Soprano by Choice

I’m glad to see another soprano moonbird player. I’m able to form chord quicker on the moonbird when compared to my other sopranos. I guess that very minimal radiused fretboard helps.

I tend to stick to 1 size, the soprano. I don’t do well when swapping between sizes. My fingers get confused and I can’t do anything about it. Haha.

Yessir! There is something about the moonbird that just makes it amazing! It is hands down the best instrument that I own.

j.roth said:

Yessir! There is something about the moonbird that just makes it amazing! It is hands down the best instrument that I own.

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Love your enthusiasm on the moon bird! It’s my best ukulele too.

Own all sizes, own more sopranos than any other. Also play soprano more frequently than any other.

Me! I mostly play a martin oxk, equally for strumming and picking. Already forgot what strings I have on it, but I prefer the lower tension the soprano has, and the oxk has wider string spacing than many sopranos.

I like to play the bari sometimes too but I only use it only for picking when I'm feeling mellow. I have a nice islander tenor that I think I haven't picked up in a year or more.

Graham Greenbag said:

Thanks for the pointer, if my research is accurate you used to have one of the older ones. Larrivée stopped production of that Uke for some time but have restarted - I’ve no idea whether the old and new versions are the same or not. Availability in the U.K. is poor and no doubt the price is well outside of my comfort range too.

Koaloha Opio was mentioned by someone else, they are available in the U.K. but the price is well outside of my comfort range - I really would need to play twice as well as I do before I could justify that expense to myself never mind my Mrs. I know a few people with Opio’s in the concert size and am somewhat jealous, I constantly remind myself of the 10th commandment (though shalt not covet). Indeed I like them sooo much that I’ve even considered playing the Concert size instead - yes, unfaithful to the Soprano, but as they say ‘everyone has their price’.

It’s been interesting to read of people’s experience of tone from the Soprano size, it certainly does seem to vary from model to model and from make to make. Having bought and sold a few Ukes over the internet my conclusion is that you need to expect to resell most of what you buy and judge the loss involved as a kind of rent, the cost of trying something different. I’ve had both some nice surprises and some disappointments; resale is a hassle and the costs for the more expensive Ukes aren’t that small. The hassle aside it’s been interesting and you learn a bit too, including that for dearer stuff it really is best to try before you buy (rarely possible via eBay).

Soprano by choice, but choose wisely to match your own ideals.

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Have you checked out Welsh luthier, Kevin Mulcock, (KM) sopranos? He makes extremely well-made and excellent sounding sopranos. His prices are very reasonable. And he's a great person as well.

I have a walnut custom of his that is both beautiful and sounds very nice as well.

Kenn2018 said:

Have you checked out Welsh luthier, Kevin Mulcock, (KM) sopranos? He makes extremely well-made and excellent sounding sopranos. His prices are very reasonable. And he's a great person as well.

I have a walnut custom of his that is both beautiful and sounds very nice as well.

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Thanks for the thought, kind of you.

At the moment I’m fairly set with what I have, but that’s not to say that if the right instrument at the right price crossed my path that I wouldn’t purchase it (more likely than not UAS would get the better of me). Kevin has a good reputation; he works full time and builds as a hobby so his output is restricted. I haven’t checked out his prices and don’t doubt that they are competitive for a Luthier built instrument.

We’ll have to see what the future brings but it’s hard for any individual to compete cost wise with what the larger companies sell and second hand mass produced Ukes can give very hard to beat value. With the mass market stuff it’s just a case of estimating what’s likely to suit you, accepting compromises, watching out for what comes on the market and taking a few risks (is the received product as described, is the price right and will it work as hoped for you).

Yep for me it’s Soprano by choice and choosing wisely has helped me get near enough to my own ideals, there’s always a bit of trial and error though and one has to accept that that’s just part of the ongoing process.

I wanted to get a soprano that was a good quality, but inexpensive. Something I can take places. I decided on a mahogany mai lad soprano. I installed GPT tuners, and it is excellent. I think I spent right around $329 all in. It is pretty plain to look at but it sounds pretty good and plays great. Ps. Those tuners make the difference.

Graham Greenbag said:

Thanks for the thought, kind of you.

At the moment I’m fairly set with what I have, but that’s not to say that if the right instrument at the right price crossed my path that I wouldn’t purchase it (more likely than not UAS would get the better of me). Kevin has a good reputation; he works full time and builds as a hobby so his output is restricted. I haven’t checked out his prices and don’t doubt that they are competitive for a Luthier built instrument.

We’ll have to see what the future brings but it’s hard for any individual to compete cost wise with what the larger companies sell and second hand mass produced Ukes can give very hard to beat value. With the mass market stuff it’s just a case of estimating what’s likely to suit you, accepting compromises, watching out for what comes on the market and taking a few risks (is the received product as described, is the price right and will it work as hoped for you).

Yep for me it’s Soprano by choice and choosing wisely has helped me get near enough to my own ideals, there’s always a bit of trial and error though and one has to accept that that’s just part of the ongoing process.

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Not trying to continue the trend of recommending instruments for you, but reading your earlier comment about a larger soprano with a fuller sound made me think of Romero Creations and their soprano. It's not the XS Soprano based off the Tiny Tenor model. I think it's just called the Romero Soprano, and it looks to imitate their Grand Tenor design.

I don't think they have any more available now, but when HMS listed them with their demos, they sounded really nice. They're not a single top, but they sound like no other soprano I've ever heard, in terms of balance. They basically go the opposite direction of long-neck sopranos; fat bodies with short necks. I'm curious what the verdict will be on these, since they're new, and I haven't seen any personal reviews yet.

I play tenors and sopranos. My wife has a concert that I occasionally borrow. All I can say is that my smile is always a little bigger when I'm holding a soprano...

Whilst I have tenor scale & concert scale, playing concert scale soprano does always seem to make me smile inside. :music:

snowdenn said:

.... reading your earlier comment about a larger soprano with a fuller sound made me think of Romero Creations and their soprano. It's not the XS Soprano based off the Tiny Tenor model. I think it's just called the Romero Soprano, and it looks to imitate their Grand Tenor design.

I don't think they have any more available now, but when HMS listed them with their demos, they sounded really nice. They're not a single top, but they sound like no other soprano I've ever heard, in terms of balance. They basically go the opposite direction of long-neck sopranos; fat bodies with short necks. I'm curious what the verdict will be on these, since they're new, and I haven't seen any personal reviews yet.

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I hope that we are not diverting the thread but to some extent the idea is worth following up. IIRC Uncle Rod had one of his friends build him a large body Soprano with ten frets to the neck and he was very pleased with it. The Ohana Vita is similar in respect to enlarged body size too.

One of the great features about a Soprano is the balance struck between a compact and easy to transport box and one that produces a very usable sound. Perhaps affordability comes into the equation too because traditionally larger and more complex stringed instruments would have been priced beyond what many people could afford. To my mind the Ohana is acceptably borderline against those criteria, it’s slightly on the big side but sounds good and isn’t that expensive - pity they aren’t more plentiful here in the UK and that they are never seen for sale second hand. In contrast I find that the Romero falls outside of my criteria, its body is deep and so long that the bridge needs repositioning (so noticeably divergent from the easy to transport concept) and it’s far from readily affordable. I don’t know about how it sounds.

The Soprano has a certain voice to it too. I’m not a lover of ‘cutting’ or ‘shrill’ instruments - for that reason there are some Sopranos that I will not buy and others that I will only consider buying provided that there definitely are ‘special’ strings readily available to ‘tame’ them - and a good Soprano should have more mid tones and some low end response. However, to my mind, putting increasingly large bodies on a Soprano scale somehow disturbs the balance between scale length, body size and natural sound. IMHO, as above, Ohana have retained that sound balance.

I´ve always liked the look of sopranos, but assumed that my hands are too big, having an 11 inch span from thumb to little finger, but reading through this thread I get the idea that there´s some hope after all. I have an Uluru tenor, an Ohana concert and a Gold Tone Concert reso, and all are 35 (34?) mm, and I can just about manage them. I´ve not been playing long and don´t know if more practise will make things easier.
I´ve heard some sopranos have wider necks, and would appreciate advice on that subject, and suggestions concerning good instruments -- I would go up to 500€ for something really special, though I think there will be decent sopranos well below that.
Since I´m in Spain it would be preferable to buy from a European dealer, so any advice would be very welcome indeed. Thank you.

Sadhu said:

I´ve always liked the look of sopranos, but assumed that my hands are too big, having an 11 inch span from thumb to little finger, but reading through this thread I get the idea that there´s some hope after all. I have an Uluru tenor, an Ohana concert and a Gold Tone Concert reso, and all are 35 (34?) mm, and I can just about manage them. I´ve not been playing long and don´t know if more practise will make things easier.
I´ve heard some sopranos have wider necks, and would appreciate advice on that subject, and suggestions concerning good instruments -- I would go up to 500€ for something really special, though I think there will be decent sopranos well below that.
Since I´m in Spain it would be preferable to buy from a European dealer, so any advice would be very welcome indeed. Thank you.

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In my experience, most mid to high-end sopranos have a nut/neck width of around 35 to 36 mm. If you want wider than that there are a few options. Kanile'a, for example, is known for having a very wide neck even on sopranos. Around 38 mm I believe. If that is beyond your budget then you could look at the Islander sopranos that should have the exact same neck width. The Martin S1 one also has a comfortably wide neck, around 37 mm if I recall correctly.

Thank you Dohle, I had a look at the Kanilea range, and the MSS4 appealed right away. I´ve ordered one from Thomann, of Germany, who have been excellent in the past. They got my double bass to me safely, so a soprano shouldn't be too much bother. I look forward to seeing them side by side ...

Nice, that's a great choice! I also saw that exact same Islander on Thomann. They're a decent store but they don't do setups, as far as I know anyway, so I don't like to recommend them outright. But I have bought instruments from them that have had no issues, and I think they have a decent return policy as well so there's no major risk with buying from them. Just make sure you check the uke thoroughly when it arrives for any major flaws.

Flight is selling a soprano with a 38 mm nut now, the NUS-200. At €45, it's really tempting to order one. Almost seems too wide for a sop, but probably fine.

I´ll do that Dohle, thanks again.

glennerd said:

Flight is selling a soprano with a 38 mm nut now, the NUS-200. At €45, it's really tempting to order one. Almost seems too wide for a sop, but probably fine.

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Looks cool, never saw a teak uke before. I like the 38mm nut, but the string spread looks like 27mm, seems narrow, too bad.

Ukecaster said:

Looks cool, never saw a teak uke before. I like the 38mm nut, but the string spread looks like 27mm, seems narrow, too bad.

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Hmm, looks about right. My TUSL-35 has a nice string spread so I thought this one would too. I suppose if you were up to replacing the nut, you'd be set. Wouldn't be worth paying someone to do it for you, it would double the cost of the uke, at least!