Soprano by Choice

j.roth

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I play fingerstyle on the soprano because I like the way it sounds best. Who else here is partial to the soprano?
 
I'm primarily a concert player, but I completely understand your choice. Some things just sound more "right" to my ears on a soprano!
 
I started out mainly interested in tenors. At first I didn't understand why someone would play soprano until I saw someone who could really play playing their 20's Martin 2M. All of the sudden I got it! I have owned 3 tenors and I sold my last one this summer. My biggest uke is now my Takumi concert. I own two other soprano's, have one being built, and am considering another. More and more I love soprano ukes. Sometimes I think I would want a tenor again for low G but my concert actually sounds shockingly good with low G so maybe I'll try one on that again. There is something so unique and so cool about a really good quality soprano though.
 
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Like many of us I started out with a tenor three years ago, since then have tried baritone through soprano and everything in between. Now I play soprano exclusively (well I do have a concert flea that I leave out). There is nothing better than strumming a soprano.

Andy
 
I prefer listening to / watching someone who can really play a soprano over any other size (George Elmes springs to mind). When it comes to playing, though, I always gravitate back to the larger scales. I think it's my history as a guitar player - the muscle memory is better on something bigger. I keep a soprano and love it, just don't play it all that much,
 
I have 3 soprano bodied ukes, but 2 are concert scale, & the other is tenor scale, I have them for two reasons, I don't get on with soprano scale, but sometimes I like to have the sound of their small bodies. :)
 
IMHO the relationship of the soprano ukulele to the larger sizes is similar to that of the violin to the viola, the cello, and the double bass. All sizes of ukulele are different, one from another, and it is OK to specialize. I'm a soprano player.

John Colter
 
Guilty as charged. :eek:

Two sopranos, a soprano "stick" uke, and a baritone for when I want to pretend I'm a guitar player. My 2nd uke was a tenor because of the "kool-aid" I was drinking at the time, but I didn't drink enough of it and never really warmed up to it. Tried a concert too, and even though I really like the size of it, the soprano sound is what I like. That and being able to stretch across all those frets. :p

Long neck sopranos are pretty cool too; that was my first ukulele size.
 
I prefer the soprano. I started trying to learn the acoustic guitar. While looking for guitar tutorials for many of the songs I like I kept running into ukulele tutorials. So, I tried the baritone ukulele which was better but most of the the tutorials were in GCEA. I tried some GCEA strings on my baritone and it did not sound right.

I originally bought into the ‘big hands’ misconception so I got the larger scales first, concert and tenor. I wanted a travel ukulele, so I purchased a soprano. Perfect. Love the size, love the feel, and love the sound of the soprano. I gave away the guitar, baritone, tenor, and concert and now I only have a soprano.

Sometimes I feel the ‘upgrade to a concert/tenor’ or ‘soprano may be to small’ type comments are not fair. It seems the only sopranos that get universal love are vintage Martin or other vintage ‘K’ types made of exotic woods, and our buddy Timms of course. I never seen one of those being called ‘too small’ all I read about is the sweet vintage sound. Well, I also like the sweet modern sound of the soprano. I also think the ‘tenors are too big’ comments are unfair, but I digress…

“Ode to Soprano” by dgame
Long live the soprano
In big hands or small
Long live the soprano
The standard of them all
Long live the soprano
The old ones and the new
Long live the soprano
You should get one for you
Long live the soprano
For the adult and for the kid
Get a properly setup soprano
You will be glad you did
 
Well said, Dgame! That poem is worthy of the great W T McGonagall himself.:D

John Colter
 
Depends on the type of music I suppose.
 
There are a lot of misconceptions about size, volume, playability, etc, but there is a certain "something" to the sound and feel of a soprano. I love them.
 
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Here! I play 99% soprano. Because I like the sound, and because I like the playability. I also play almost exclusively fingerstyle, mostly classical and early music. :)
And usually with re-entrant tuning too. I like the possibilities of the re-entrant tuning a lot!
 
I have a Kanile’a K1 soprano and an Anuenue Soprano Moon Bird. I feel super lucky to have these two sopranos.
 
I exclusively play sopranos at least for the moment. I started out with a few concerts because I listened to rubbish advice about uke sizes. Then I decided that I want at least one standard size uke because I'm a bit of a traditionalist. A few months later, I had sold all my concerts and now I only have sopranos. I'd be fine with some concert scale banjo ukes but even those are now all sopranos, almost by accident. I feel the soprano size and sound suit my play style the best. Lots of fast paced strumming and occasional picking á la Roy Smeck and the like. I don't mind other people preferring concerts and tenors, but personally I feel I wouldn't gain anything by getting a bigger uke, at least with the same range. Recently I've decided that if I'm ever going to go for something bigger it's going to be something much more different like a baritone.
 
It's sopranos only for me. I did have a try of a concert last weekend but am not tempted to get one.

Mike
 
As most of you know I'm a Soprano fan, playing, collecting and rescuing.
I just sold my last Martin. No worries I have a backups, a Gretch, a Samuel Osborn and a (Hot Hod) Regal, my favorite now. There will be more Martins from the rescue room this Spring when my new knee can literally stand it.
I do play a Baritone for Low Down Blues, Dark Protest and just plain Sad Songs.
 
I’ve tried all the three main sizes in standard tuning and currently play the Soprano as my size of choice. Each size has its pro’s and con’s but for me the Soprano has the best balance of pluses and minuses for my use. That said I’ve found that, to my ears, some Sopranos are overly cutting or shrill whilst others others sing.

Others might think Sopranos should be jangly or cutting but I want something more balanced and melodic from my instruments, over the past few years I’ve tried and then passed on several Sopranos that didn’t quite hit the spot for me and retained two that do - neither were expensive so it’s not all about paying a lot. How you accurately identify a sweet sounding instrument from its design alone I don’t know and hence, for me, its been a process of case of buying them, setting them up and playing them to see what’s what. Any suggestions on an improved initial purchase selection process criteria would be appreciated, at the moment mine’s - rather too simplistically - down to go for a single piece top (so no stiffening along butt joint support piece) and a large lower bout.

TLDNR. Some Sopranos sing and some cut through, pick what works for you.
 
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Tried (and owned!) all the scale sizes available, but very early on, decided Soprano was for me.As per my signature!
 
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