I'm considering purchasing a gorgeous tenor ukulele made by Rick Turner of Renaissance Guitars (Santa Cruz, CA) under the trade name "Compass Rose." It's a beauty, solid koa, seems to play like a dream, has a cantilevered neck, great action.... The only thing is, I know virtually nothing about the tenor uke and very little about the maker.

My plan for the uke is to finally learn an instrument on which I'm comfortable playing leads. I'm a very good singer and a competent musician, but my instruments tend to be modal ones -- Celtic harp, dulcimer, McCann duet concertina -- that don't comfortably change keys, making me the rhythm player. I'd be using the ukulele rather like a guitar, I guess (unless the instrument dictates a new style, which is always possible): The four-string critter suits my tiny hands better than the single-O Washburn guitar I used to play. Plus, I haven't played guitar in a long time because I've been in a succession of bands that already have an OK guitar player but none of the other stuff I play -- but none of them has a tenor uke either!

BTW I play largely English traditional folk and sea music, and some American folk too, but branching out into...umm, variety and vintage material is not out of the question.

Is there anyone here with information or advice?

Thanks,
Claire