I just got a lovely Martin Tenor Uke: with a modern take on the old-school peg tunners. They are geared, but look like old classical guitar or violin pegs.
The Tenor size has a very satisfying tone, bright, mid rich, with overtones from lower frequencies .... Projection is magical at ear level when strumming naturally. It seems like the sound is specifically directed to the player's ears. It's not, it's projected very well to the audience also. It's loud. It's bright. Rich. Cuts through perfectly with voice.
This instrument is a T1 with wood from well managed forests. It comes with an FSC serial number. I believe the species is Sappele. It's a lesser wood on some of my Yamaha guitars, a little less rich than mahogany, a little flatter on guitars .... But on this tiny uke it rings. The grain and color is lovely. The finish is matte, but very smooth, much smoother than my mahogany bodied 000-17 Whiskey Sunset. It's made in Mexico, and comes with a year warranty.
A koa bodied ukele is also offered by Martin for about $50 more, but I'm very pleased with this one. The understated look hides a beautiful sounding instrument.
So here's my hypothesis: songs written with a tenor ukelele have a greater possibility of becoming hits, because the instrument pairs so well to the human voice. The notes are optimized. This probably makes little sense, but I believe it.
If you are looking for the perfect travelling string instrument, give the ukelele a try. At $400 and change for a new, solid Martin, with a nice gig bag, it's quite the steal.
(Wanna hear what a Martin Use sounds like: Google IZ's version of Over the Rainbow .... The Late legend plays an mahogany Tenor I believe. By the way, his signature model is lovely too. It is $2K.)
I've already penned two songs with it, in a day and half. Not bad. Not bad at all.