Soprano with pre-amp?

I am looking for a soprano uke (I currently play an Eddie Finn tenor) with on-board electronics so that I can plug it in to a church sound system. My big concern is that I want it to come through the sound system so that it sounds like an authentic soprano uke, NOT a guitar. Currently I can use one of the church microphones directly in front of my Eddie Finn and it sounds OK so long as I don't move around at all - even the slightest movement away from the mic impacts on the sound quality. The mic is a vocal mic, not designed for ukulele.

Any suggestions please on what might be an affordable (say up to $300 AUD) soprano for this purpose please?

Or would I be better off getting a proper uke microphone that will pick up the sound from my tenor and still allow me to move around a little as I play? Does such a mic exist?

Pauli, are you happy with the uke you have? If you like the sound of your tenor, just have a pickup installed. I'm not particularly handy, but I put one in one of my ukes and it wasn't terribly difficult (there are some good diy vids on YouTube) or certainly most guitar shops can do it for you for a reasonable price. I like my MiSi pickup. Good sound and no batteries is a nice plus. While you can modify your sound when you are plugged into an amp, it won't sound like a guitar. You will sound reasonably close to the sound you get acoustically.
If on the other hand, you think your tenor is too guitary sounding and you are looking for that higher soprano sound, then disregard my above comments. I'd check out the UU marketplace and look for a good deal on an used soprano with a pickup already in it. That'll be your best value in your price range.

Kala make a soprano electro acoustic, KA-SEME, exotic mahogany laminate, & has good sound.

Thanks bunnyf I will give the pickup suggestion some consideration. Sounds like it could be the answer!

Thanks uke1950. I'll check to see if that Kala model is available Down Under. Unfortunately our dollar is woeful at the moment so purchasing online from overseas may not be an option for me.

There are also temporary pickup solutions, like the Schertler contact microphones (there is an affordable basic version and more expensive professional editions) where you use putty to stick the microphone on the instrument) or the iRig acoustic stage clip-on pickup by IK Multimedia. The advantage would be that you could use these with future ukuleles also, giving you more flexibility.

The issue with buying a cheaper uke with electronics is that it also means you're getting a cheap, squacky pickup. It may still be perfectly fine for what you want to do, though. I just feel that it's better to buy these things (instrument and mic/pickup solution) separately, unless it's a purely electronic instrument.

Thank you for those suggestions Mivo. I will check those out.

Here's a few Chinese models that don't cost much. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...nkw=soprano+ukulele+with+eq+pickup&_sacat=619