Banjolele Sizes

Aloha!

I am making my final decisions on getting a new banjolele and I have a few questions about sizes and I cannot for the life of me find any good answers about it:

First I am dead set on the Firefly and it's gotten so many good reviews that I am convinced that it would be a great instrument to have. However, with the geared tuners, on a concert sized neck, it's about $370 shipped which is crazy! But the consensus has been that the geared tuners are a must have.

So then I thought well what else is around that price range? I did a little digging and the WaverlyStreet banjoleles are going for around that range which is awesome since it's a pretty nicely done hand crafted banjolele but they are in the soprano sized (I normally play the baritone but my hands aren't that big - like 9 inches thumb to pinky)

And then I wondered - why not just get the Firefly but soprano sized? Well turns out that'll run me about $327 which is pretty much the same price as one from WaverlyStreet.

So that's the dilemma - should I get a concert Firefly with Pegheds (is it really that much better?) or get a smaller soprano Waverly? Are the frets roomy enough on a soprano?

Sorry - so many questions!

Waverly makes a concert. You could email him and see how long til one is ready.

If you like tenor, I can recommend the Gold Tone BUT, especially if Mim has one in stock.

What other uke sizes do you have?

None at the moment. I used to own a soprano but I remember it being pretty small. Would you recommend a concert sized one over a soprano sized one?

The vast majority of banjo ukes are concert scale. Yes there where some soprano scale made but compared to the thousands of concerts, not that many. Concerts are the only size I make, though I have been asked ocasionally for a tenor.

These are all very "personal preference" kinds of questions and it really depends what scale you are comfortable with and whether you like friction tuners. If I were looking for a concert in this price range, I'd check out the Waverly. DPO's looks awesome but the last one sold for about $750 - http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?97407-Southern-Cross-Banjo-Uke-open-back-FS

If Waverly's banjoukes are anything like his ukes, I can tell you that my first uke was a Waverly. I used it for quite a while and have loaned it to several people over the years. It still looks and plays as good as or better than when it was new. I highly recommend Waverly. Can't beat the price either!

I have a Waverly and it's a super value for the money. They're hand-made so they're very limited in production and if your UAS is itchin', we know it's hard to wait.

I also have a Firefly and it's great too. I am not sure why you would need geared tuners. The friction tuners are actually pretty good on them (and I generally don't like frictions). Elderly has a Concert for $309 w/free shipping and 10% off now with coupon 14327, which would make it about $280. Hardwood fretboard:
http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/MFBUC.htm

I don't have large hands or a guitar background and find the soprano size a little small for me. I prefer the concert size. For the price of that Firefly, you can get a Goldtone concert or tenor. Slightly more, a baritone banjo uke. $200-$250 will get you one of a few different concert sizes, with or without a full resonator or covered back. That firefly is light as a feather, sounds decent but doesn't have a tuneable head nor can the head be replaced. It's a perfect practice or travel banjolele, or for someone who isn't too serious about banjo ukes. Just my thoughts on the matter. Good luck.

I've got a soprano Firefly with the wood fingerboard and a concert Flea with the plastic fingerboard (both with friction tuners). My personal preference is for the concert scale with the plastic fretboard. Unfortunately if you want a concert firefly you have to get the wood fretboard. If you want to save some money, the best thing to do is to get a second from Magic Fluke - they typically take off about 20%. Both my Firefly and Flea were seconds, and looking at them I wouldn't know it.

I have a Goldtone soprano and tenor and a Gretsch concert. Don't play the tenor much, the scale vs tone doesn't seem to work optimally. . . to my ears anyway. I like the concert a lot, so much so in fact that I'm planning on an heirloom MYA MOE although the KALA USA made look intriguing. The soprano has a tone ring and resonator and is the way to go if you're going for the classic banjo uke style of the mid 20th century. The soprano firefly won't give you that deafening sparkle and the strings will feel loose unless you tune up to D, but the concert firefly which I played had a rich pleasing sound and a perfect firmness of the strings. I kind of hanker for one of those as well.