Soprano ukes

[mlindsey]

Hi! I have small arthritic hands, so I found that I’m limited to soprano size ukes. I’m just so happy that I can at least play again. Sold off everything bigger. Please tell me what brands of soprano ukes are highly regarded. It seems like most attention is on tenors, baritones, and concerts these days. Would love to get a solid wood uke. Thanks in advance!

 

[pondweed]

buy a basic solid Bruko or an ecolaminate Kiwaya. Or a Kala Travel Soprano (solid top). Ohana SK35 and 38 (all solid) well reckoned. Or splash out.... luthiers all around...

 

[Pissodes]

Plenty of quality sopranos out there. Depends on price and wood preference. Martin, Ohana, Kiwaya, all the "K" brands, Anuenue/Singer, Bruko and plenty of luthier builds to consider. I'm sure I missed a lot. Also many show up on the UU marketplace and a great discount. Happy hunting!

 

[SRC]

I have mostly soprano ukes. They are the best imo.
I can't really comment on the mass market as I don't own any but Koaloha, vintage Martin are good.

 

[Farkvam]

So many to choose from and there is a big range depending on budget as well. For entry level, I’d also choose an Ohana all-solid or a Brüko for a bit more money. I have an Ohana that I really like, and haven’t tried a Brüko but the made-in-Germany aspect appeals to me, and also being a small independent company.

More mid-range, I’d go for Pono if you like a chunkier neck and substantial feeling build. Kiwaya if you like a lightweight build, they are masterfully built in my opinion but more expensive. A new Martin S1 if you can find one without QC finishing issues can be a honey.

If I had an unlimited budget, I’d get a Hawaiian “K” brand: Kamaka, Kanile’a, Koalau, or Koaloha. Those are in the quadruple digits generally though!

I hope that helps!

 

[man0a]

There are a lot of great brands that make great sopranos. If your fingers are not too strong, I would avoid cheaper instruments with thick laminate tops. At a minimum get a good solid-spruce top or a pressurized laminate top (like Martin or Kiwaya). Bruko, Millar, and Kiwaya/Famous would be my first choices for good quality sopranos for reasonable prices (though their distribution is not so great in some countries).

 

[Mike $]

What's your budget? That will help a lot in getting any useful advice.

 

[T BKK]

From my 3 years experience, Kiwaya and Koaloha are easy to play.

 

[Pyewacket]

Hi! I have small arthritic hands, so I found that I’m limited to soprano size ukes. I’m just so happy that I can at least play again. Sold off everything bigger. Please tell me what brands of soprano ukes are highly regarded. It seems like most attention is on tenors, baritones, and concerts these days. Would love to get a solid wood uke. Thanks in advance!

Take a look at an Enya HPL Pineapple. I recently bought one of these and it has a great sound, I find it attractive, and the strings are super easy on my elderly tender fingertips. It's also on sale atm - cost me $58 with tax (I'm in the same state as their warehouse so I gotta pay the taxman). I also find it to be lighter weight than I would have thought, even given the small size. Very comfortable to play and hold.

Currently $60 on sale and another $9 off for "spring discount sale" so $51.

You can always buy a more expensive uke later if you decide you are really into it and MUST have a more expensive instrument, but I'm super happy with mine. I'm getting one of their HPL tenor ukes in a couple of days, had been waiting for it to go on sale. I like not having to take care of yet another wooden instrument - I have 3 wooden flutes and 2 harps already to tend to.

Oh yeah and that's it in my avatar over there. Not the blue one LOL! That's my Enya Nova Go 3/4 size guitar. Carbon fiber composite. A lot heavier than the HPL ukes, even considering its larger size.

 

[Sallybee]

I am not usually a fan of Sopranos but I love my vintage Harmony!

 

[dancephoto]

Ken Timms soprano ukuleles (which might be described as modern vintage Martin ukuleles) are highly regarded.

 

[Pyewacket]

Well drat, I forgot to put a link for that. Here it is:

X1 Pineapple Ukulele

Enya X1 pineapple ukulele is a perfect beginner ukulele. It comes with value ukulele kit (all accessories included). 30-day return & refund Guarantee. One-year product warranty.

www.enya-music.com

This comes with a tuner, a gig bag, extra strings, and a bunch of other odds and ends.

Some people don't like the stock strings but they've been just fine for me. I did feel like they were sort of floppy at first but I don't notice anything like that at all now. They stretched out pretty fast, like in 2 or 3 days, so I'm guessing they're nylgut or something similar. The tuner is fine but you can't shut it off, you have to wait for it to shut itself off after 3 mins. Which is fine except I like to clip it to the wire shelf I use to keep my computer/monitor on, and if I do that, it will NEVER shut off because the metal wire picks up sound and keeps the tuner activated LOL! I need to get a small piece of cloth or felt or something to clip it over and see if that deadens it enough that it'll stop picking up sounds in the room.

You can get it with low G tuning if you want to, just ask them.

 

[Pyewacket]

... and talking about the tuner issue spurred me to solve the problem. Look here for the solution:

Fix for autoshutoff tuner

So the tuner that came with my Enya pineapple ukulele is of the sort that you can't shut off except via its autoshutoff feature - 3 minutes of no input and then it shuts off. I like to clip this, when not in use, to the wire shelf that holds my computer and monitor. However the wire shelf...

forum.ukuleleunderground.com

 

[Graham Greenbag]

Hi! I have small arthritic hands, so I found that I’m limited to soprano size ukes. I’m just so happy that I can at least play again. Sold off everything bigger. Please tell me what brands of soprano ukes are highly regarded. It seems like most attention is on tenors, baritones, and concerts these days. Would love to get a solid wood uke. Thanks in advance!

So Soprano, highly regarded and solid wood.

You don’t set a budget but if you’re not constrained then a Martin S1 ticks your boxes; though I think them relatively expensive for what you get - you pay for the name.

I‘ve an Ohana SK35 and I like it enough that if I lost it I’d buy another, well that or an SK38. The Ohana’s I’ve got aren’t the very best Ukes in the world but I’m pretty pleased with them and I am quite fussy. The Mainland brand Ukes are often remarkably similar to the Ohanas - some say identical with another name in the headstock. At their price point - which is not cheap but still affordable to many - Ohana offer pretty good value. .

If you are in continental Europe then a Bruko could make some sense, but otherwise the handling and carriage costs get a bit stupid. Bruko’s are an acquired taste too …

Edit. Since writing it I’d thought about my post and realised that the whole topic of tone and percussion had been omitted. Some Sopranos tend (by design) to be more percussive than others …. anyway Ploverwing has raised that topic below and it’s certainly one to think about.

 

[ploverwing]

I think it also depends on what kind of playing you do. If you're a strummer, you're likely to be satisfied by something different than if you're into playing classical music. I adore my aNueNue Moon Bird and play classical/early music. I wasn't thrilled by my Ohana cedar top, laminate body but it's fine for strumming. Your budget will also impact your decision, as mentioned. Do you love a mellow or chipper or twangy sound or something entirely different? That will affect your choices too.

 

[baconsalad]

My pride and joy soprano is a Kamaka which is north of $1000 and sounds heavenly, but I also love my $40 Enya Nova Minis. I take them everywhere, land and water. They are a little bigger than standard soprano so fingering is not as tight. Nice light and low action out of the box. Ohanas are nice and much better value than Martins IMO

 

[keenonuke]

I have a number of Sopranos: 2 Martins, a Kala Travel uke, an Ohana SK-75cg, an Ovation Applause, a Cocobolo and a Long Neck Cocobolo, a Larrivee, and two Seagull's both the Nylon and the Steel String. The Martin Style 2 plays very different from the OX. Although I love the Martin Style 2, I am NOT a fan of the OXO

My favorite is my new Ohana SK-75cg (setup by Mim). The neck is narrow and a pleasure to play and I love it's rich tone. I keep the Kala Travel Soprano at my son's and it's also a joy and super easy to play. The latter gets played for birthdays and holidays.

Solid Woods - Martin Style 2 (Mahogany), both Cocobolos (Cocobolo), the Larrivee (Koa), Ohana (Spruce top, Maple back and sides). The Seagull lists solid Spruce top with a Solid Maple Body. The Seagulls have a bigger solid body and look like Concerts but scale length is Soprano.

The Kala has a Spruce top and laminate back & sides.

 

[Ukecaster]

if it's a good soprano you want, a vintage Martin can't be beat. There's a reason they are considered to be the gold standard of sopranos. Not sure of your budget, but $500-600 will get you a very nice Style 0 from the 20s or 30s. You'll never need another soprano, but may find yourself seeking...more vintage Martins!

Like this one: https://reverb.com/item/77903057?ut...are&utm_campaign=listing&utm_content=77903057

Or this one:

Ditson Style 0 (Martin)

An unusual ukulele, produced for Oliver Ditson Company by C. F. Martin around 1925, this example is a departure from the hallmark "mini dreadnaught" shape of all other ukuleles produced by Martin for Ditson conforming completely to Martin stamped Style 0 ukuleles made during the time. A vertical...

bernunzio.com

Don't fight it, just get a vintage Martin.

 

[RosieKamozie]

Not sure your price range, but consider one of the WOW sopranos by Pops - incredibly easy to play & incredible works of art by a master craftsman. There are lots of threads about his Ukes in here!

The All-New WOW Ukulele - UkeSA Hawaii

Since 1995 when my wife and I started KoAloha Ukulele, it was general knowledge that koa wood was very expensive because it was regarded as a hardwood that wasn’t readily available and plentiful. Even knowing this fact, I went ahead and started the prototyping process because I loved the...

ukesahawaii.com

 

[msmitty63]

Vintage instruments can be great but I would strongly suggest to try before you buy. I obtained a vintage martin a while back, site unseen. I won't get into tone and comparisons to other brands like Kiwaya because that is subjective (although I personally think my Kiwaya sounds better). This particular one came with really bad intonation. I took it to Retrofret in Brooklyn for them to do a setup because they do a lot of repair /restoration work on vintage instruments. Unfortunately they told me the only way to fix the problem was to reset the neck which would cost more than I paid in the first place. So I really don't use it much at all. If I am just strumming and staying within the first five frets it isn't so bad. If you go up the neck it doesn't sound very good. I like owning it and pulling it out from time to time. I just can't play it very much because the intonation issues hurt my ears.