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Help buying a new ukulele

High Fidelity 2000High Fidelity 2000 Posts: 4,435
edited January 2012 in Musicians and Gearheads
I have a couple of crappy $30-40 soprano ukes and I am looking to upgrade finally. I am thinking about buying a concert or even tenor uke. I guess my main question is, not counting baritones, which I know have a completely different tuning and chord fingerings--but do the larger ukes (concert & tenor) have the same tuning and same pitch as the soprano uke? I guess I want to be able to play along to Ukulele Songs on a new instrument, if that makes sense. Like if my tenor uke is in tune, and my soprano uke is in tune, I should be able to pick up either one and play the same notes etc and it would sound the same, right? Or does the tenor play in a different pitch, where it would not sound the same as the smaller ukes?
I hope I make sense.
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Comments

  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,429
    Not trying to be a board schmuck, but you should post this over in the musicians branch, too. It'll stay at the top longer and there's definitely some regulars over there that could answer this.
  • High Fidelity 2000High Fidelity 2000 Posts: 4,435
    You board schmuck. :) I thought about posting there but thought more people read this one and I'm always seeing how lots of people have ukes on this board.
    I think I answered my question anyway.
    So I have a new question. I have never seen EV live solo, which kind of uke does he play the most often? Concert or tenor? I can't remember which he played on Letterman, but pretty sure it was bigger than a little soprano.
    I think I am leaning towards concert right now. Any more advice is appreciated. :)
    ABQ 93, Las Cruces 95, ABQ 98, Bridge School 10/30/99, Lubbock 00, ABQ 00, Denver 03, State College 03, San Diego 03, Vegas 03, PHX 03, D.C. 03, Camden 7/5/03, NYC 7/8/03 + 7/9/03, Vegas 06, San Francisco 7/15/06 + 7/16/06 + 7/18/06, Kansas City 10, EV:ABQ 11/6/12, Chicago 13, PHX 13, Denver 14--PJ24!, Telluride 16, Chicago 8/20/16, Chicago 8/18/18, Denver 20, Phoenix 20

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  • veddertownveddertown Posts: 5,260
    High Fidelity 2000 wrote:
    I have a couple of crappy $30-40 soprano ukes and I am looking to upgrade finally. I am thinking about buying a concert or even tenor uke. I guess my main question is, not counting baritones, which I know have a completely different tuning and chord fingerings--but do the larger ukes (concert & tenor) have the same tuning and same pitch as the soprano uke? I guess I want to be able to play along to Ukulele Songs on a new instrument, if that makes sense. Like if my tenor uke is in tune, and my soprano uke is in tune, I should be able to pick up either one and play the same notes etc and it would sound the same, right? Or does the tenor play in a different pitch, where it would not sound the same as the smaller ukes?
    I hope I make sense.

    I have a little soprano uke I got from the kids for Christmas in 2010 and although the tuning was a nightmare I enjoyed it enough to upgrade to this tenor:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brunswick-Mah ... 27c271e6d6
    The Aquila strings are crisp and clear and almost guaranteed every time I take it out it's in tune. Mahogany gives the uke a new dimension and the extra space on the fretboard compared to the soprano makes a huge difference to your playing and you'll find you're a better player in no time. There's probably many like this one but I chose it over a more expensive Lag model almost twice the price on the music shop owners reccomendation. You should find everything you've learned exactly the same, tuning etc but the strings on the tenor will be a little more taught which makes playing much easier too. Hope this helps.... :)
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  • derwent7derwent7 Posts: 6
    I have few Ukes. My first and nicest is a concert Cordoba. I have a couple that I just take on my travels, including a $20 soprano, and don't really care what happens to them, so I can throw them in a backpack and not worry :-) Decent strings make a big difference. My Cordoba has Aquila strings - they sound bright and stay in tune really well. I put some Martin strings on my cheapie soprano and it sounds great too. The soprano and concert sound exactly the same pitch-wise. Looking forward to the EV tour in May. Happy strumming !
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