Torn between a concert and a tenor

I'm not a big fan on concerts I think i have only one or two...

I play tenors and sopranos the most...

Why not get one of each a concert and a tenor?

Many of us Concert players keep looking for the same thing.

First of all a super-concert is not at all what you are looking for. It has a Tenor scale, which you're trying to get away from, and a concert body, which, generally speaking, you're also trying to avoid.

If you have an instrument built by a good luthier, and you communicate what you're trying to get, it can be done to some degree.

On the easier route: I had a Kanile'a concert that was very close to what you describe. Listening, you'd swear it was a good tenor. It has a rather large body for a concert and a 15 1/4" scale. Maybe that's how they do it. But I found the instrument didn't have the attack I needed for what I was playing. The other model I've heard that consistently gets a full, tenor-like sound is the Kamaka Otah-San (Bell Concert).

Good luck! And enjoy.

p.s. - Like one other poster on this thread, I think the Koaloha Concert is by far the best thing going. I don't think it really sounds like a tenor, but it is a strong, full sound. Can't miss with it.

I've had something of a rethink on this, and following a few messages back and forth with Andrew at HMS, I'm definitely going to bide my time and wait until I actually go over to Hawaii in 2015 so that I can try as many ukes as possible.

I know I said I was on a bit of a restricted budget, but I think I might just stretch it and get myself a Koaloha concert for the fact that it'll always be better than me and, well - it's a Hawaiian uke that'll be full of memories of what's likely to be a 'once in a lifetime' holiday for me ...... that alone is worth stretching the budget for!

ChaosToo said:

Thanks for the input so far guys - but just to clarify the bit about the 'stretch' - I snapped the tendon in my pinky as a kid, so sadly I have no use in the end of it now, so even with the best will in the world, I can't use it to fret a note, which is what makes the dimensions of the concert more appealing.

I only strum chords, and I can pretty much work my way around most chord shapes (or variations of, adapted to suit only having three useable fingers) - but it's a little bit easier to adapt those shapes on the smaller fretboard.

But there is no doubt about it - I LOVE the deep, more 'guitar' like tone of the tenor, so maybe my ideal uke would be a brand that tends to have a slightly smaller scale length in their tenors? Or has a slightly larger body in their concerts?

BTW - budget is going to be about $400 max - as I need to keep some budget back for a new surfboard!

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You should consider going lefty. The pinky won't be missed as much on your struming hand. I'm a lefty playing with a right handed uke. It's slow at first but you pick it up.