Tapered sides and back? Just for looks?

Hi, I noticed that some ukuleles don't have a flat back, but one that is tapered to be "thinner" at the front when looking at the side profile. When you set these on a flat surface, the bottom of the ukulele doesn't really lift up when the head is touching the surface if that is a better way to describe it.

How does this affect the sound? Is it seen in more expensive ukuleles only?

That's called an "Arched Back Body design", which helps project the sound better.

It's mainly found on ukulele's ranging from $175 on up.

Yep, it's a sound projection thing. Several brukos have them. Not just expensive ukes though - the makala dolphin has one on the plastic body version!

Arched backs and tops give the wood some place to move (the arch just moves up and down) instead of cracking when the humidity changes. At least that is what I have learned from the luthiers here.

I don't think he's talking about arched backs. I think he's talking about ukes that are thicker at the heel than at the neck join. That could be done with or without an arched back.

Unfortunately, I can't answer his question about what affect the tapered body thickness has on sound/durability. I suspect it's mostly aesthetic, but that's way beyond my pay grade to say for sure.

John