NUD: Caramel Sopranino

Today our latest shipment of Caramel Concerts came in (all six were set up perfectly, although as the fretboards dry out in our non-humidified air, I'll have to sand down the fret edges when they pop out), and also included was one of the Caramel Sopraninos that I had ordered for myself.

When I saw the Ohana O'ninos, I knew that it would be fun to have one of these around (play it for student birthdays, as a distraction in presentations that I give at conventions), and at $28 shipped, it was worth the investment.

It is a super small laminate instrument, and it sounds like it. That said, I'm not sure what sound quality you are truly going to get out of any Sopranino, and as I am going to leave it tuned to GCEA, it is possible that tuning it up could result in a much brighter instrument. I could also try other strings (Aquilas are stock)

My one comparison ukulele (at home) is my Stars and Strips Ukadelic, which actually sounds pretty good with fluorocarbon strings. There is really no comparison, as the Ukadelic now sounds as good as my concerts.

Where I am surprised is at the construction. The zebrawood laminate is the same as the rest of the Caramel instruments we have purchased, but the binding is different (black, and the face has two thin white lines going to the black), the neck feels really nice (better than the other Caramels which were not bad), and the engraving around the sound hole is more "flowery" than other models we own. The tuners are the typical Caramel open geared tuners that work well enough. There are no side markers, and oddly, the "double" front marker is at the 7th fret. There are 12 frets in total. From what I can see, assembly is clean inside, and there is no Caramel label on the inside of the instrument.

For a ukulele that is mainly a novelty item, this is well worth its $28 cost (that includes shipping--it took about 20 days for this set to reach us). If you have been thinking about a sopranino, and the cost of the Ohana is prohibitive--don't hesitate to order a Sopranino from Caramel.

Here's a picture comparing the Sopranino to my Ukadelic:

Oh wow, it looks just like my CS-100 soprano and the rest of my Cx-100's. Chiorguy you sparked my UAS, not because I need another Uke, I already have a sopranio, but it is a Glossy RP-102 pocket uke, like my RT-102 glossy zebrawood Tenor and my CB-103 Baritone.

As a suggestion, try the Fremont Blackline Soprano Hards on it. They have a much better tension and chime than the Aquilas that makes my RP-102 a charming music box. very difficult to hang on to, but maybe the littlest Zebrawood would be less slick? A good thing that it is only $28 to fill in my Zebra wood collection.

Is the head stock Logo carved or a sticker? If it is carved, I'll definitely order one after payday.

Caramel has a sopranio gig bag for ~$12 that is pretty well made. Hard to find elsewhere.
Cheers

Choirguy said:

...Caramel Sopraninos that I had ordered for myself....

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Thanks for the review and the photo. Congrats on the new baby-sized uke!

I am just now after 3.5 yrs able to play the soprano (Martin 0XK) without getting my fingers twisted in knots after being more comfortable only on larger scales with tenor as my most comfortable size.

Not sure I am ready to go smaller, but it's good to know that these are available and nicely made for such a low price.

The shipping time is what kills me, I guess I just have to plan like a month in advance, and try to forget about it, since ePacket delivery from China has always disappointed me with their spotty or completely lacking online tracking. if I put it out of my mind, then OMG, out of the blue in like 3 weeks a SURPRISE from USPS! YAY!

JackLuis said:

Oh wow, it looks just like my CS-100 soprano and the rest of my Cx-100's. Chiorguy you sparked my UAS, not because I need another Uke, I already have a sopranio, but it is a Glossy RP-102 pocket uke, like my RT-102 glossy zebrawood Tenor and my CB-103 Baritone.

As a suggestion, try the Fremont Blackline Soprano Hards on it. They have a much better tension and chime than the Aquilas that makes my RP-102 a charming music box. very difficult to hang on to, but maybe the littlest Zebrawood would be less slick? A good thing that it is only $28 to fill in my Zebra wood collection.

Is the head stock Logo carved or a sticker? If it is carved, I'll definitely order one after payday.

Caramel has a sopranio gig bag for ~$12 that is pretty well made. Hard to find elsewhere.
Cheers

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It isn't glossy...but in my lighting it looks like it.

It seems Caramel shifted back to laser-etched logos in December. Maybe the feedback caused that. I wouldn't mind a "filled" logo or rosette (Alabone?).

What strikes me is that this instrument is a step up from the quality of the Concerts (newer and older) and the Tenors we own--and it is $28!

Congrats Choirguy. I've been wanting one of those as well.

Choirguy said:

It isn't glossy...but in my lighting it looks like it.

It seems Caramel shifted back to laser-etched logos in December. Maybe the feedback caused that. I wouldn't mind a "filled" logo or rosette (Alabone?).

What strikes me is that this instrument is a step up from the quality of the Concerts (newer and older) and the Tenors we own--and it is $28!

Click to expand...

I checked the Caramel site last night after I saw your post and the pix on the site made me think it was a gold sticker. It's nice that they changed back on the CP-100s. I filled in the laser etching with sparkle paint on my Cx-100's and it really dresses them up. Check out the pix up about page 4? In the Rubin Caramel thread.

I've bought two little ones, a butterfly, and the glossy zebra wood, which was a left over from the Rubin days. Both needed a setup but afterwards played very well. I gave the butterfly one to my granddaughter after I refinished and set it up. The Butterfly came with almost no finish and was pale, after I refinished it the mahogany came out lovely and the sparkle paint was a big hit with the GD. I also used Lucy colored strings on it, which are translucent, to give it some additional color.