Fret spacing Soprano/Concert/Tenor

tm3

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I own a tenor and recently strummed a bit on a concert. Some chords, barre chords especially, seemed a little easier to play while others such as the D chord seemed more difficult ("cramped" is how it felt). This made me curious and in looking around the forum it seems like the reason(s) could be action, string type, lower tension strings, and nut width. However it felt to me like the frets on the concert were closer together, and I have not found any information on that.

So, my question: Are the frets closer together on a soprano than on a concert, and closer on a concert than a tenor? Or like nut width is this just something that different manufacturers do differently?
 
"Are the frets closer together on a soprano than on a concert, and closer on a concert than a tenor?"

Yes. Ukuleles are classified according to the scale length. With a longer scale, you will have wider fret spacing.

John Colter.
 
"Are the frets closer together on a soprano than on a concert, and closer on a concert than a tenor?"

Yes. Ukuleles are classified according to the scale length. With a longer scale, you will have wider fret spacing.

John Colter.

That was quick!

Thanks!
 
IMO, nut width, and even more importantly, string spread at the nut, affect room for fingering more than the small difference in fret spacing. I have a soprano with a 1 3/8" (35mm) nut, but an almost 31mm string spread. It is pretty easy to play, even cramped stuff like a 3 finger D chord.

I see some ukes with 1.5" nuts, but string spacing is still narrow, 27-28mm. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of a 1.5" nut.
 
IMO, nut width, and even more importantly, string spread at the nut, affect room for fingering more than the small difference in fret spacing. I have a soprano with a 1 3/8" (35mm) nut, but an almost 31mm string spread. It is pretty easy to play, even cramped stuff like a 3 finger D chord.

I see some ukes with 1.5" nuts, but string spacing is still narrow, 27-28mm. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of a 1.5" nut.

String spacing is a variable that I had not heard of.

Fortunately, I'm a long way from an instrument upgrade. But if and when the time comes, how does one sort all this out sight-unseen (er, unplayed)?
 
If having difficulty doing barre chords on a tenor, maybe try using concert strings on it, all mine use concert strings. :)

The length between nut & bridge is first halved to get the 12th fret, & the rest are mathematically worked out for position, therefore, the longer the scale length, the bigger the fret spacing.
 
Just for reference, here's a couple of pics. First is my Martin soprano. It has 35mm nut (1 3/8), but string spread of just under 31mm. Easy for me to finger what would otherwise be cramped chords, for my large hands.

Second pic is a Koaloha tenor. These come with 1.5" nuts, or 38mm. But look at the string spacing. Not sure what it measures, but is looks narrow to me, maybe 28-29mm or so. I expect I might feel cramped on that.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to own a Koaloha tenor. But if I did get one, I'd want the dealer to install a nut with wider string spacing, which some dealers will do as part of their custom setup. I looked at all the Koaloha KTM-00 ukes on Mim's website, and they all have similar string spacing as my pic.

20.jpg

KTM-00.JPG
 
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String spacing is a variable that I had not heard of.

Fortunately, I'm a long way from an instrument upgrade. But if and when the time comes, how does one sort all this out sight-unseen (er, unplayed)?

Just ask the seller to measure the nut width, and the string spread at the nut (from outer G to outer A strings). A $10.00 digital caliper from Amazon is a handy thing to have around

https://www.amazon.com/Tacklife-DC0...ife&qid=1570721924&smid=A2R0SPF4JL1P2C&sr=8-3
 
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Just ask the seller to measure the nut width, and the string spread at the nut (from outer G to outer A strings). A $10.00 digital caliper from Amazon is a handy thing to have around

https://www.amazon.com/Tacklife-DC0...ife&qid=1570721924&smid=A2R0SPF4JL1P2C&sr=8-3

Great tip on the tool! It is not possible to have too many tools and I need one of those!

Actually, I was thinking more in terms of how does one know what one prefers re nut width, string spacing, etc. etc. without being able to audition the options. Probably a rhetorical question.
 
If having difficulty doing barre chords on a tenor, maybe try using concert strings on it, all mine use concert strings. :)

The length between nut & bridge is first halved to get the 12th fret, & the rest are mathematically worked out for position, therefore, the longer the scale length, the bigger the fret spacing.

Concert strings are a great, and relatively cheap, idea. Thanks!
 
Actually, I was thinking more in terms of how does one know what one prefers re nut width, string spacing, etc. etc. without being able to audition the options. Probably a rhetorical question.

Sadly the answer is that you basically end up buying blind via mail order and usually don’t get much of an idea in shops. If you’re in a Uke Club you might get to talk to some other players and maybe have a go on their Ukes.

Trail and error is the way that I found my own way forward. I bought and sold inexpensive versions of all the (three) standard sizes and discovered that Tenor was too big for me, Concert was OK and Soprano is ideal for my purposes if I spread the strings - 30/31 mm over the strings is my target
 
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Great tip on the tool! It is not possible to have too many tools and I need one of those!

Actually, I was thinking more in terms of how does one know what one prefers re nut width, string spacing, etc. etc. without being able to audition the options. Probably a rhetorical question.

It's all personal. Just play the uke you have, are there times you feel cramped on certain chords or fingerings? Many folks are perfectly happy on the standard 35mm nut, and 27-29mm string spread . Other folks need more room. Or try other ukes at shops. Most widely available ukes in shops, like Kala, Lanakai, etc, will have std 35mm nuts. But some, like Cordoba tenors, come with the wider 38mm.
 
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