A five string is a very rewarding thing, a really fascinating sound, yet understandable it might be a luxury that not everyone can add to their collections. With this Baton Rouge V2-T5, the price brings it into more people's comfort zone for a more unusual ukulele purchase.

Given the big, bold tone when strumming, the nice playability and decorative soundhole etching, coupled with the relatively budget price, this Baton Rouge had us searching for a downside. It is a laminate mahogany instrument, but the 5-string format really brings an extra dimension of sound anyway - meaning you get a bigger tone than an average uke just on account of the number of strings and the way they are tuned.

This Baton Rouge 5-string has a profiled arched back, which gives an extra dimension of depth, seemingly amplifying the treble strings to provide a good balance against the big volume of the Aquila red low G.