I guess I can't deny it any more...

OldePhart

OldePhart

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...I've become a tenor ukulele player in spite of myself.

It's hard to believe that a few months ago I was on the verge of selling my tenors. And I still prefer the voice of the soprano more than any other - in fact my favorite ukulele remains my mahogany soprano.

But...in trying to settle on one uke to take to UWC I figured I'd take my Kiwaya longneck soprano "beater" uke, since that's what I bought it for. I even put a pickup in it. After several days I just couldn't take it anymore - the fretboard is just too stinking narrow for doing cool stuff. My sopranos and longnecks are great for strumming, but I can pick twice as fast and "stick" far more complex chords without extraneous noises when I'm playing the tenors.

I guess I'm learning the hard way why most of the "big boys" play tenors. :)

Now that I've faced my shortcomings I just wish Uncle Sam had left me enough scratch to pick up one of those good deals on tenors in the marketplace right now... :(

John
 
Yes, another Tenor person, I only have one tenor but it is my favorite.
 
You're either with us or against us, John, welcome to the side of virtue.
 
Aloha Bruddah John,
Keep playing, and you will like them all.....he he not sure why you don't feel the concert would be your favorite...it's in between you know...
 
GaryC1968 said:
You do know that the Tenor is a gateway instrument to the Baritone, right? ;)
Click to expand...

Oh...I already have the baritone bug...maybe they were a gateway to the tenor. :) I love the soprano and baritone...but when it comes to fingering there's just no beating the tenor neck.

John
 
mm stan said:
Aloha Bruddah John,
Keep playing, and you will like them all.....he he not sure why you don't feel the concert would be your favorite...it's in between you know...
Click to expand...

Actually, I really do love the length of the concert scale. That's what got me into longneck sopranos in the first place. The problem is I've been working on more jazz instrumental stuff and there just isn't enough width on the fretboard for my sausages...I mean fingers...to stick some of those more complex chords. I probably play sopranos and longneck sopranos ten times as much as I've been playing my tenors...but I can still "stick" the jazz stuff on the tenor far more easily. Kind of strange.

I think if I could find a soprano body with a concert scale neck with the width and string spacing of a tenor I'd be tap dancin' on cloud nine!

John
 
chrimess said:
You're either with us or against us, John, welcome to the side of virtue.
Click to expand...

Heh, heh. It's all on you man...your recent videos in the seasons are what prompted me to get off my lazy backside and start wood-sheddin' more...which led to the realization that I need the width of the tenor neck.

John
 
nongdam said:
loser!! J/K...welcome to the darkside
Click to expand...

Actually, my first non-cheapo uke was my Mainland gloss mango tenor - so I've had decent tenors from the start but I just never warmed to them until I realized that I really need that nice wide neck if I'm going to go beyond banging out three chords to croak along with.

John
 
Several Concerts have 1.5 width necks like Covered bridge and Kanile'a. I figure it will feel different due to the smaller length, however. I am finding my Kanile'a with 1.5 width is easier to claw-hammer on compared to my KoAloha concert.

I'm in a similar boat. I am considering a 1.5 concert in the future. I just love the concert sound and how comfortable it is. Might need a super-concert at some point.

There is always the tenor-neck soprano KoAloha.
http://www.theukulelesite.com/koaloha-soprano-tenor-neck-new-model.html
 
As we say from the pulpit, "Change is the only constant." I have two concerts, a tenor and a soprano. The soprano feels hopelessly cramped. The tenor tension is too taut for my still-developing skills. My concerts are just right. Call me Goldilocks. Reason tells me that I will favor the tenor in time (gotta love that fretboard real-estate). Now, for comfort and playability, my concerts have pride of place, especially the KoAlana.
 
doesn't the flea and fluke have pretty wide fretboards as well?
 
I've put my Tenor Islander away and have been playing my Kala Concert exclusively for over a month in the hopes of transitioning back down a step. My thought was that in a high end uke, I can save a few hundred bucks with a C instead of a T.

But no luck, I just like the finger spacing and fuller voice of the tenor more. I guess I'm a tenor guy forever now, though I do still like my soprano on the beach. :)
 
how many of you tenor players used to be guitarists or other like instruments (banjo/mandolin/etc)
 
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