What is the difference between concert and soprano ukes?

[alex103092]

I currently own a Lanikai LU-21 soprano as my starter uke and I can admit im a big guy so is the only difference the fret size or the sound too? Also I would like to know what kind of uke i should get next like should i keep with soprano or should i go to a concert or tenor any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mailman]

The main difference is the scale lenghth, measured from the nut to the saddle. The tuning is the same. The pitch is the same. The longer scale length of the concert adds a little bit more room from one fret to the next. The same can be said about the differences between a concert and a tenor....slightly longer scale length. The longer necks offer more frets to work with, and some players consider them to be more versitile.

In my opinion, the tenor uke starts to sound a bit guitar-like in tone....less uke-y. Others may disagree. Personally the concert is my favorite (so far).

 

[Ukeffect]

The body size of a concert is proportionally bigger that a soprano, so you tend to get a "larger , richer" sound from a concert, but a lot depends on how the ukulele was made. I have heard sopranos that sound nicer than a lot of concerts. Also, there tends to be a little more room on the neck for your fingers when playing a concert. There are also ukuleles that have say, a soprano body with a concert size neck or (and this is my current favorite type), a concert body with a tenor neck on it...sometimes called a superconcert. To my way of thinking, this gives the best of both worlds...rich, traditional ukulele sound and the fingering room of a tenor ukulele. Check out MGM's ebay site...I believe he has some KoAloha superconcerts and some Kala long neck sopranos if you want to see and compare!:music:
P.S. If your hands are "big boned" like mine are, there are some ukes with wider necks to accomodate us...look on ebay, the model I'm thinking of is made by Oscar Schmidt and is available in either a concert or tenor size...half a tick...look at this tenor http://cgi.ebay.com/OSCAhttp://cgi....emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5ad7953369

 

[Ken Middleton]

Apart from body size, the main difference is the strings. They are tighter. This, coupled with the larger volume of air inside and more wood to vibrate, gives the concert a richer sound and a deeper timbre.

 

[alex103092]

thanks for the great advice everybody