The fretless Magic Fluke MB2000, or Timber bass ukulele was one of those products that caused excitement before it arrived. Would it be as good as it looked, or as good as the makers said it was? If it fell short of the mark in anyway, the fact it is completely made in the USA (including the strings, strap and included gig bag) would mean there would be cheaper alternatives elsewhere. However, happily this ukulele bass is utterly brilliant.

The first thing we did after opening the box was fire off an e-mail to the distributor, that simply said 'Timber bass = Superbly amazingly excellent'. The next stage involved me saying to myself ' that is the best bass ukulele I've ever head'. Finally, into the shop to try it on some different amps, and my colleague came over, listened and said 'that is the best bass ukulele I've ever heard'.

Never, ever have I been happier to hand over my money as when doing so for one of these. My word, is sounds so rich, oozing quality and playability. We do not hype when it isn't due, this simply is the dog's... erm, the bees knees (phew, got a better animal analogy in there in the end!)

This is what the makers have to say: -

A short scale, solid body, fretless, electric bass. We've been thinking about this for years, and finally it has come to life in the last six months or so. Our new instrument is versatile and portable, tuned to EADG and playable like a full size bass guitar.

21.5" scale length over a solid cherry body (milled from our property in Sheffield) bolted to a maple neck and hard maple fingerboard (fretless with front and side markers). The strings are metal wound with a synthetic core, custom built to our spec by LaBella in New York. With our bridge-less design, a rosewood saddle sits directly into a slot on the body. Underneath the saddle is a Shadow piezo pickup, which connects to an active 6V lithium cell powered preamp system with volume/tone control and digital tuner onboard.