Ukulele 101

In the last few years, ukuleles have once again gained in popularity so I thought it would be a good time to include some basic ukulele information:

Ukuleles come in four sizes. The smallest and most common uke is the Soprano. The next size up would be a Concert ukulele, which is similar to a Soprano but carries a little more volume. After the Concert is the Tenor uke. Last, but not least, is the Baritone uke - the largest in the uke family.

Ukuleles commonly are strung using nylon strings (instead of steel strings). This makes it easier on the fingers, especially for children or anyone new to playing a stringed instrument.

Even though ukuleles look like small guitars, the techniques of construction are a little different. Ukuleles require finer tolerances when building or repairing - measuring is done in thousands of an inch, and ukes are more delicate than their larger, guitar counterparts. So while some savings are found because less materials are used to build them, the cost of labor tends to be higher.

How do we know so much about ukuleles? We have been making quality ukes in our manufacturing facility, Buck Musical Instrument Products, since 1990. We also carry a wide variety of ukes in our shop made by a number of different manufacturers.