Soprano Ukuleles

delray48209

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Just curious, am I only one of the few who favors the Soprano ukulele over the concert and tenor sizes? I would enjoy reading your comments regarding this topic.

Regards,
Frank
St Louis, MO
 
I have to say I think it really depends on the song. I love playing my soprano but there are some songs that lend themselves to a larger uke. Just wondering, what types of songs do you mostly play?
 
I like sopranos for that classic stuff like 'aint't she sweet', '5 foot 2' etc. Tenor works better on other tunes and I find it easier to hold/play. For me though, the soprano sound is the quintesential ukulele sound.
 
I prefer sopranos. They are easier for me to play. I like the classic uke sound. I have one concert with low g but other than that I am a soprano gal.
 
I favor the soprano over all other sizes. I have owned several concert and tenor (even a baritone) uke's and sold them off through the years. The soprano just sounds like I think the uke should...:) I even like D tuning when I am muttling my way through songs from the 30's/40's.
 
I like concerts better than tenors, and soprano is my favourite size. It's cute, it sounds nice and it's easier to play if you have small hands.
My guess is that most people play sopranos, most likely colourful and inexpensive factory-made laminates (because they're fun!), and they only own one uke, not 12. The UU forum is not really representative of the whole ukulele community, we're just the nerdy ones who like to spend time talking about ukes ;-)
 
I don't play "traditional ukulele" music, whatever that may be. I play songs that I like which is from the genres of folk, C&W, classic rock, 50s rock, etc. and I play it on soprano, concert, or tenor, whichever is out at the time. I love them all. When I'm on the truck, it's my Dolphin though as that is my "truck uke".
 
I have to say I think it really depends on the song. I love playing my soprano but there are some songs that lend themselves to a larger uke. Just wondering, what types of songs do you mostly play?

I like the classic stuff as mentioned above.
 
Just curious, am I only one of the few who favors the Soprano ukulele over the concert and tenor sizes? I would enjoy reading your comments regarding this topic.

I prefer a soprano -- the 'ukulele in its original form. Perhaps not as easy to play as a concert or tenor, but I enjoy the challenge, and the idea that I'm playing the same instrument earlier generations played.
 
I like ukes in all sizes, especially concerts and sopranos. I favor concerts and sopranos fairly equal. I've never had 2 ukes sound exactly the same, even repeats of the same brand, model and size. So, to say a certain size sounds better than another is very subjective. It seems to me that it is tougher for a luthier to make a great soprano, than a great tenor? Some sopranos can sound tinny or boxy. A good one will not. So maybe the random tenor uke will sound better than the random soprano, because great sopranos are fewer in numbers?

My CR tenor has some nice guitarishness to it, where none of my concerts and sopranos do, even in low G. So, if guitar-like the tonal quality is what you want, you probably wont find it in a soprano.
 
I agree with Dean, Lalou and mango, as different sizes suit different styles and songs better. I love my sopranos, but I also enjoy concerts too for a slightly fuller, more rounded tone, and they're easier to fingerpick on. For some reason I've never been able to acclimatise to the tenor scale, but in the past few months my eyes have opened to the wonders of the beautiful baritone and that's opened a whole new chapter of fun and discovery!
 
I'm a soprano man. I have owned or played a few concerts and I'm not into them. I've never played a tenor I've really liked enough to buy either. I am interested in baritones but haven't bought one yet. I think it is a personal thing though. I don't have as much range of motion in my fingers as a lot of other people so the larger fret scales aren't as fun to play for me. That is one of the reasons I never got far with guitars.
 
I love sopranos. I like concerts, too, but I always end up with a soprano in my hands. Like Jon, I just haven't gotten interested in tenors myself, while I enjoy listening to others play them.

By the way, here's John King playing an Earnest Stradelele. It's a concert. John was a big guy I guess:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASGPPAK-p7w

He was the King of sopranos and concerts!
 
Ugh, Frank, you've hit a nerve with this one.

I like sopranos best, both in terms of sound and feel, and yet I'm somehow still a sucker. I have a good concert (Pono) and a great tenor (Loprinzi) and, combined, they don't see half the playing time of my Timms or Bruko sopranos. They're solid instruements (pun!), but neither are for me.

To make matters worse, neither are the first concert or tenor I've owned. When will I learn?

Each will make its journey to the marketplace eventually.
 
I have one soprano just to try and see if I might like it. As much as I've tried I just don't. I don't like the size and the difficulty of playing with frets that small. That's just my preference. I tried concert and don't like the fretboard on it. I like the body size of the concerts. I have one Kanilea super concert which I like very much and my pineapple Sunday which I think is a concert body with a tenor neck that I also like a lot. There's just a feel with the tenor neck that I like. That may change over time if I were to give the other necks a chance but I guess that won't happen since I will probably not own any other sizes and I want to sell the soprano. I know a lot of you love them but their just not for me.
 
I prefer the sound of the soprano over other sizes. I'm even coming to grips with the scale length though it stills seems a bit crowded but not like two years ago. I'm not really certain if I've come to favor soprano over longneck (concert scale) soprano, but it's a much closer race than it once was.

John
 
I'm a Soprano guy. I've got pretty small hands.
 
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