Soprano's bad rep?

Hi all, first post on UU, im a complete beginner to playing the uke, and i dont even have my first one yet, its on the way as i ordered it a few days ago. I ordered the Makala MK-S soprano, having read that the soprano is the standard or "traditional" ukulele, im thinking that the soprano was probably the first style or size ukulele to be played, im not sure of that at all but common sense leads me to assume so. If this is true, or even if it isn't, i'm wondering why i hear more bad things than good about the soprano uke in general, all i keep hearing is that its very "toy-like" and sounds very plinky and just a lot of negative things towards the soprano. Needless to say i was somewhat dissapointed when i begin to find these things being said as i just ordered a soprano, can anyone give me some positive points or atleast explain why people give these negative points towards teh sooprano? thanks a bunch from a beginner! cant wait to start playing, plinky or not

There's no shame in playing a soprano! When most people think "ukulele" they're thinking of the plinky-sounding soprano. The larger sizes came later as players wanted more volume and projection to be heard over other instruments. It's all a matter of personal preference. Anyone who bashes a particular size of ukulele is only making excuses to not buy one, and this goes against the principles of UAS.

some of the better players on this forum lean towards sopranos. It's all a matter of preference. Enjoy your makala, and welcome to UU!

Huh. That's odd. You shouldn't be hearing anything bad about the sizes, just about the models or wood types or strings. The only negative thing I can think of that really sets people off the soprano is the fretboard spacing, since it seems more difficult to get used to in comparison to, say, the tenor.

There are a lot of soprano purists who would argue that the smaller size is the only "true" ukulele, since it's basically the traditional size, and if you can manage the challenge of a shorter fretboard, you're worth your weight as a uker. If folks claim that it's "toy-like", they're probably just used to bigger, deeper instruments like the guitar. Sopranos themselves don't necessarily sound "plinky", either -- it's a mix of the type of wood, whether it's laminate or solid and the type of strings you use.

I love the super small sizes, which is why I go around praising the sopranino all the time, and I get a lot of raised eyebrows since it looks like a toy ukulele. The solid mahogany and the hard tension strings I have give it a fairly rich sound (and it's surprisingly loud, for such a small body), so it blasts the "toy" prejudice out of the water.

Anyway, haters are just foolish. It doesn't matter what size uke you play, as long as you're happy with what it does for you (e.g., if it's loud enough, comfortable enough to play, easy enough to hold). Sopranos are probably some of the easiest to pack away on the go, so you have more opportunities to play around with it! It's a perfectly good size to pick up.

You don't hear anyone talking stink about sopranos here in the islands, they are still the most popular size here, and my favorite. The soprano has the original Hawaiian sound especially a solid Koa soprano. It is not considered a beginner's size accept for the fact that it fits children better. I wonder if this disparaging of the soprano more Mainland phenomenon. Stick with your soprano, and as my dear old dad (may he rest in peace) used to always tell me "Illegitimus non carborundum".

Cool, thanks for the welcome and the positive comments, can't wait to go pick up my uke!

Sopranos are awesome.
The only reason I opt for concert and tenor is when I want access to the higher frets. Concert and Tenors generally have more frets than Sopranos.

But a Soprano uke is a complete instrument in its own right.
And some of the ukulele legends, like Herb Ohta San, are Soprano players.

Ahnko Honu said:

You don't hear anyone talking stink about sopranos here in the islands, they are still the most popular size here, and my favorite...I wonder if this disparaging of the soprano more Mainland phenomenon.

Click to expand...

This is probably the most likely explanation. Ten bucks says that soprano detractors are guitar snobs. Pshaw. Sopranos are awesome, indeed.

i think the reason people say what he is hearing is because most people have memories of playing unkept, crappy-string, uber-cheap ukuleles in school and have never heard anyone play a real soprano.

personally, i love my soprano. i've played some really nice ones, but i like my cheapie; it got me into the uke...

I've got several soprano's, However I choose my $24.95 Rogue soprano over all of the others. It's
the first one I pick up..that is for soprano's....enjoy the sound of them.....

There's nothing plinky or toy-like about my vintage Martin. It SINGS. I wish my playing was a better match for its tone, but hopefully that will come. My Mainland Pineapple Soprano also is anything but plinky or toy-like. I like tenors and concerts well enough, but I LOVE soprano.

I have another question, even though i haven't even got my first uke yet i know eventually ill be wanting an upgrade, i looked at a mainland pineapple soprano, just to look around, and i noticed they come with the option of sealed or friction tuners, what is the difference in these and between the two which is the best? as well as over all best tuners out there?

I've got a Mainland soprano pineapple with friction tuners. The frictions are lighter and look more traditional, and if they're good, which Mainland's are, they're no harder to keep in tune than the sealed geared machines.

I know where you are coming from. When I got into playing uke, I sensed some sort of bias out there about soprano uke's. I somehow picked up a vibe that soprano is "less than" and that concert and tenor are really the serious uke's.

My impression is that some of this comes from convert guitar players (such as myself) who are more comfortable with a bigger instrument with bigger spaces between frets. When I finally got my hands on a soprano (a vintage Martin) I was blown away with what a wonderful instrument a soprano is! I have proceeded to have soprano become my favorite size uke. Bottom line is play and enjoy what makes you happy.

To reiterate what others have said, NOTHING wrong with the uke you ordered. You will love it! Reminds me of the old saying "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!"

I only play soprano. I have owned sizes from sopranino to baritone. I sold all of them except for two Kanile'a-built sopranos (one Kanile'a K1-S, and one Lanikai LK-1S). Kanile'a has done a great job of addressing the issues I originally had with a soprano - a narrow fretboard. The fretboard on mine are as wide as that on your average tenor, and as for number of frets, well - each of mine has 20, which outnumbers almost anything (NOT that I can play up that high by any means!). Anyway - I play sopranos because to me they have the sound I'm looking for, and I play these specific two sopranos because they fit me the best.

Sopranos are awesome...my favorite!

Unfortunately, people who dislike sopranos are usually those influenced into thinking the souvenir specials are as good as it gets

For example, I present to you......ABCstores in Hawaii:
http://www.abcstores.com/browse.cfm/4,1829.html

I guess the reason for Sopranos's bad reputation is that it is most-selling size. And therefore the amount of crab is very high. You won't see a €4,95 Concert, Tenor or Baritone, but you can buy soporanos for that price. Those are the Ukes people have in mind when they speak from a Soprano as a toy. I usually play custom-made Baritones but I also have 2 Sopranos which I pick up from time to time. And these are no toys, not at all.

I absolutely love my sopranos - and I say that as someone who's never had an interest in playing a stringed instrument before. It just felt 'right' and 'grabbed' me the first time I picked one up. They sound great. They're ultra-poratable. When the time comes to buy a better instrument you'll really notice the price difference between the soprano and tenor versions of the same uke. And they are just perfectly designed for strumming (which is probably as fancy as I'll ever get!)...

Only real bad point is the fretboard is a bit small for my clumsy fingering. Still, learning to do it on a soprano probably not a bad thing.

I've played a tenor, and it just felt too big and uncomfortable for me (I reserve the right to change my mind in a year's time). Having said that, I do quite fancy a concert, however...

I also play only sopranos. You can look for makers that offer more frets than 12. I started off liking the portability and the ability to span octaves without moving my hand, but now also prefer the sound over the more guitar-like large bodies. The others definitely sound more lush but that's not what I go for.

By the way, Kanilea makes their sopranos with 14 frets to the body which helps the access a little. Koaloha offers 15 frets to the body as a special order. But my favorite soprano is the Ko'olau.