What brands makes sopranios besides ohana

Puglele

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2019
Messages
122
Reaction score
4
I have only seen Ohana has a nice range of sopraninos. Do other brands make them too? Especially the more “prestige” brands like 4Ks?
 
Ohana is easily the most prevalent brand regarding sopraninos, and even other quirky builds like sopranissimo or the Vita uke. Other than that, I know of only a few. Ortega makes their Keiki line but those supposedly aren't very good (I don't actually like Ortega in general). There's a brand called Koki'o who make a sopranino but I've no idea about the build quality. Then there's the iUke Piccolo which I've seen decent reviews for. Outside of those, I only know that some luthiers like DJ Morgan sometimes have sopraninos available.
 
Tyde makes some. Andy’s uke is another name I have heard.
i have tried Tyde’s and they are pretty nice.
 
There's no fixed scale, and therefore the miniatures are all over the place, from woodchip and nano (played with tweezers) to travel models that are just a notch off a soprano scale length. Kala makes some as well, besides Ortega, iUke and some independent luthiers.

Which brings me to the names. I believe Ohana patented the sopranino and sopranissimo indications, a bit like Hohner forced its competitors to call their melodicas something other than 'melodica': melodeon, melodion, pianica. There are three very distinct families of musical instruments called melodeons (foot-pumped organs, diatonic bisonoric accordeons and mouth-blown keyboards)! Shop often use 'sopranino' as an umbrella term for smaller than usual ukuleles, but the brands themselves go for lots of different terms.
 
Since you specifically asked about the K brands: KoAloha was the only one among them to produce a sub-scale Sopranino model by the name of "Noah". I used to own one and loved it. They are rare birds, though. Not sure, if they are still made now and then.
 
There's no fixed scale, and therefore the miniatures are all over the place, from woodchip and nano (played with tweezers) to travel models that are just a notch off a soprano scale length. Kala makes some as well, besides Ortega, iUke and some independent luthiers.

Which brings me to the names. I believe Ohana patented the sopranino and sopranissimo indications, a bit like Hohner forced its competitors to call their melodicas something other than 'melodica': melodeon, melodion, pianica. There are three very distinct families of musical instruments called melodeons (foot-pumped organs, diatonic bisonoric accordeons and mouth-blown keyboards)! Shop often use 'sopranino' as an umbrella term for smaller than usual ukuleles, but the brands themselves go for lots of different terms.
Good to learn something new:)
 
How about an Italian Luthier? Marco Todeschini is a luthier at his company named Antica Ukuleleria. Here's a link to his "Allergo" sopranino. He only makes a few at a time (after getting request) so you need to contact him to see when his next ukes will be available. I'm on a waiting list for a Libero. Until a few weeks ago he was on lock down, unable to go to his workshop. As such, he's a little behind on orders.

https://www.anticaukuleleria.com/allegro/
 
Top Bottom