Comparison question....

I am working on one of my Concert ukes for re-sale currently and have a couple questions. I wanted to compare it in size to "Iz" my personal Ohana SK-35. 1st off, I love my Ohana, but I got to tell ya, I am diggin this "other" and from a business perspective, trying my hardest not to get attached to ukes I purchase to work on for re-sale. It's hard with this one, because frankly, I LOVE the vintage shape. It is just dead sexy to me. Another, even with the crap strings that are on it, it sounds pretty dang good, and I can not wait to set the action up, and Aquila it. Action is kinda weird, but to be expected and I expect to have to re-work on that anyway.

But I digress. Back to the question. I know some people like the Soprano sound and size, BUT want a longer scale. I am also wondering if this Uke will meet that need. Overall volume of the body is very close to the SK-35 Soprano. I haven't done any geometry (don't want to hurt myself), but, taking the measurments of each, they will turn out pretty much the same I am betting. Here are the measurments. Some respects the Ohana is the same or even larger, other's the new one is larger, but on average overall, I would guess about the same. Take a look and let me know what you think... Of course scale on the new one is longer as a concert than the SK-35.

Hey Tony,

For me there are two aspects of why I have truly settled on the longneck soprano as my ideal uke. One is the tone so you probably ought to compare the tone between the concert and some sopranos - this is only a gut feel but I'm betting with that large bridge bout the concert is going to have quite a bit more lower end. The other aspect is the "holdability" of the uke - I find sopranos much easier to hold than concerts. With a soprano body I never feel like it's trying to slip away, even with a tenor scale neck, while I often feel like I need a strap on a concert and do use a strap on tenors.

Both of my concerts are 8" wide on that bridge bout - that's only 1/2" more than the concert you have there.

Bottom line, I would probably be unhappy if I recieved a "longneck soprano" and it had dimensions similar to the one your showing.

John

OldePhart said:

Hey Tony,

For me there are two aspects of why I have truly settled on the longneck soprano as my ideal uke. One is the tone so you probably ought to compare the tone between the concert and some sopranos - this is only a gut feel but I'm betting with that large bridge bout the concert is going to have quite a bit more lower end. The other aspect is the "holdability" of the uke - I find sopranos much easier to hold than concerts. With a soprano body I never feel like it's trying to slip away, even with a tenor scale neck, while I often feel like I need a strap on a concert and do use a strap on tenors.

Both of my concerts are 8" wide on that bridge bout - that's only 1/2" more than the concert you have there.

Bottom line, I would probably be unhappy if I recieved a "longneck soprano" and it had dimensions similar to the one your showing.

John

Click to expand...

Good feedback phart. That was actually an answer I was looking for. I knew you were one of the ones that liked the long neck soprano, so glad ya chimed in. Good point about holdability, because that is one of my problems mainly due to my size, and the size and shape of a uke or guitar.

This is a Concert, and not a Soprano. But I just thought it kinda weird that the overall volume of the body are so close. The body of the concert is an inch or so longer, and that also has to be taken in consideration. The Concert does have a lower tone than the soprano so far, but I want to compare that again with some good strings on it, and it's set up properly.

Thanks...

Happy to help. BTW, soundbox volume is only one variable in the tone equation. Shape of the box and especially of the soundboard is also very important, maybe more so than box volume. Then, of course, you have to consider the stuff you can't even see like how is it braced, etc.

Anyway, that concert has a very large bout around the bridge - lots of soundboard area - and that's what lead me to believe it would be more concert like in tonal response than soprano like. Of course, if that bout is heavily braced it could undo that, too.

JOhn

Well, setting this concert up, A tool got away from me and scratched the bout of this one. Barely noticeable, but it is there. I personally don't worry about things like that, but if I were to purchase a new uke or guitar, I would notice it. That's the bad news. The other bad news is I am really liking this uke. I was doing some bridge work on it (when the tool got away from me) today. I got finished, and strung up with with Aquilas. Still tweaking, but I got to tell ya, this is a SWEET sounding ukulele now. Action is spot on, intonation is spot on, and it has an awesome tone. The bad news, the wife thinks I scratched it on purpose now, because I screwed up when I scratched it and mentioned that "I can't sell a uke as new with a scratch in it.. " Now she thinks I did it on purpose so I can justify keeping it.. lol.. I did not do it on purpose (as far as she knows.. lol)

Listening to this uke all afternoon. It might be slightly deeper than the Soprano SK35, but not by much. It IS however a fuller, richer tone. I listened to it over and over right next to the Ohana soprano trying to figure out what I was hearing. Here is my opinion. Tone about the same, maybe a little bit deeper, but not much. Much richer, fuller tone, A substantial bit more sustain. The SK35 has pretty good sustain, but this one does have noticeably more. I am digging it allot more than the Ohana after spending the afternoon with it after set up.

I love that body-style. There is something very appealing in it.

Pippin said:

I love that body-style. There is something very appealing in it.

Click to expand...

Me too. I never paid much attention to the shape until I started messing with it. It is simply a sexy shape I think. Very curvy, "warm" shape to me. I am loving it allot. For some reason, I can't stop messing with it. I will put it down, and it seduces me, and I pick it back up and play it some more. This Uke is definatly need a woman's name..