Soprano is too quiet

J-Train

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Hey UU,

I recently attended the American Legion's Boy's State Program. The last night of the get together, I broke out my soprano ukulele and jammed out with a guitar player and the 30+ people in my city. It was all good fun, but I felt like I couldn't hear myself playing to know if I was on the right chord for a song.

So, my question is this. Would a concert or tenor scale ukulele be better for playing with groups like this, where everyone is singing, and there is a guitar player to compete with?

Thanks for the input,
J-Train
 
Really depends more on the construction of your ukulele. If a ukulele is made of very thin, very nice wood it'll be loud no matter its scale. (If you can get your hands on a vintage Martin in good condition, you'll see what I mean.) A longer scale doesn't have much to do with volume. There's a concert ukulele at my house (belonging to a friend of my wife) that's not even as loud as my softest soprano.

The one style of ukulele that's pretty much guaranteed to have plenty of volume is the banjo uke. Nice used ones are pop up all the time in the marketplace here and over at Flea Market music. Best of luck finding a uke with enough volume for your needs!
 
The guitar is always going to move a lot more air. You didn't mention what soprano you were using. Some are much louder than others. Ie Red Cedar or Spruce top sopranos can be (not always ) louder than a koa, mahogany or laminate top uke.

Resonator Ukes are very load but a very different tone. A banjo uke will complete with a guitar if you can tolerate the tone.

Lastly a small battery operated amp and a good pickup in the uke can be useful in the situation you describe,
 
I don't agree with the first response. The larger the sound box the more potential for a louder sound. so equally built ukes in the different sizes will be louder the bigger they are. Its not the neck its the body.
 
The Uke I was using was a Kala KA-15S, so I know it isn't exactly the best ukulele in the world, but it's what I had to work with at the camp I was at. I have heard that Fleas and Flukes are extremely loud. Would one of those be a good choice?
 
There's also the issue of the sound you're hearing versus the sound the ukulele is making. Given the frequency response of a ukulele (low note = middle-C), it's not throwing out a lot of sound waves which will make it across the room and back to you. Hence the appearance on many custom ukuleles of "personal" sound holes, on the upper bout, pointed at the player. It's like having your own monitor speaker.

That being said, in my experience, Kala uses thick soundboards, so they're not fantastic on volume.

I would suggest asking people who can give you an opinion if you're actually making any noise.
 
I agree on using a amp is good for these situations. Im pretty sure that generally a tenor should be louder than a concert but there is plenty of loud sopranos out there. Also I hear that pineapple sopranos are louder.
 
i have this little ohana sk 70MG ( soprano ) here and it is pretty loud.
its deff. louder as my concert. so i guess it will depend from uke to uke ( unless ur moving up a few scales )
 
The Uke I was using was a Kala KA-15S, so I know it isn't exactly the best ukulele in the world, but it's what I had to work with at the camp I was at. I have heard that Fleas and Flukes are extremely loud. Would one of those be a good choice?

That uke is a "starter" with a laminated mahogany body. While it is a nice uke and a great uke for learning and everyday playing, it is not loud. If you have a solid wood ukulele, you will find that volume would be much higher. It is also true that concert ukes can be louder than sopranos and tenors can be louder than concerts and sopranos of the same construction. Higher string tension on a tenor makes a difference as does the size of the "sound-box" as noted above.
 
I would actually prefer the Soprano in a group situation. No ukulele can match a guitar for sheer volume, but volume isn't all you hear. You naturally pick up high frequencies more than low ones.

The Soprano should be the best in that regard, but it is the tone that makes it cut over other instruments, not the volume. The Soprano you want for that group is not neccesarily the one you want for solo playing. A Soprano can be almost too shrill to be pleasant - lots of people build them to mellow out the tone for that reason. The shrill quality instrument, though, is what you look for in a group.
 
The Uke I was using was a Kala KA-15S, so I know it isn't exactly the best ukulele in the world, but it's what I had to work with at the camp I was at. I have heard that Fleas and Flukes are extremely loud. Would one of those be a good choice?
you are getting some great info here, but sometimes it is jus tthe uke. I have one of those that have ample volume.
 
those flukes are pretty loud and they're not solid wood at all!
 
I realize that this uke is a starter uke, but even calling it a ukulele is more that it deserves most days.

So Southcoast, you think I should buy a shrill uke instead of a loud one? I'm not totally understanding you there.

Thanks for all the feedback.
 
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Flukes and Fleas both have plenty of volume. If you really want to stand out in a crowd, string one up with Aquilas. That'll give you the "shrill" sound southcoast described.

Supposedly, they're nearly indestructable as well. Dang, now my soprano Flea UAS is acting up again.
 
Consider a side port soundhole. They act like "personal monitors".

We're starting to put them in all of our ukes as a standard feature.
 
I put one in my Makala dolphin, a soundhole using a holesaw and it worked pretty good. Two soundholes was too much though :( ... so I duct taped it up... I guess it would be pretty easy to holesaw a fluke or a flea.
 
High toned does not have to be "shrill." I have a pre-war Martin Soprano and I guarantee you'd have heard it playing on stage. Often the "shrillness" is caused by choice of strings rather than the inherant characteristics of that particular instrument. This is often why many don't like Aquilas. They are "too bright" on some ukes, smooth and lovely on others. If you want a small, loud uke, get an Ohand Vita and put Aquilas on it.
You'll get lots of other recommendations though....lots of ukes out there you'd be happy with.
 
I put one in my Makala dolphin, a soundhole using a holesaw and it worked pretty good. Two soundholes was too much though :( ... so I duct taped it up... I guess it would be pretty easy to holesaw a fluke or a flea.
So is duct tape a good tonewood?? :D
 
Thanks for all of the input, I really appreciate it.

I don't think I'll be drilling any holes in any of my ukes. I'd rather get a Flea or Fluke.

So while I've got all of this attention, I was wondering what the forum thought of the Lanikai Spruce Top Series, particularly the concert size. Does it push a lot of sound and still sound good?
 
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