GuitarPlayer Verdict

Tuned an octave higher than a standard guitar, and featuring a 16-inch scale, the Soprano TX is designed to let guitarists get mandolin-like tones from an instrument that is instantly familiar to them. Unique to Ellis Guitars, the soprano model is compact, with an overall length of just 26 1/2 inches, and features a body of hard maple with a beautifully figured ambrosia maple cap. The Soprano TX is fun to play and delivered chiming acoustic sounds through tube combos in our tests.

Pros

+
Ultra compact
+
Sounds like a mandolin but plays like a standard guitar
+
Great build quality and nicely figured woods

Cons

-
Nothing

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Described as a guitar and mandolin, the Soprano TX is unique to Ellis Guitars, a Houston, Texas, builder of instruments and pickups (see review of the X Series pickup blending system in the September 2023 issue). The Soprano TX is a compact electric guitar that features a 16-inch scale cocobolo fingerboard — one quarter of which is fretless — sitting atop a bird's-eye-maple bolt-on neck.

The tuning is E to E but an octave higher than standard, so the Soprano sounds quite like a mandolin but doesn’t require you to learn Mando fingerings. With an overall length of just 26 1/2 inches, the lightweight Soprano is about as easy to carry in its soft case as a pool cue.

The headstock of Ellis Guitars' Soprano TX, a short-scale guitar tuned an octave above a standard guitar, allowing you to create mandolin-like tones from a familiar six-string instrument — (Image credit: Courtesy Ellis Guitars)

This is a sweet-looking guitar, with a contoured, single-cutaway body made of hard maple and a beautifully figured ambrosia maple cap. It creates a cool two-tone effect, and the top is bent for a comfy feel on your forearm. The satin-finished neck looks striking with the burl figuring and the black-chrome joint plate emblazoned with Ellis’ logo. The neck’s modern C carve feels good in the hand with its slender width that runs from 1.5 inches at the nut to 1.92 inches at the 12th fret.

It is like a mandolin neck, however, because the tight spacing between the polished frets requires adjusting your fingers accordingly. Because the last quarter of the fingerboard is fretless, it’s helpful that the pearl dots continue on to provide position reference when you’re fingering in that range.

A detail photo of Ellis Guitars' Soprano TX, a short-scale guitar tuned an octave above a standard guitar, allowing you to create mandolin-like tones from a familiar six-string instrument — **The last quarter of the fingerboard is fretless, but the pearl dots provide a helpful position reference.** (Image credit: Courtesy Ellis Guitars)

The Soprano TX delivered a chiming acoustic sound with good sustain when plugged into my Fender Deluxe Reverb and Vox AC10 reissues. It was great for copping the sweet tones of a mandolin on country and rootsy Americana tunes, and was cool for lead playing as long as you don’t bend too aggressively, as it’s easy to break a string — particularly the high E due to the increased tension.

It’s a blast to riff on the low strings with some growling distortion from pedals, and the three-way toggle lets you savor the grind in warmer or brighter flavors by setting the switch (respectively) in the forward position to activate the pickup’s north coil or the rear setting to select the south coil. In louder situations, I liked the middle position, with both coils running in series for a hotter output and a fatter response. Ellis Guitars also installs any of its own custom-wound pickups in their instruments, which you can purchase separately under the Vitus Pickups name.

A photo showing the bridge and bridge pickup of Ellis Guitars' Soprano TX, a short-scale guitar tuned an octave above a standard guitar, allowing you to create mandolin-like tones from a familiar six-string instrument — **Ellis Guitars will install any of its own custom-wound Vitus pickups at an additional price.** (Image credit: Courtesy Ellis Guitars)

Ellis has hit on a familiar way to bring mandolin color into your sound in compact, easy-to-play and fun package that fits in well with other string instruments. Everything about the Soprano TX is happening, although the price of admission for this upscale model is steep. It’s definitely a custom build for those able to take the plunge and want a unique instrument that can be personalized to their heart’s content.

For the rest of us a base model is available for around $899 and features a Honduran mahogany body, neck and pickguard.

A Soprano Guitar?? - YouTube