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What the others said, a us$150 to $550 ukulele. I agree with andrew’s advice – I have a solid top and laminate sides Ohana which is really nice. But the advice to spend as much as you can afford is also good because this may be your uke for life; unless you go pro or get a serious acquisition addiction. It is cheaper to spend more now rather than have to buy now and buy again in the future if you want better sound.
Also, try before you buy. Then buy the model from someone who will set it up properly like Uke Republic or Mim’s ukes or the ukulele site. A good set up is better than spending money on a fancier model.
Personal experience only: I have been playing for about 3 months, 30-90 mins most days. My strings started to sound sour (although they were staying in tune for a change!!). They were inconsistent and sounded great with some strums so i thought it was my playing. I was losing confidence and my E chord sounded awful. I have changed strings and now my ukulele sounds wonderful again.
So, my vote is 3 monthly if playing a lot for someone with a full time jobor if you start to think you are doing something wrong. Also, I just changed to Tenor Aquila Reds with Low G (unwound), much much better than the standard Aquila with a wound G that I had before. No more buzzing and less odd booming notes.
Hey man, I think from the above posts it is quite clearly personal preference and it is likely to change with time. It depends on how you play (standing or sitting), what you play (strum or fingering – tenor is probably better for finger style in the long run), where you play (soprano and concerto slightly easier to transport than tenor) and who you play with. Tenor is louder but probably still not loud enough to compete with a guitar without an amp.
I have a tenor, but want a concert but i am slowly getting used to the tenor and changing my mind. You have two instruments, why don’t you play the hell out of them until you wear them out or get sick of them and then decide which you prefer? Give it a decent amount of time, because you may decide you want something really different like a baritone.
I have a $5 soprano which I can pull out anytime to play with and a intermediate prices tenor. I actually prefer concert but the tenor was a bargain I couldn’t pass up.
The soprano body is too small for me to control and do rapid fret fingering. With the tenor I have struggled at times to get a good note by fretting the perfect spot within the fret as thevfet spaces are so wide (I think the set up on my may not be very good).
To me a concert feels very similar in size to the tenor when playing but visually retains the cuteness of a ukulele. I made a conscious choice to play uke not guitar so it is important to me that my instrument looks like a uke and not a small guitar. I have a long term plan to trade up to an Opio or Pono concert. A very long term plan.
I installed strap buttons on my tenor. The main benefit is moving my left hand from high up the neck (toward the body) to back up to the headstock I don’t have to brave the uke with my finger or other hand to stop it slipping. No change in sound. Would not go back to no strap, except on my soprano which I trap with my right elbow.
Hi
This thread is getting a bit old (sorry for resurrecting) but my favourite ukulele player is Ariel McLeary. The virtuoso players don’t really do it for me and I prefer someone more approachable. Ariel has a fun and cheeky personality that really shines through in her videos and her playing. She plays some modern pop songs and occasional jazz standards. She also plays interesting covers of alternate and indie rock but manages to make them all sound like 1930s standards. I keep expecting to see Ginger Rogers sashaying past. Don’t be put off if you don’t recognise the name of a group she is covering, it is well worth listening to.
Her cover of Havanna by Camilla Cabello has gone wild with over 3 million views. Whenever I feel discouraged with my playing I go back to this video.
Start from 1 minute 18 sec if my time stamp doesnt work.
And lately she has started to make a few overlaid tracks that are pretty cool.
As one of her followers said, try to watch her without falling in love 🙂
edit – omg, successfully posted youtube video first time. That never happens. Good coding!
What is your experience of the concert size ukulele in terms of sound quality? I really like them in the shop but I have heard people say they are a bad compromise, losing the sparkle of the soprano and not gaining the good sound of the tenor.
