Banjo ukes - flush vs. floating fretboard

Kayak Jim

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The majority of banjo ukes you see have a fretboard that stops at the end of the neck and is flush with the top of the head. Deerings on the other hand have an extended fret board that floats about the head. The Deering also uses a "saddle" under the conventional banjo style bridge

I'm planning to build a banjo uke from a Remo frame drum (like the Firefly but 10") and a pre-made concert neck and fretboard. (I'm not a real fan of the banjo sound but I do like a project)

Looking for comments on the playability of one vs. the other. Does the height of the strings above the head make a difference? I do like the look of the extended fretboard but wouldn't ever play way up there past the 14th.

For those who have either, can you please tell me what is the distance above the head to the strings?

FireflyConcert-2T.jpg
DSC_8327_large.jpg

Custom800.jpg
 
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I've owned both of the ukes you show. I never noticed a difference because I rarely play that far up the finger board. In addition, the firefly didn't have much tone at all up the neck. The Deering isn't as bad up the neck, most likely because of its much more solid build.

In addition, the Deering likely has the floating fretboard because it has a bigger rim and relatively shorter neck.

The overall Deering construction, in particular the saddle and large rim combination provide a much more rounded tone than I got from the Firefly - but at double the price (both are good value for money in my book). My understanding is that the saddle "smooths out" some of the wilder overtones from the head and helps keep the tone centered.
 
Thanks for the input. Good point about the head size and length of the neck. Mine will end up somewhere between the two. I'll give it some more thought and try and decide if the flush fretboard is significantly easier to construct or not. I do like the look of the floating so may try and make that work just for aesthetics.
 
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