Nunez flush fingerboard and huge looking frets!

So I'm looking at this ukulele, and thinking how much I like the two bouts being similar sized, and some of the old stylings. But then I start wondering what is going on with the giant looking frets. I suppose the term "flushed fretboard" means no fretboard extension over the top, when I realize it is flush to the top, not just ending before the top.

So do these frets being ridiculously tall, if I am seeing correctly, mean that your finger tips may not even touch the fretboard when playing, and that if they do, you would be sharpening the notes?

https://coolhandukes.shop/product/ohana-ukulele-ck-28-nunes-style-solid-premium-mahogany-concert/

https://ohana-music.com/products/ck-28-solid-premium-mahogany-nunes-style-5-string-concert

Ideally, you play with only enough pressure to sound the notes clearly. So yes, if you press down all the way on a tall fret you are going to make the note go sharp. Some electric guitars even have a scalloped fingerboard to exaggerate this. They require a soft touch, plus you can bend pitch by pressing down in addition to the normal way of note bending.

I scalloped the first 5 or 6 frets on my first cheap Tenor uke just for fun. (just recently gave that uke to my sister for her to play with, and as one that she can let her young'n's play with and not worry about) On that uke, I was strung Low G with about the fattest non-wound G string I could find, so tensions were on the high side. Pretty easy to avoid unintentional over-fretting.

It does make it easy to do bends and string vibrato. I sort of liked it, but on my new uke, I opted to go a different route and just string it with lighter gauge strings to allow for easy bending and "wiggle" vibrato. I'm still Low G, but went with a standard High G string set (rearranged) plus the lightest A string I could find.

So, yeah... depending on what kind of music you play and what kind of "effects" you like to use, I can see really tall frets being fun.

It's hard to tell from the pics, but they look like frets on my Kalas, which are like jumbo frets. Jumbo frets are generally easier to play and require less effort. In contrast, my Kamakas have narrow and somewhat taller frets; these allow more expression (but also requires more accuracy).

I have the Ohana SK-28 (the soprano version of the ukulele you are inquiring about) and I dont notice any abnormalities when playing it. Yes, they may be jumbo frets but nothing feels out of the norm. I admit I prefer jumbo frets over thin frets. It is a nice instrument. A bit on the mellow side. Is there a way to can try before you buy?

Those frets look identical to the frets aNueNue are using, at least on their more expensive models. I prefer smaller frets myself but these jumbo frets aren't a big deal and at least I got used to them very quickly. KoAloha also use fairly large frets on their ukes as well but it's the same thing with them, I got used to them no problem.

I have trouble with small frets, so jumbo frets sound appealing.

I have one Ohana ukulele, and I really like the chunky frets. Makes is so much easier to play. Perhaps I sometimes stretch it a bit, but better than not fretting it completely.

It's hard to tell if these are any larger than standard Ohana frets. I haven't had an issue with those. If you come from playing a Kiwaya or something with similarly thin frets, then a lot of ukuleles will seem to have giant frets.

I'm just hypothesizing, but it's possible, having a flush fretboard, combining it with thin frets would put the strings too close to the body for easy finger picking and maybe increase soundboard wear from strumming. Even with bigger frets it might be an issue.

glennerd said:

It's hard to tell if these are any larger than standard Ohana frets. I haven't had an issue with those. If you come from playing a Kiwaya or something with similarly thin frets, then a lot of ukuleles will seem to have giant frets.

I'm just hypothesizing, but it's possible, having a flush fretboard, combining it with thin frets would put the strings too close to the body for easy finger picking and maybe increase soundboard wear from strumming. Even with bigger frets it might be an issue.

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Having frets too short can cause buzzing because there's not enough clearance for the strings and the top of frets. I don't think soundboard wear or finger picking are going to be too much issue because the fretboard thickness can always be adjusted by the builder, if they are issues (which I doubt).

Those frets don't really look that big to me. Bigger than many uke frets perhaps, but not gigantic in the grand scheme. I don't think the fret size is really an inherent part of the flush style, there are plenty of flush ukuleles with tiny frets (and shorter bridges/saddles than we're used to with a raised fretboard, in order to accomodate the lower profile).