Hi,

New member here. You are right about the sound of the colourful Seven Tones ukes being muffled. I bought a white coloured, concert sized one and was so disappointed by that soft sound. didn't expect that as it came with aquila strings!. I suspected that the paint job was too thick so I sanded the top board , and later the whole uke) down. I was presently surprised by the nice wood underneath. It's laminated maple I think with laminated mahogany ( I think) as the side wood. the back also looks like laminated maple. The neck was made with a type of wood with a nice grain ( a few knots here and there made it fantastic).

Just below the paint you'd find a layer of laquer that gives the wood a very smooth surface that may make you want to stop there what with the nice natural colour of the wood and all. But that layer of laquer would still stiffle the sound. I ended up sanding that away too and later applying a mahogony wood tone.

The uke opened up and I was so happy that I did that. I ended up buying another one ( a purple coloured one this time) and immediately started to sand down the thing. I stopped at the laquer this time (instead of sanding that away), and made another sound-hole at the side ( following the Riptide brand's uke). It sounds fantastic!

Not only do the ukes sound louder, they look beautiful as well!

If you are adventurous enough, invest in some sand-papers and do the same. a word of caution though, take your time in sanding - don't press too hard.

The laminated all mahogany seven tones UL 21 sopranos however are already loud out of the box. They are nice except for some minor issues like the saddle being too thin its space in the bridge (corrected by inserting some toothpicks there) and the white plastics (where the tuners go through) at the headstock falling off.

But the beautiful sound they produce, makes you forgive all that. I have two of that too.

Happy ukeing.