and resonance.
The same can be said for baritone ukuleles to a certain extent, but they aren’t as popular because they’re a bit too big for most people, not to mention too heavy, and possibly even downright unwieldy.
Things to Consider When Choosing a Tenor Ukulele
Picking the right tenor ukulele shouldn’t be too hard if you have at least some experience with stringed instruments. The tonewoods, weight, sound, and price are generally the most important things to look for in any instrument, tenor ukuleles included.
Size
Even though the average size of a tenor uke is 26 inches, most models are slightly taller or shorter. The taller a ukulele is, the bigger the fret spacing typically is, which improves playability at the expense of portability and weight, and vice versa.
The Overall Tone & Sound
Every ukulele delivers a different kind of sound, which is mainly influenced by the quality of tonewoods and the design of the uke itself.
The overall tone of a tenor ukulele can be guessed if you’re at least remotely familiar with how mahogany, koa, rosewood, and ebony instruments sound, given that these four are the most popular ukulele tonewoods.
In case you aren’t, try looking for koa tenor ukuleles. Koa is the traditional Hawaiian ukulele tonewood, which offers the most versatile and best-rounded performance.
Mahogany ukuleles are normally cheaper, rosewood ukuleles are light and playable, and ebony ukuleles are a bit more expensive, but they sound great and are superior in terms of durability.
Price
Tenor ukuleles can be found in the price range of $50 to above $500. The more you’re willing to invest, the better the instrument will be, obviously, but the price is not always a clear indicator of an ukulele’s quality.
The differences become more apparent and better reflect the quality of different models above $100, while entry-level budget models are pretty much identical in terms of versatility and performance.
10 Best Tenor Ukuleles
Now that I’ve briefly touched upon what sets apart the best tenor ukuleles from mediocre and overpriced models, let’s take a look at some of the finest, most valuable tenors that the market has to offer:
Kala LTP-MH Mahogany & White
- Size: 5 inches by 9.5 inches by 3.75 inches
- Weight: 1 pound
- What’s included: Kala Learn To Play DVD, gig bag, clip-on tuner
- Material & finish: Mahogany construction, satin finish
- Best for: Best tenor ukulele overall
The Kala LTP-MH Mahogany & White is a remarkable tenor that offers a well-balanced performance at a very attractive price.
It’s lighter and sturdier than average, and even though it’s just slightly taller than a regular tenor, it’s still exceptionally playable. It packs a rich, full-bodied tone and remains in tune for extended periods.
✅ Affordable
✅ Well-balanced bundle
✅ Sturdy mahogany construction
✅ Great sound
❌ Certain features are meant for beginners only
❌ The painted decorations wear off easily
Why I Recommend It
I recommend Kala’s LTP-MH to anyone who wants a sturdy, great-sounding instrument. Its versatility and affordability are the main reasons why I love it so much, although it excels in other areas of performance too.
AKLOT Tenor Ukulele Beginner Kit
- Size: 5 inches by 9.7 inches by 4.4 inches
- Weight: 8 pounds
- What’s included: Gig bag, instructional guide, Aklot replacement strings, strap, clip-on tuner, picks
- Material & finish: Mahogany construction, natural finish
- Best for: Best cheap tenor ukulele
Cheap ukuleles often have a poor sound and durability, and they look completely uninteresting. That’s not the case with the Aklot Tenor Beginner Kit, though. This uke is made of decently sturdy mahogany, which provides it with a warm sound and a solid sustain.
✅ Excellent selection of accessories
✅ Decently sturdy
✅ Good sustain
✅ Great for beginners
❌ Poor intonation
❌ Cheap-quality factory strings
Why I Recommend It
Aklot’s Beginner Kit is, in my humble opinion, great for the buck. It’s equipped with a couple of great accessories, and the uke itself is made of sturdy, good-sounding mahogany. Affordability is the main reason why I recommend it, though.
Flight Victoria Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 30 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches
- Weight: 49 pounds
- What’s included: Standalone ukulele
- Material & finish: Acacia back, mahogany neck, spruce top, ebony fingerboard, gloss finish
- Best for: Best tenor ukulele under $1,000
If money isn’t an issue for you, you might want to take a look at Flight Victoria Tenor Ukulele. It’s made from the most exquisite tonewoods that the market has to offer, and it boasts superior playability and intonation.
✅ An eclectic choice of tonewoods
✅ Superb durability
✅ Excellent intonation and playability
✅ Artec PP404U pickup system
❌ Very expensive
❌ No accessories
Why I Recommend It
Flight’s Victoria Tenor is a schoolbook example of what a perfect tenor should look, sound, and feel like. Apart from being composed of exquisite tonewoods, it offers unparalleled sonic performance and is perfect for professional musicians.
Cordoba 28T Hawaiian Koa Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 26 inches by 8.5 inches by 3.5 inches
- Weight: 31 pounds
- What’s included: Standalone ukulele
- Material & finish: Koa wood construction, matte finish
- Best for: Best tenor ukulele under $500
Koa-made ukuleles are rare on the market, so when I stumbled across the Cordoba 28T Hawaiian Koa I was very positively surprised to see that it doesn’t cost a fortune. This uke sounds absolutely amazing, and it’s as beautiful as it is sturdy.
✅ Traditional koa construction
✅ Phenomenal sound quality
✅ Built to last
✅ High playability
❌ No accessories
❌ Expensive
Why I Recommend It
I recommend Cordoba’s 28T to musicians who value playability and sound above aesthetics and affordability. Even though it’s not cheap, its performance is astounding, and both its sound and playability are incredible.
Vangoa Electric Tenor Ukulele Starter Kit
- Size: 5 inches by 10.2 inches by 4.5 inches
- Weight: 59 pounds
- What’s included: Gig bag, replacement strings, ukulele pick, capo, strap, clip-on tuner
- Material & finish: Mahogany construction, lacquered finish
- Best for: Best cheap semi-acoustic tenor ukulele bundle
As cautious as I am when approaching cheap instruments, I’m even more vigilant when shopping for low-end semi-acoustic ukes. Out of the numerous models I’ve tested, the Vangoa Electric Tenor Ukulele Starter Kit stood out as the sturdiest and best sounding one.
✅ Fairly cheap
✅ Beautiful lacquer finish
✅ Cool accessories
✅ High volume
❌ Poor intonation
❌ Cheap factory strings
Why I Recommend It
Semi-acoustic tenor ukuleles are great for beginners who’ve had some experience with guitars or basses. Vangoa’s Starter Kit can be a very organic segue from other instruments to ukuleles, and I warmly recommend it due to its versatility, sound quality, and the great accessories it comes with.
Kala Archtop Sunburst Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 28 inches by 10.5 inches by 4 inches
- Weight: N/A
- What’s included: Standalone ukulele
- Material & finish: Spruce top, mahogany construction, tobacco burst satin finish
- Best for: Most playable tenor ukulele
Kala Archtop Sunburst Tenor is a highly successful attempt to introduce the classy Les Paul aesthetic to a top-quality ukulele. It’s made of robust spruce and mahogany, and it rocks adequate fret spacing, visible fret markers, and sturdy silver-nickel frets.
✅ Unparalleled playability
✅ Unique look
✅ Equipped with a versatile pickup system
✅ 2-tone finish
❌ Big & bulky
❌ The fret markers begin at 5th fret
Why I Recommend It
If you’re on the market looking for a good-sounding, highly playable tenor, look no further than the Kala Archtop Sunburst Tenor. It’s one of my favorite mid-range ukuleles, mainly because of its smooth neck and remarkably gentle fretboard.
Oscar Schmidt OU2T Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 30 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches
- Weight: 89 pounds
- What’s included: Hard case, clip-on tuner, Play Ukulele Today instructional DVD, polishing cloth, strap
- Material & finish: Mahogany construction, polished gloss finish
- Best for: Best intermediate tenor ukulele
Made of excellent-quality mahogany and equipped with a set of remarkable accessories, the Oscar Schmidt OU2T Tenor Ukulele bundle is definitely one of the best packages that the current market has to offer.
✅ High-quality mahogany construction
✅ Big and sturdy hard-shell case
✅ Excellent intonation
✅ Great sound
❌ Bigger than an average tenor ukulele
❌ Fairly heavy
Why I Recommend It
If you play ukulele and don’t seem to progress on your current instrument, I recommend upgrading to Oscar Schmidt’s OU2T Tenor Ukulele. It’s sturdy, great-sounding and playable, but it’s also big and fairly heavy.
Ortega Guitars Prism Series RUPR IVY Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 71 inches by 11.81 inches by 5.43 inches
- Weight: 78 pounds
- What’s included: Standalone ukulele
- Material & finish: Maple construction, Ivy Fade finish
- Best for: Best-sounding tenor ukulele
Ortega Guitars is one of the most famous guitar and ukulele-making companies, and it’s fairly safe to say that they outdid themselves with RURP-IVY Tenor Ukulele.
This model offers a distinctive, bright tone with plenty of overtones and an excellent sustain, and it also looks absolutely great and feels remarkably playable.
✅ A tremendous level of playability
✅ One of the best-sounding tenor ukuleles on the market
✅ Sturdy maple construction
✅ Dependable hardware
❌ Expensive
❌ No accessories
Why I Recommend It
Even though it costs a bit more than average, Ortega Guitars’ RUPR-IVY is one of the most phenomenal tenors I’ve had the pleasure of playing. I recommend it to any musician who demands top-quality sound and playability.
Kala KA-BMB-T Bamboo Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 6 inches by 12 inches by 5.1 inches
- Weight: 1 pound
- What’s included: Standalone ukulele
- Material & finish: Solid bamboo construction
- Best for: Most durable tenor ukulele
Kala KA-BMB-T is a dependable, reliable road-worthy tenor ukulele that sounds good enough to be your main live-performance instrument and is sturdy enough to be your backup during even the longest tours.
✅ Remarkable sturdiness
✅ Unique, mellow sound
✅ Pre-strung with Aquila Super Nylgut strings
✅ High-quality hardware
❌ No accessories
❌ Pricey
Why I Recommend It
I recommend Kala’s KA-BMB-T for its sturdiness, sound quality, and dependability. It performs wonderfully for the buck, and its robust bamboo construction ensures that it can be used for years, if not decades to come, given proper maintenance.
Gretsch G9120 Tenor Ukulele
- Size: 35 inches by 12 inches by 8 inches
- Weight: 2 pounds
- What’s included: Gig bag
- Material & finish: Mahogany construction
- Best for: Best value tenor ukulele
Let’s wrap it up with Gretsch G9120 Tenor Ukulele. It looks great, sounds awesome, and despite the fact that it weighs a bit more than average, its playability is remarkable. This ukulele is made of sturdy mahogany and comes with a gig bag.
✅ Made of high-quality mahogany
✅ Robust construction
✅ Excellent level of playability
✅ Exceptional sonic performance
❌ Includes only a gig bag
❌ Pricey
Why I Recommend It
Gretsch’s G9120 Tenor is a well-rounded, highly versatile tenor ukulele that offers a perfect balance of sound, playability, and durability. Its value for the buck is tremendous, although it’s not exactly cheap.
Tenor Ukulele Aesthetics & Build
Knowing what a tenor ukulele is made of and why it looks a certain way can greatly help you pick the right one. In this section, I’ll touch on the most important elements of tenor ukuleles’ aesthetics and build.
Wood
Tenors, just like every other ukulele type, consist of a neck, a fretboard, a body, head, and sides. In most cases, all of these parts are made of the same tonewood, and the sound of such a model leans towards either of the two sides of the tonal spectrum.
Now, if a ukulele features multiple tonewoods, each of them affect its sonic performance differently.
If you’re searching for a specific sound, tenors made of a single tonewood are recommended. If, on another hand, you want a versatile sound, consider picking a model that features multiple tonewoods.
Finish
If you have a keen eye for aesthetics, you’ll probably be interested in ukuleles that were finished a certain way. The varnish doesn’t have a major impact on the performance of a tenor ukulele, but in some cases it can add a bit of extra weight or constrict the sustain.
Color
The color of a tenor ukulele has nothing to do with the type of finish. A great example of a beautifully colored tenor ukulele is Ortega Guitars’ Prism Series RUPR-IVY, which is green with the exquisite Ivy Fade high-gloss type of finish.
This is a purely aesthetic feature that doesn’t have any impact on the performance of a tenor ukulele.
See More: Best Soprano Ukuleles For Beginners Buyer’s Guide
Frequently Asked Questions:
Tenors are slightly less popular than soprano and concert ukuleles, so it’s only natural that you may have some additional questions about their performance, price, and such. Let’s answer some of the most common ones.
How Much Do Tenor Ukuleles Cost?
The cheapest tenor ukulele I’ve ever played had a price tag of approximately $50. It was hanging on the shelf of a local store — a cheap beginner’s standalone ukulele that was made by an obscure brand and didn’t contain any additional accessories.
Entry-level tenor bundles start around $70, although I suggest investing at least $100 if you want quality accessories and a good-sounding ukulele.
Intermediate ukulele players can find mid-range tenors below $200, while professionals don’t have to look far to find a great instrument under $500.
What Are the Best Tenor Ukuleles?
My personal favorites are Kala’s LTP-MH, Flight’s Victoria, and Aklot’s Starter Kit. Each has a different set of benefits and drawbacks.
Kala LTP-MH Mahogany & White: Best Tenor Ukulele Overall
The Kala LPT-MH is a sturdy tenor with a rich, controllable sound and an excellent sustain. It’s a beautiful instrument that’s more durable and playable than most of its similarly priced counterparts. To top it all off, it’s actually fairly affordable and supplied with excellent accessories.
Flight Victoria Tenor: Best High-End Tenor Ukulele
All ukuleles from the Flight Victoria Series are remarkable professional instruments. The Victoria Tenor is made of a variety of top-shelf tonewoods that make it one of the best-sounding ukuleles that money can buy.
Aklot Tenor Ukulele Beginner Kit: Best Cheap Tenor Ukulele
The Aklot Tenor Ukulele Beginner Kit is an affordable beginner bundle that sports dependable ukulele accessories and a decently sturdy, good-sounding tenor ukulele. Its forte is cheapness, but I mainly recommend it for its great sound and surprisingly good sustain.
Where Are the Best Tenor Ukuleles Made?
Americans make the best tenor ukuleles, but you’ll also be able to find some of the finest models in Europe, specifically Italy.
What Is the Best Sounding Tenor Ukulele?
Aside from Flight Victoria Tenor, one of the best-sounding tenor ukuleles on the market is Cordoba’s 28T. It’s made of exquisite koa wood, and its traditional design and construction lend themselves to its warm, well-balanced tone.
Where to Buy Tenor Ukuleles
Personally, I recommend buying ukuleles online rather than spending days and weeks searching for a decent model in your local shops. Online marketplaces offer an immensely broader selection, so my advice would be to start your search there.
Amazon
The stiff competition on this online marketplace dictates lower prices, so the first thing you can expect from shopping for a tenor uke on Amazon is affordability. Aside from that, the bulk of the world’s high-quality ukes are there.
Online Music Retailers
Certain tenor ukuleles aren’t available on Amazon for one reason or another, so your next stop should be Sweetwater or GuitarCenter. You can expect similar prices and a different kind of a catalog.
Your Local Music Store
If you didn’t manage to wade through the vast online marketplaces such as Amazon, Sweetwater, and Guitar Center, you should give your local music stores a shot.
However, aside from luthier families, most local stores purchase and re-sell their tenor ukuleles from bigger companies, including online marketplaces, so it’s obvious that local shops are a bit more expensive.
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In Conclusion
Before we wrap things up, I want to thank you for coming and wish you luck in finding the best tenor ukulele. My list of the finest tenor ukuleles is based on the models I’ve tried, but it’s slightly biased in the sense that everyone perceives sound and playability differently.
However, from an objective standpoint, the ten models in my review are made by reputable brands and offer reliability and dependability alongside great sonic performance, intonation, quality accessories, and such.
Feel free to speak your mind regarding any tenor ukulele you think that should’ve made it onto the list in the comments below.
