Eastman EU2-S Soprano Ukulele - REVIEW

Having looked at one of the other new reboot ukuleles from the Eastman brand, I had to take a look at the other. This is the Eastman EU2-S Soprano Ukulele.

If you have a look back at my last Eastman review of the EU1C Concert Ukulele you will see that not only did I largely like it, but I explained it was one of two new lines for Eastman (the EU1 and the EU2) which followed on from the absolutely glorious EU3 series I'd looked at some years ago. It turns out that I was slightly wrong (or rather, the Eastman website was not helpful at the time) in saying that the EU3 was discontinued as it turns out that despite not advertising them, if you contact Eastman they can still sell you them. And in fact the EU3 is now back in place on the website (can assure you, it wasn't back then!!). Anyway, these new series represent lower cost options to the 3 series, whilst still sharing a lot of the same DNA.

SUMMARY VIDEO REVIEW

Whilst the EU1 was more familar to the EU3 instruments insofar as it was made from solid mahogany, the EU2 series departs from that and gives you a solid Sitka spruce top and solid ovangkol back and sides. It's a classic wood pairing for sure with the brightness of spruce (hopefully) tempered by the darker sounding back and side woods. Personally I prefer the look of the mahogany, but that is just personal opinion. Like the EU1 the EU2 is available in soprano, concert and tenor scales. I must say though that despite my preference for mahogany, the woods here look great and they come together in a very simple but classic way. The spruce top wood looks to be good quality with tight straight grain lines and the ovangkol has some great interest, stripe and hints of flaming. It's hard to tell the construction but the back looks like a single piece whilst the sides and, possibly, the top are in pairs. I could be wrong on the top, but it's very hard to tell with all those straight lines! Anyway, the contrast looks great and the grain is lovely but I do think it looks a bit 'simple' and not as serious as it actually is (if that makes sense). More simply put, I much prefer the mahogany look.

It's a typical soprano slot style bridge in play here, made from rosewood with a straight topped bone saddle. It's extremely smooth and tidy and string spacing clocks in at 42mm.

The decor is similar to the EU1, but because of the wood colours stands out more. Around top and back is faux tortoiseshell binding with black and white purfling added to the top. The sound hole gets a Martin-esque black and white ring. And in the same downgrade from the EU3, out goes the nitro gloss finish and instead we have a simple satin. It makes the whole thing look a little flat if I am honest, but it is very tidily (and thinly) done.

Inside is largely tidy bar a bit of glue seepage. The braces are thin and the notched kerfing is tidy.

The neck is made from mahogany and may well be made from a single piece which is nice. The carving up at the nut end is also very Martin-eque and a delight in the hands with a smooth shallower taper into the headstock. The nut width is slightly wider than average at 35mm across and spacing of 28mm G to A.

The fingerboard is made of rosewood too with some attractive stripy grain in it that looks great.  What's less great is an ugly and obvious knot mark in the 2nd fret space, but we shouldn't be wasting wood for such things I guess. It's fitted with 17 frets joined at the 12th in trad soprano fashion. I accept that some people actively dislike extended fingerboards on the smaller real estate of a soprano top, but so long as it doesn't choke projection, I'm cool with it. The sides are not edge bound, but the fret dressing and polishing is excellent. Pearl position dots face out at the fifth, double 7th and 10th and they are paired with white side dots of which you get an extra one at the 12th. Nice.

Beyond the bone nut is a 'not quite crown' headstock shape which looks tidy. There's no facing as the dark stained mahogany does that job. The Eastman logo is a gold screen print rather than the 'sticker under satin' on the EU1 and I am not sure why the difference. 

The tuners are the same downgrade from the EU3 in the form of cheap looking (and a bit scruffy) unbranded open gears with black buttons. Like the EU1 they work ok, but look tatty and are a far cry from the Grovers you get on the EU3. Either way though, being a soprano I would really want rear facing pegs here instead.

Finishing it off are set of D'Addario Nyltech strings and the same (gaudy) blue padded bag as the EU1 - a bag which is decent quality, but you have to go up to the EU3 series to get the hard case. But for those downgrades you have a significantly lower ticket price of £179, which for a solid wood instrument, finished this nicely (in most areas) is a great price.

Let's dive in further!

This feels like a soprano should  - extremely light at only 385g, well balanced but not fragile. Kind of re-assuring to hold. The setup out of the box is also bang on point which is nice considering I bought this blind from a big box shipper type store.

Basics first and the volume here is just great. A real little cannon of a soprano which is exactly what you want in this scale. BOOM! Sustain is never huge on sopranos because of the small body, but I'm impressed here too (relatively speaking) as this has some of that allowing you to add some frills into your melodies. Good so far.

Tone wise this is certainly a brighter affair than you would get with all mahogany but it does depend how you play it. Strummed this is very rhythmical and bouncy and whilst there is brightness from the spruce it kind of warms up with some shimmer coming from, I assume, the ovangkol which balances it off a bit. It is still on the bright side, but not too strident and rather nice played this way. Add in the great volume and sustain and it's just what you want from a soprano sound. The clarity of individual notes is also very nice. 

Fingerpicking and the brightness gets turned up more and is quite piercing. I'm not saying that's a bad thing as many people love that bright zingy spruce sound (which this has in spades), but I just like my sopranos a little darker and warmer. That's a very subjective point though as this is clearly a pretty sounding instrument if that is your thing. But it's accurate played like this and has good volume all over the neck.

All in all I really do like Eastman instruments and think they punch well above their price point. £179 is a bargain here for the quality of build and finish and whilst I personally prefer the all mahogany version, this will have many fans and, objectively, I can give this a highly recommended. A little pocket rocket!

https://www.eastmanguitars.com/

UKULELE SPECS ROUNDUP

Model: Eastman EU2-S

Scale: Soprano

Body: Solid Sitka spruce top, solid ovangkol back and sides

Bridge: Rosewood, slot style

Saddle: Bone

Spacing at saddle: 42mm

Finish: Satin

Neck: Mahogany

Fingerboard: Rosewood

Frets: 17, 12 to body

Nut: Bone

Nut width: 35mm, 28mm G to A

Tuners: Generic open gears

Strings: D'Addario Nyltech

Extras: Gig bag

Weight: 385g

Country of origin: China

Price: £179

UKULELE PROS

Reassuring but light build

Nice clean looking finish
Nice looking tonewoods

Comfortable neck

Great setup out of the box

Great volume and good sustain
Very clear tone

Great price

UKULELE CONS

Would prefer rear facing pegs
Tuners we do get are scruffy

Prefer the mahogany 'look' myself

UKULELE SCORES

Looks - 8.5 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 out of 10

UKULELE VIDEO REVIEW

© Barry Maz

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!