Noah Delta Concert Ukulele

It's always fun to see a brand new Noah Ukulele, so I was delighted recently when Matt Cohen got in touch to tell me about his latest. This is the Noah Delta Concert.

Noah are the UK based brand run by Matt that put out a range of instruments hand made to his specs in Vietnam - a relationship he built when he lived over there. There's been quite a few of them on this site which to my mind have got better and better with each new iteration (showing a brand that cares) and always representing terrific value for money. This brand new model is the first new concert for a couple of years and comes with a name that is a nod Matt's time in Vietnam and in particular his memories of a boat trip on the Mekong Delta. He also said he wanted this one to be focussed on the woods being the main event, which certainly ticks one of my boxes! It also has a few departures from the more standard things you can expect from Noah and i'll come onto those in the review.

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

The Delta Concert is, like other Noah ukes, hand made from all solid woods by his Vietnamese luthier Mr Anh. With this one we have the classic pairing of solid spruce for the top and solid Indian Rosewood for the back and sides. It's a tried and tested combo in stringed instruments with the brightness of the top wood being tempered by the rich darker sound of the rosewood. Oh, and of course the colour combination is to die for which helps! The spruce has some attractive dark and light variation in the grain and the rosewood is just deep and lovely and gorgeous to look at. The shape itself is a departure for Noah I think with a much more modern, rounded base and curvy double bout rather than a more trad ukulele pattern. I think it's gorgeous myself.

The bridge is a pin bridge made of the Vietnamese wood Gỗ Gõ Mật (which roughly translates as 'honey wood'. It's not the first pin bridge i've seen on a Noah, but it's the first with this shape which I like though do think it's a little big. In guitar circles some guitar bridges get called 'moustache shapes' and this is that with the volume turned up - it's a full moustache. It's also very tidily done and holds a straight topped bone saddle with string spacing of 44mm.

Decor wise there is an absence of abalone (tick box for me, if not for Matt Cohen who likes it!), but we have real wood binding to the top and back made of pale maple. Because it's real wood and not plastic you see the occasional dark patch or edge of a knot, but I quite like that and it looks a bit rustic - something i've said about a lot of Noah ukes. This is handmade remember. That's also trimmed with black and white purfling. The back joint and tail also get more of the maple trim. The soundhole gets what looks like a rosewood ring inlay, also trimmed and that looks great too. On the upper side is a round side sound port which is, nicely edge bound inside which looks classy and neat. The finish looks like a hand done gloss which is one of the best i've seen from Noah. Sure, the odd ripple because it is hand done, but it's pretty much a mirror.

It's a good sign when any ukulele is tidy inside but even more important with a side sound port which shows everything off! Thankfully this is done well with notched linings and thin braces. The lower bout of the top is braced vertically from the tail upwards. There is, however, no bridge plate which I occasionally see and you are trusting the builder that this will have strength. Thankfully I am not personally aware of any Noah failures so the luthier must be content.

The neck is made from maple of the darker variety and is finished in a satin. It's formed of two pieces with the only joint being a well hidden one in the heel. It's extremely smooth in the hands and I love the carving up around the nut area where it taper to a fairly rounded profile but a roomy 37mm nut with 30mm spacing. It's a very nice neck

The fingerboard uses more Go Go Mat wood and is in great condition. In a departure for Noah and on the minimalist theme there are no outward facing dots but only side dots in the usual places. I actually love that and have a luthier instrument which is similarly simple in this department. It means nothing fussy facing out but the player can easily find their way using the side. It has 18 frets joined very traditionally at the 12th. I can honestly say that the fret dressing on this is example is as good as any I think I have ever seen.

Beyond the bone nut is a skinny (side to side) simple headstock faced in more rosewood. It's very tidy and carries the Noah logo in a pearl inlay at the top.

The tuners tick another of my boxes as they have gone with rear facing friction pegs. The brand is not specified, but they are 'Grover style' and work just fine.

Finishing thing are choice of a set of Martin M600 or Aquila strings (Martin on this one), a tail strap button and the usual basic Noah gig bag. One thing Noah have always been is good value for money and it's still the case here as this will only set you back £289 delivered in the UK. Very, very good value. And as I ALWAYS get asked - yes Matt DOES ship internationally, but you need to contact him rather than order through his site to work out the shipping.

So an awful lot of positives here and not really any negatives. One thing I like about Noah ukes is with each new one I see they seem to get better and better as the luthier steadily ups his game. It's a very nice instrument to hold and not heavy at 615g and balances very well. Setup is also great

Basics first and the volume here is terrific - a real punch and bark when you strum it which is just great. Sustain is good too and whilst not out of the park, not shabby at all. Good so far.

Tone wise this is certainly a bright instrument with that wide bout of spruce coming to the fore. I try not to be too subjective in my reviews on this point as I personally prefer darker woodier sounding instruments but I know a great many people like a crisp clear bright sound and this is what this has in spades. Strummed it extremely jangly and peppy with all notes very clear in the mix. It sounds like a great concert should this way which is more towards the soprano rhythmical sound for bouncy chord progressions rather than the more reflective rounder tones of tenors and upwards. So as much as the bright zing is not my preference, it's doing what a concert should do very well and it's not all one dimensional as there is a nice shimmery ring of mid tones going on with it as well.

That subjectivity of mine means I much prefer it for picking myself as it throws out music box type chimes wherever you play it which is incredibly pretty. And that nut profile is just perfect for my hands played this way as it is so comfortable to move the fingers around on melody lines. The brighter chime here is just fine with me because it's so damn pretty, I think I would still personally experiment with a darker sounding string, but that is just me. This is a very nice sounding instrument.

I said earlier that each Noah uke I see gets better and better and it's clear that Mr Anh is constantly upping his game. This is the right up there with the best i've seen from Noah and I love the developments that have been employed. Great looks, great build, great sound, great price. This is a much liked brand now and for good reason - they listen and improve all the time. This one is a delight.

Highly recommended!

https://noahukuleles.com/

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Noah Delta

Scale: Concert

Body: Solid spruce top, solid Indian rosewood back and sides

Bridge: Go Go Mat pin bridge

Saddle: Bone

Spacing at saddle: 44mm

Finish: Gloss

Neck: Maple

Fingerboard: Go Go Mat
Frets: 16, 12 to body

Nut: Bone

Nut width: 37mm, 30 G to A

Tuners: Grover style friction pegs
Strings: Either Martin M600 or Aquila

Extras: Strap button, gig bag

Country of origin: Vietnam

Weight: 615g

Price: £289 delivered in UK (Worldwide available)

UKULELE PROS

Great looks

Nice finish

Wonderful neck and profile
Yay! Friction pegs!

Crisp and very clear tone

Super volume

Terrific price

UKULELE CONS

(subjectively) bright

If you dislike handmade tooling marks go to factory build!
Nothing much else really!

UKULELE SCORE

Looks - 9.5 out of 10

Fit and finish - 9 out of 10

Sound - 9 out of 10
Value for money - 9.5 out of 10

OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 9.3 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

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!