Playability?

Greetings!

I'm continuing to shop for ukes and don't have the luxury of playing the uke that I will ultimately buy. However, I'd like to tap into the collective experience of other members and ask y'all about the playability of various uke brands. I realize that this is something extremely subjective, but some info is better than no info.

My only benchmark is my experience with guitars. I prefer the thin neck of a Taylor as opposed to a thick neck of a Martin. Electric guitar necks are definitely much easier to play. Classic guitar necks are pretty wide and thick and are not as comfortable for me.

For those of you who have UAS, what have you noticed about playability between various ukes?

When it comes to ukes, are there certain brands which many ukesters feel are very playable? Are certain brands known for making slightly thinner necks? Thicker necks? It looks like some people feel that there is an appreciable difference from a soprano neck to a concert neck? How different is a concert neck to a tenor neck?

Again, I know this is highly individualized because of things like hand size, preference, etc., but I would just love to hear any thoughts on this.

Thanks in advance!

Freddie

I'm pretty new to it also but here is what I think so far. Uke playability is much different than guitar. I have a fluke and a flea. The strings seem much farther apart to me than guitar even though the neck is so much narrower. That took some getting used to. Also, strings make a very big difference. I got the flea first (soprano). It seemed very playable although the strings it came with seem almost like plastic bars rather than strings. When I got the Fluke (tenor), the increased string tension really made a big difference and I went string shopping. No tenor strings in my town, so I got some soprano Kuu alous (not sure of the spelling -- A yellow hawaiian brand). They made a huge difference in playability on what I thought was already an easy instrument to play. I've ordered some tenors from mgm and can't wait to get 'em. I was surprised at how much different a soprano is from a tenor in playability. To me there is a lot more to it than just more room on the fretboard because of the increased string tension.

Hope it helps. Jon.

I am very new to this also but I have been lucky enough to haveplayed about 6 different Uku's WOO. I know some one you probably have played 6 different uku's just this morning. But I find 1 big difference is playablity is the strings. I have a beater with Aquilla's and a beater with standard Kala strings (im told they are standard Kala strings but I wouldn't know) Either way I find the Aquilla's easier to play. The Kala's dig into my fingers more. Hope that helps.

It's difficult to compare uke necks to any guitar, but since you are coming from a guitar background you may find the tenor size a bit easier to work with at first. The fret spacing seems a litte easier to deal with, but I have old large hands with short fat fingers. My grandkids have sopranos and I still have a hard time making some chords on the smaller fretboards. I just bought my first concert and am finding it very nice, a pretty good fit, but I started with a tenor. As to thin or thick necks I think you are asking about the width of the neck/fretboard and I don't think you will find as much variation in ukes as there is in guitars, although some like the Ohana's and Mainland's seem to be a bit "thinner", but I don't think you will have any problem if you stick with any of the major brands. Kala, Lanikai, Ohana, Mainland, etc. are all know for good playability and I don't think you could go wrong with any of them. The best thing to do if you can is get to a shop with several ukes and try them out. I hope this helps.

Thanks to all for chiming in. I realize that there's no substitute for a good ol' fashion test drive. I'm still looking forward to my first uke, and hope I end up enjoy playing it as much as my guitars!

I also didn't consider factoring the strings into the equation, so good to know about the aquilas and how strings can make a big difference.

Thanks all again for your input!

Freddie

I would recommend not jumping on the brand name wagon just because everyone seems to own a certain brand or comments on them.

Not many people on the forums talk about nut width and neck thickness. I wish more people would. Personally I find the width of the nut/fretboard and thickness of the neck to have a huge impact upon how comfortable a ukulele is for me to play.

So my suggestion would be...

Find any store with a uke, tune the thing up and play it - even if it's an inexpensive Kala laminate or something else. Measure the width of the nut. Spend some time with the instrument playing it even if you are only pretending to do barre chords etc. Get an idea for how the instrument feels, and how comfortable it is to work with. Then use this as a starting point.

You may have to be willing to buy and sell a couple ukes first in order to get a feel what you like. But you gotta start somewhere.

Brands seem to have nut/fretboard widths of 1.375", 1.4", 1.43", and 1.5".

For example:

• Fleas/Flukes thicker necks and nut widths of 1.4" (soprano and concert) - 1.45" (tenor)
• Kala's have thinner necks and nut widths of 1.375
• Mainland ukes have nut widths around 39mm, which puts them at around 1.5" wide
• Honu Traditional line has thinner necks and nut width = 1.375"

Based upon what people have told me:

• Ko,oLau, Kamaka nut widths = 1.375"
• Kanilea and Koaloha = 1.5"
• Kelii sopranos and concerts nut width = 1.375, but based upon the specs on their website their tenors appear to be wider.

Lots of people talk about Kala, Mainland, the "K" brands, Fleas... Then there are brands which don't get much attention, but they are oustanding ukes. I think Big Island Ukulele falls into this category.

I recently purchased a Honu Traditional tenor in solid Koa made by Big Island Ukulele (MGM sells them). It is simply an outstanding ukulele in all ways, and there really isn't much in the price range that compares.

Quality of construction is superb. It has both side top fret markers on the 5th, 7th, 10th, and 12th frets. Harmonics at the 12th fret are easy to make, and they ring out loud and clear. It has a compensated saddle and the intonation is spot on up the fretboard. The nut width is 1.375" and it has a thinner neck. The neck has the shape and feel very similar to that of a Kala's neck (if you can find a Kala to play). Mine is strung with Worth Clears and it resonates beautifully and has good volume.

Honu ukes don't get much exposure on these forums, but they are outstanding ukes.

My 4 cents...

I also recomend a beater to start. I have a Lanikia which came with Aquila's. I paid $60 for it. I also have a makala which was a gift. Both are fun to play but i don't have anything to compare. Buy yoursef a beater to start. Repalce the strings if need be. Strings are not a big investment and as I have been told they are the biggest modification you can do to your Uku for such a cheap invertment.

I've only played 2 ukes so far... a Kala and a custom Halekoa. I won't focus on the Halekoa, because they are expensive and quite rare. The Kala, however... really playable, thin neck. I like Aquillas better than the Worth clears that I have on it right now. Like you, I prefer thin necks... such as the flat neck of my Fender Jazz Bass over the rounded neck of a precision bass.

I think you'll find any good uke to be quite playable, as long as the intonation up the neck is good and the action set well. Some strings are harder and higher tension than others. So far, Aquillas seem to be really good if you are into strumming.... easier on the fingers of both hands.

Why add to a thread like this? Nothing to add except there's stuff here that too easily gets lost in the shuffle...and feel inclined to bring it back.