Why does a soprano have less frets?

[SeemingMusic]

Hello all, apologies if this has been asked, I haven't been able to find the direct answer with the search function.

Why do most sopranos have less frets than a concert or tenor? Is it harder to get the intonation at the higher end? Or the spacing between frets is deemed too small for a finger?

I notice some ukuleles like the Anuenue US200 having 18 frets, whilst a lot I see ends at the 12th fret.

 

[clear]

You've listed some valid points; also I think sopranos are mostly strummed to accompany singing (which is how I use mine) so higher fret access isn't that important.

If you take away all the frets above the 5th on my soprano uke, I'll probably not notice for a couple years!

 

[SeemingMusic]

Agree with the strumming as the predominant way of playing. You're right, could be a stylistic thing. The way the instrument was used. Just seems like more frets is more of a modern thing.

I was curious to know whether more frets is indicative of more care to intonate the really short string length or indicative of a slightly bigger instrument?

Then again, what if it was the nature of the strings? Was it harder to get the higher notes with gut strings from the tension used? Most of the lutes and renaissance guitars had limited frets despite a bigger size. Hmm. I'm going down a rabbit hole now.

 

[baconsalad]

The standard size ukulele has 12 frets. That places 12th fret and bridge in the perfect harmonious spots.
Then people wanted moar

 

[rainbow21]

I have small fingers on a small hand. Fretting the 12th to 15th frets on a soprano:

 

[Canada Jim]

Since sopranos are so small, the frets higher up the neck are very close together, making it difficult for someone with average sized fingers to fret it very high. I have one sopranoand the neck joins the body at the 12th fret and has no frets beyond the body.
My concert has 18frets and joins the body at the 14th.
My concert reso has 19 frets and joins the body at the 13th.
My tenor has 19 frets and joins at the 14th fret.
I believe that the distance between frets is why the sopranos have fewer frets.
I rarely go past the 7th fret when I'm strumming chords, and I agree that is what I do most on the soprano, but my soprano is mostly used by my grandkids when they visit.

 

[Mike $]

Tradition

 

[man0a]

My Kanilea soprano has 14 frets to the body. My Martin concert has only 12 frets to the body. Manufacturers make what they think their customers want.

 

[70sSanO]

Generally it is difficult to fret above the 12th fret on a soprano. But there are sopranos that are joined at the 12th but have 15 frets that extend over the soundboard.

John King played classical music on a 17 fret Strad soprano ukulele made by Joel Eckhaus.

You can find videos of John King on YouTube. Mere mortals cannot come close to what he was able to do.

John

 

[baconsalad]

Tradition

Yes, based on classical guitar where 12 frets to body puts the bridge in the perfect spot on the lower bout for optimal power transfer from the bridge. My tenor is 12 fret

 

[Voran]

I do use the uppermost frets, it's a bit of a challenge.

 

[don_b]

I only use the uppermost frets.

 

[Ukecaster]

I only use the uppermost frets.

I only use the uppermost frets.

Yeah, nice & jangly

 

[Renaissance-Man]

These are two of my daily player ukuleles. They are sopranos. One has twelve frets, and is strung high g. The other has fifteen frets, and is strung low G. The frets above twelve are comparable in dimension to the twelfth.
I don't feel any difference in size at all, when I play above the twelfth fret. I have no problem fingering any of the frets above the twelfth, be it single notes, chords, or harmonics. You may be discounting the ability to play chords on the higher frets. I'm about to convert you into a believer. Anything above the twelfth fret is a repeat of the previous frets. You want to play a C chord? Just finger the a string at the fifteenth fret. All four strings are now a C chord!
Another thing I like about the fretboard extending onto the body, is that it facilitates a fast flamingo strum. Those who do this know what I'm talking about.

 

[ancient]

I love my Anuenue Soprano Koa Bird. I play Classical music on it and need the extra frets above the 12th fret. every note has a beautiful bell like quality.

 

[baconsalad]

This is a good talk on 12fret vs 14 fret guitars.

 

[SeemingMusic]

Extracted from:

Machetes and Rajãos and Taropatches, Oh My!

In this month’s From the Vault, we look back at John King’s 2008 Ukulele Yes! article, shedding light on some of the early history of the ‚ukulele and its predecessors in late-nin…

talesofhawaii.net

I understand a lot of people answered that's the traditional ukulele, 12 frets... But why? Its ancestors have more! They took the machete size and the re-entrant tuning of the Rajao... but decreased the frets confused why not moar frets?

Edit: fixed link

 

[baconsalad]

Extracted from:

Machetes and Rajãos and Taropatches, Oh My!

In this month’s From the Vault, we look back at John King’s 2008 Ukulele Yes! article, shedding light on some of the early history of the ‚ukulele and its predecessors in late-nin…

talesofhawaii.net

I understand a lot of people answered that's the traditional ukulele, 12 frets... But why? Its ancestors have more! They took the machete size and the re-entrant tuning of the Rajao... but decreased the frets confused why not moar frets?

Edit: fixed link

It's about where the bridge winds up. The more frets to body the further up the bridge has to go. When you get closer to the cross brace that smashes down some of the amplitude from certain vibration modes of the top.

 

[70sSanO]

Joining at the 12 fret for a standard scale ukulele placed the bridge in a location that is generally considered ideal.

Extending the fretboard over the soundboard allows for an ideal bridge location as well as additional notes.

I can’t say whether there is any impact on sound quality or volume by doing this.

Rick Turner designed a cantilever fretboard for, maybe a mythical, increase in soundboard vibration. I don’t think the design has caught on.

Looking a non-traditional shapes such as a Fluke or teardrop, it is difficult to determine what, if any, impact the upper soundboard contributes. Especially with no upper bout.

John

 

[TBB]

Extracted from:

Machetes and Rajãos and Taropatches, Oh My!

In this month’s From the Vault, we look back at John King’s 2008 Ukulele Yes! article, shedding light on some of the early history of the ‚ukulele and its predecessors in late-nin…

talesofhawaii.net

I understand a lot of people answered that's the traditional ukulele, 12 frets... But why? Its ancestors have more! They took the machete size and the re-entrant tuning of the Rajao... but decreased the frets confused why not moar frets?

Edit: fixed link

Soprano ukes don’t necessarily have fewer frets, ukuleles with more than 12 frets are very common and they’ve been around for a long time. Martin were making them back in 1915 and for all I know someone else was making them even earlier.

My favourite soprano has 17 frets (with an 12th fret join) and it’s perfectly possible to get clear notes right up to the top. But when people are using a soprano to accompany themselves singing and are mainly strumming chords they may not need or want more than 12 frets.