Gold Tone UG-18 Ukulele-Guitar with Gig Bag

There’s a moment when a ukulele player picks up the Gold Tone UG-18 for the first time and just grins. I’ve seen it happen over and over again. The UG-18 is a ukulele-guitar — guitar-bodied, tuned GCEA just like your uke — and it opens up a whole new world of chord-melody playing that a standard soprano or concert uke simply can’t match. That 23″ scale keeps your chord shapes exactly where you expect them, but now you’ve got a spruce top and mahogany back and sides delivering warmth and volume that turns heads in a room. If you’re a ukulele player who wants more projection, or a guitarist who’s curious about uke tuning without having to relearn the fretboard, this instrument was made for you.

Gold Tone built the UG-18 to hold up beautifully through the real-world conditions that working musicians face — season changes, touring, teaching studios. The laminated mahogany body is genuinely weather-stable, and the bolt-on mahogany neck means if you ever need service down the road, it’s straightforward. A two-way adjustable truss rod gives you long-term neck relief control, the ZeroGlide nut keeps open strings ringing in tune with fretted notes, and an ebony bridge with bone saddle rounds out the tonal picture with crisp attack and clean sustain. Twenty frets on a rosewood fingerboard with mini-dot inlays give you plenty of range for single-note runs and chord-melody arrangements. Steel strings (.24w through .008) give the UG-18 a brighter, more cutting tone than a traditional nylon-strung uke — it really does occupy its own sonic space.

Each instrument receives a professional setup at Gold Tone’s factory in Titusville, Florida before it ships to you. You’re not just getting a factory instrument — you’re getting a professionally set-up instrument ready to play the moment it arrives at your door.

Why Buy From Banjo Warehouse

Banjo Warehouse is an authorized Gold Tone dealer, which means you’re covered by the full manufacturer’s warranty and buying from a source Gold Tone stands behind. I’ve been around stringed instruments for more than 45 years — I co-own Watch & Learn in Atlanta, wrote Banjo Primer (consistently rated the #1 beginner banjo method), and I co-designed the Gold Tone OB-Standard, so I’ve worked closely with the folks at Gold Tone for a long time. I know what makes their instruments tick and I know how to get them playing their best. When you buy from us, you’re buying from people who actually play these things. We offer flexible financing through PayPal Pay in 4, Afterpay, and 3, 6, 12, and 24-month plans — all with no late fees — so you can get the instrument you want without waiting.

Gold Tone UG-18 Specifications

Frequently Asked Questions

If I already play ukulele, will the UG-18 feel familiar to me?

Yes — the UG-18 is tuned GCEA, exactly like a soprano, concert, or tenor ukulele, so every chord shape and scale pattern you already know works the same way. The 23″ scale is a bit longer than a concert uke but shorter than a tenor guitar, and it feels very natural to ukulele players within a few minutes. The main adjustment is the feel of the guitar-style body and the slightly brighter attack of steel strings, but the fretboard logic is identical to what you’re used to.

Can the UG-18 be used for chord-melody playing, and how does it compare to a standard uke for that style?

Chord-melody is really where the UG-18 shines. The guitar body gives you significantly more volume and sustain than a typical uke, which means melody notes on top of chord voicings ring out clearly and don’t get buried. The 20-fret rosewood fingerboard gives you more upper-register range than most ukuleles as well. If you’ve been developing your chord-melody chops on a concert or tenor uke and want more sonic presence without changing your approach to the instrument, the UG-18 is a very natural next step.

What’s the difference between the UG-18 and Gold Tone’s other ukulele-guitar models?

Gold Tone offers a family of ukulele-guitar hybrids at different price and feature levels. The UG-18 sits at a strong mid-range price point and features a solid spruce top paired with a laminated mahogany body — a step up in tonal responsiveness from all-laminate instruments. The ZeroGlide nut and bone saddle are also notable upgrades that improve intonation and sustain. If you’re serious about the instrument and want something that will reward you as your playing grows, the UG-18 is the one I’d point you toward.

Want to know when new banjos arrive? Join our email list: Sign up here.