Description
Baritones are the largest sized ukuleles and are renowned for having a warm, deep and mellow sound. The Noah baritone was added to the Noah range in 2016. Like all Noah Ukuleles, it is an all-solid instrument and benefits from a lovely spruce top which helps to give it that rich, warm and resonant sound that so typifies a baritone ukulele.
The Noah Baritone has been re-designed this year, with the specification for this coming from the latest Noah Ukuleles endorsee, Phil Doleman. It has Mahogany back and sides, with a Spruce top. The nut width is 39mm, giving plenty of space on the fingerboard, and it has a lovely understated sunburst finish. It also has a pin bridge.
It is supplied with Aquila strings, tuned to DGBE. Click below to listen to some great tutorial videos from Phil Doleman with a Noah Baritone.
Chris Wright (verified owner) –
My Baritone arrived today and it’s great! I already have a Kala Baritone and the Noah is quite different. For a start it’s a 19 inch scale instead of a 20 inch, it’s lighter and brighter sounding. The quality is outstanding and the Monkeypod wood is very pretty. The finish is lovely and smooth to the touch, the fingerboard edges are smooth and the frets seem to be embedded inside the edge finish which is very classy. The fitted strings were high D but a quick change to a Living Water low D seemed to match the Aquilas pretty well, giving a lovely light sparkling tone. Some folks might find it a little quiet but personally I like it, sound quality is more important than loudness for me.
String spacing is wide, good for finger style but possibly not so good for heavy strummers. I love the feel of the neck but I might drop the action just a tad. The nut is set up beautifully which means the notes don’t go sharp on the first frets.
Altogether, a fantastic Uke and even a super padded gig bag included in the package. What more could you want!
Chris Wright (verified owner) –
Update after playing every day for several weeks….. I changed the D and G strings to Daddario EJ88B but kept the original B&E strings. These light wirewound Daddarios add some extra sparkle, I found the Living Water D a little dead sounding after a while. This Uke is so nice to play, light and easy, and sounds so good, it even did well under loud pub strumming conditions. I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Brian Gilson –
Just received my baritone and it is fabulous! I changed the strings to Worth browns and it really sings.
The workmanship is fantastic. The uke is light, it has a slightly smaller body than my Kala MB but has way more volume and sustain. The slightly wider nut, 40mm instead of the usual 38mm suits me fine. The set up is also spot on for me at 2mm at the 12th fret. All the kerfing is glue free and tidy.
There is the odd blemish here and there but remember it is handmade. I cannot put it down it is such fun to play. Highly recommended and if you are not keen on the standard baritone DGBE, strings are available now for the other tunings as well.
So if you have never played a baritone give this Noah a try. You will not be disappointed!
Brian Gilson –
Just an update on my Noah baritone. I have never been a fan of wound strings but as the Worth browns I fitted, on arrival of the uke from Matt, were getting a bit dull I bought, on impulse, a set of Kamana wound strings just to try. Initial thoughts are they are fantastic and the sound is wonderful.
Remains to be seen how long they last being, being wound, but at the moment I am really chuffed with them.
Stevie Neil –
Hi Matt, firstly, many thanks for your excellent service over the holiday period to get my Baritone Uke to me. It’s a beautiful instrument, well made and great sound from it although I still need to experiment with my tuning options. I’ve been debating with myself for some time on whether to buy a Baritone to add to my Tenor and if so which one. Your offer was perfectly timed and I’m well pleased with my bargain buy.
Joe Jeffrey –
I actually picked my baritone up second hand but what’s good to note is that Noah has really developed a strong UK following and re-sale value is pretty good. This is my first baritone (having played a concert for several years) and I’m pleased to say probably my last (in a good way). I don’t perform and don’t suffer from UAS I just really wanted to try something different and I must say I am blown away by how good this is. The quality is right up there and yes there’s signs that it’s hand made but that adds to the character and I really feel like I have a unique and very special instrument. Sound is incredible. Beautiful rich warm tones and it just sustains like nothing else. Despite all of that (and the very roomy nut) it still feels and sounds like a ukulele (as opposed to a small guitar). For me, the looks of this instrument are perfect. Enough detail to catch the eye but also in keeping with traditional ukulele styling and finished to perfection. That Noah logo is something beautiful. Overall, I cannot reccomend this enough. When you consider that a half decent entry level laminate baritone may set you back £150-200, the value is incredible. I love it!
Terry McAlear (verified owner) –
I was interested in try out an instrument with slightly more space between the frets as I have a problem with my knuckles swelling after playing a tenor for a short while.
This is my first try of a baritone ukulele and I must say it is absolutely brilliant. When I opened the case and saw the sunburst effect on the top I was blown away. Yes this is a hand made instrument and it is not perfect but it still among the best I have seen.
Apart from the looks it has also got a fantastic sound and the space between frets is just enough for me to be able to play a lot longer than on the tenor.
I am converted, I will be playing baritone from now on.
Mike Fletcher –
As a long-time user of a concert uke, I wanted to branch out. A single step move to a full baritone seemed too large. So, it’s a two-stage process. First I acquire a lovely Noah baritone with GCEA tuning (low G) to get used to the larger fret distances. Then once I have saved further pennies, I splash out on a full Noah baritone. I have completed stage 1 of the plan. The uke is an aesthetic object in its own right aside from being a lovely musical instrument. I’m really pleased at finding Noah ukes.
Faith Stone (verified owner) –
I couldn’t be more delighted with my Noah sunburst baritone. I think it’s even lovelier to look at ‘in the flesh’, than in the photo. The sound is bright but full to my ear and it is wonderfully light, which is a real boon to me. Overall it’s finished beautifully and a pleasure to play. I was previously a classical guitar player but I am fully converted to this wonderful instrument. An added and important bonus is that it seems to be the most tremendous value I’ve come across. Thank you to all concerned at Noah.