Got A Ukulele makes another foray into the world of the 'Amazon ukulele' with another try of a popular brand. This is the Caramel CT103 Tenor Ukulele.
I've looked at Caramel ukes a couple of times before, partly because I do try to keep the Amazon ukes that get endless 5 star reviews in check, but also because I do see other channels rave about them quite a bit. Neither of the two I have looked at I would consider to be utterly terrible ukuleles, but I did consider both to be quite average, generic and just a bit, well... meh... So I figured I'd give the brand another crack with an example that is a touch more expensive (whilst still being ludicrously cheap like so many Amazon ukes are..).
SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW
Specs on these ukes usually take a bit of deciphering and I can't even find it on the only 'official' looking Caramel website I can see, yet they are usually available on Amazon. I suppose it's kind of similar to the concert CC102 that I looked at in 2017, but with a fair few design differences. The main similarity is that this is made from all laminate zebra wood in the body. Back in the mid-2010's I made my view clear that I was getting sick of zebra wood or 'zebrano' and that's because at the time they were becoming 'ten a penny' on Amazon with every brand rushing to use the wood. To be fair, that trend seems to have died down a bit in more recent years and it's not jarring me quite so much now. It's certainly striking to look at despite it not being 'my bag'. The stripes are 'kind' of matched though I would like the cut to be a bit more angled to give a better effect. I really am nit picking though. It's a head turner if you like this sort of thing.
The bridge is very Taylor / Kanile'a esque insofar as it being a pin bridge. It's made from walnut and is tidily finished in terms of the core wood, but positively 'unfinished' as it looks almost like raw wood. At first look I though the pins were made of ebony but they appear to be some sort of black composite plastic with white dots. The saddle is made of bone and is straight topped with a string spacing of 40mm.
Decoration and finishing is where things start to take a bit of a nose dive for me. Around the top and back edge is some fairly standard looking cream binding which I have no issue with. On the top face this is paired with a purfling inlay of some synthetic abalone type material in reds and greens. I know those colours can exist in real abalone, but I don't think they do quite so dramatically and I think it looks gaudy to the point that I personally think it spoils the instrument. All very subjective of course and you may love it. What is not so subjective is the quality of the gloss finish which looks like it has been applied by simply opening a can of varnish, pouring it on the uke and then letting it drip dry. The pooling and over application around the edge of the bridge is just hideous. I've struggled to photograph it, but trust me - this is as over applied as some of those £20 brightly painted sopranos. The sound hole edge is also scruffy because of it and it leaves me worried as to how much dampening that is doing to the sound.
Also a subjective 'negative' (though with one or two objective points) is the inclusion of a pickup with side mounted controls in an ugly block. You know I don't like them and would prefer a simple passive system that I can choose to process how I like, but there is no arguing with the extra weight, the extra wiring and circuitry (meaning more to go wrong). I also don't like them when they terminate to a jack socket fitted off the tail block. Still, at least it runs on cell batteries and not a 9v brick.. If you MUST go with a pickup with controls, give me a sound hole mounted system like Flight do, so at least I can take it out if I want and not leave a hole in the side of my uke..
Inside is fairly standard on the bracing and the kerfing is notched. It's largely tidy bar the bridge plate holes which look like they were put through with a shotgun..
The neck wood is unspecified but is pale and is possibly okoume or nato. It's in three pieces with obvious joints in the normal places and, sadly, is also heavily glossed like the body. It tapers to a very far eastern rounded and skinny nut profile with a spacing of 35mm and 27mm G to A. That's too small for me personally, though your mileage may vary. Oh, and the neck has an adjustable truss rod. Please stop putting these in instruments that don't need them as you are only encouraging the brigade that tell others that they are for adjusting action. They are NOT for that! They are for re-introducing relief into a neck caused by the tension of steel strings. That's why you don't see them on nylon strung classical guitars (no need) or need them on a regular uke..
The fingerboard is described as walnut but is almost jet black so must have been stained. Sadly that means it is mis-matched in colour to the bridge which always irritates me. At first glance it looks like they have gone to some effort to make it tidy as it is extremely smooth to the point I thought it may be composite, but up close there are a tonne of finishing marks which really do stand out. It's edge bound in black to hide the fret ends (of which you get 18 joined at the 14th and none of them feel sharp). That edging is also glossed and in places has bubbled and 'blown' - probably because they applied so much of it! White pearly position dots face out at the 5th, 7th, 10th, double 12th and 15th and they are repeated on the side in the same places.
Beyond the bone nut is a headstock shape very clearly lifted from Kanile'a. It's faced in more zebrano and glossed as well. The Caramel logo is laser etched in the top face. Meh..
The tuners are out of the guitar shop parts bin being sealed chrome gears. They work ok I guess, but give me open gears please as these are heavy and not best suited to ukes.
And it's one of those instruments that throws the kitchen sink at you in a goody bag. Along side the pickup and two strap buttons and the un-named fluoro looking strings, you also get a very rudimentary zippered gig bag and an extra bag of bits. Unlike the usual offerings this mixes the more generic with a couple of more thoughtful additions. You get the cloth, the strap, the picks, the truss wrench, the spare strings. Nothing new there. But then you also get a peg puller (a boon for changing strings on pin bridges) and also a spare couple of pins. For anyone who has changed a pin bridge and seen the pin fly out to get lost under the sofa, you will see how handy that is. You also get an instrument cable which, considering they have foisted a pickup on you, is a nice enough addition. It's a goodie bag that suggests someone actually thought about it for once.... And for all that, Amazon dynamic pricing that can change from one day to the next aside, it's about £99.99. Yes, there are several on Amazon cheaper still, including many Caramels so in that scheme of things it's not the cheapest 'cheap uke'. In wider uke circles though it certainly is low priced.
So it's another Amazon mixed bag so far. It's a passable core build and whilst I don't (subjectively) care for the looks I do (objectively) see too many issues with the finish. It feels far heavier than I would like at 775g and it has that weird balance thing going on where it is even at the 12th, but the instrument feels like it is falling back into your chest, most likely on account of all that gubbins in the pickup controls. Setup is fine at the nut but at the 12th is too high at over 3.25mm, nearly 3.5mm. Worryingly, there isn't a great deal of saddle left to take that down massively so something is slightly off with the build - perhaps a mis-set neck. Sigh...
Let's have a play. First of all the volume is decent enough. You'll be heard with this one and despite it not being a cannon of sound it's perfectly passable. Sadly the sustain is distinctly average and falls of quite quickly with less of a fade and more of a cliff edge. That's not great for more characterful play frills. That high action certainly makes it one for getting strumming fingers tangled and really needs to come down. It isn't affecting the intonation, but it's still not right and I am not sure can be fixed.
When I was first tuning this one up all my brain was telling me was that I was hearing a kind of banjo / resonator type sound and sure enough that comes through to me in the play. Strummed, on the plus side the tone is a clear one with no real muddiness happening or confusion but this has a very narrow breadth of tone to the point of it being in a very tight range. And it's certainly down the bright side and not much else. Is it unpleasant? Well, I guess not if that is the sound you want, but equally it could be called quite nasal and thin. I would certainly be wanting more range to my tone myself despite this playing like a uke and kind of sounding like one. Kind of weedy.
Fingerpicking has similar issues with a very narrow band of tone from the strings that almost sound a bit metallic when played higher up the neck. Again, maybe it's a thin tonal palette that works for you, but I want much more breadth and character. Maybe a string change would broaden that out, maybe not, but I stress that it's not a woeful tone at all - just very narrow and one dimensional.
When I consider some of the absolute horror shows I've looked at when you are limiting yourself to Amazon, Caramel have not actually done horrifically badly with me. Sure they are not in the recommended score section, but, like the last one I looked at, this is not a total mistake I guess. The looks will win a lot of people over and it's largely well put together, if scruffy on the finish. But I have to consider alternatives and when you can get really passable tenors from Uma, Kai, Baton Rouge and Enya for this sort of price point, I would really, honestly look towards those. Heck you can get entry level Kalas for this money which will be more reliable. No you won't get the kitchen sink thrown in (and there's a moral in that) but there is a reason why the true uke specialists don't carry brands like this.
Another generic average uke on Amazon is about all that can be said. You can do better.
Fingerpicking has similar issues with a very narrow band of tone from the strings that almost sound a bit metallic when played higher up the neck. Again, maybe it's a thin tonal palette that works for you, but I want much more breadth and character. Maybe a string change would broaden that out, maybe not, but I stress that it's not a woeful tone at all - just very narrow and one dimensional.
When I consider some of the absolute horror shows I've looked at when you are limiting yourself to Amazon, Caramel have not actually done horrifically badly with me. Sure they are not in the recommended score section, but, like the last one I looked at, this is not a total mistake I guess. The looks will win a lot of people over and it's largely well put together, if scruffy on the finish. But I have to consider alternatives and when you can get really passable tenors from Uma, Kai, Baton Rouge and Enya for this sort of price point, I would really, honestly look towards those. Heck you can get entry level Kalas for this money which will be more reliable. No you won't get the kitchen sink thrown in (and there's a moral in that) but there is a reason why the true uke specialists don't carry brands like this.
Another generic average uke on Amazon is about all that can be said. You can do better.
UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP
Model: Caramel CT103
Scale: Tenor
Body: All laminate Zebra Wood
Bridge: Walnut pin style
Saddle: Bone
Spacing at saddle: 40mm
Finish: Gloss
Neck: Unspecified
Fingerboard: Walnut
Frets: 18, 14 to body
Nut: Bone
Nut width: 35mm, 27mm G to A
Tuners: Guitar style sealed chrome gears
Strings: Unspecified
Extras: Active pickup, gig bag, strap buttons, cloth, strap, picks, peg puller, spare pegs, instrument cable
Weight: 775g
Country of origin: China
Price: £99 at time of review
UKULELE PROS
Generally good build (bar the action)
Decent enough volume
Clear tone
Some thoughtful extras
Cheap
UKULELE CONS
Gaudy finishing (subjective)
Scruffy finishing (objective)
Don't want an active pickup
Don't want an active pickup
Skinny nut
Weird neck setup / action
Chunky guitar tuners
Chunky guitar tuners
Heavy
Thin breadth to tone with nasal edge
Average sustain
Average sustain
UKULELE SCORES
Looks - 7.5 out of 10
Fit and finish - 6.5 out of 10
Sound - 7 out of 10
Value for money - 9 out of 10
OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 7.5 out of 10
UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW
OVERALL UKULELE SCORE - 7.5 out of 10
UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW
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