You may have noticed that ukuleles basically have lots of different sizes, materials, shapes and colours. In general, there are four main sizes of ukulele from smallest to largest: Soprano, Concert, Tenor, and Baritone. For the small ukuleles, they can give you a brighter, lighter, more sparkly sound; unlike the large one, they give a deeper, richer, more guitar-like sound. However, in here we only focus on one of the most common sizes of ukulele – Concert; and also help you find out the top 5 best Concert Ukulele.
What is the Concert Ukulele?
The concert ukulele, sometimes referred to as the alto, is just a little bit bigger than the Soprano. That’s also the reason why Concert ukuleles are sometimes called “super soprano” ukes, which indicates the fact that they’re “the same as soprano ukes, but larger”.
Some people would suppose Concert uke to have a fuller sound. It’s regularly tuned in standard ukulele tuning (G-C-E-A), and equipped with the same features like all other ukuleles; but some people will opt to tune their G-string down an octave to low G tuning, also known as linear tuning.
Concert ukulele has the typical length of 23 inches (58 centimetres), the standard scale length of 15 inches (38 centimetres), and its standard number of frets spans between 15 and 18.
Concert uke can be up to 20 frets on, which allows players to navigate to higher notes on the fretboard when playing in styles like fingerstyle.
The difference between Concert ukulele and Others
Concert vs Soprano
Size
Size
Size
Size
Larger by 2″
Concert ukuleles have a fuller, richer sound, at times even louder
Concert ukulele is about 2 inches longer than Soprano ukulele
The distance between the nut and the saddle.
If you have smaller hands, you might prefer a Soprano ukulele.
What is the best concert ukulele for beginners?
We’ve searched high and low through many different products and chosen five different models to compare. Have a look through all our pros and cons for each one to find your ukuleles.
Our top picks
Our rating
Image
Brand
Model
Our Rating
Cordoba 15CM Concert Ukulele
Cordoba is well known for building beautiful, resonant guitars in the Spanish tradition. They started to produce ukuleles in 1997 with the same passion and purpose like the way they brought to their guitars.
Beautiful finishes, high-quality components and carefully selected woods are essential and important factors to produce each ukulele. All of Cordoba’s instruments are made by hand carefully to ensure beautiful tone, exquisite resonance, and a wonderful feeling. At the same time, Cordoba concentrates on sharing affordable instruments, including ukuleles, with their customers.
The Cordoba 15CM is one of their most popular models due to its solid construction, great sound, and traditional appearance. It features an all-mahogany body, and the rosewood fingerboard has a total of 18 frets. This instrument is entirely hand-made and features an abalone rosette and elegant satin finish, which is hard to find on ukuleles in this price range. It is a great ukulele for beginners based on its good quality and affordable price.
Pros
- Stay in tune well, even during constant or intense playing
- Excellent string
- Great build quality
- Beautiful tone and physical appearance
Pros
- The shape of its neck might be a little bit of a nuisance
- The string action is high
- The general tone is mellow to the point of being dull
- There is a bad dead spot (E note, 4th fret on the C string when tuned to pitch), which is a dull thud instead of a chiming note
Ranch Concert Ukulele 23 inch Professional
This company is renowned among ukulele players for the quality of their instruments as well as the quality of the materials used in its construction. They are so confident of its products that they offer a 30-day money back guarantee with no question asked.
The top, sides and bottom of this instrument are made of elegant Sapele wood and boasting of a set of four Aquila strings, this ukulele provides a much richer and fuller sound than its laminate counterparts. It comes bundled with goodies such as polishing cloth, extra strap, extra set of strings, digital tuner along with battery, as well as a carrying bag containing an extra pocket for housing accessories.
For those who are looking for a Concert ukulele for the first time, you should not go by the price of the instrument but by its quality. This model scores high on both fronts. Its frets are accurately seated allowing for ease of play at both ends of the neck and its deep lows and amazing trebles made lots of people surprised.
Pros
- A complete ukulele set
- Smooth finish
- Lots of bundles freebies
- Beautiful treble end
Pros
- Tuning heads are a bit stiff
- Heavier than some other concert models
Oscar Schmidt OU5 Concert Ukulele
Oscar Schmidt is a branch of the Washburn guitar company. They began as the folk instrument wing of Washburn and seem to concentrate on Autoharps more than ukuleles. Oscar Schmidt ukes are likely to be at the cheaper end of the price scale but have a good reputation for quality.
The Oscar Schmidt OU5 is a gorgeous, well-crafted ukulele that will surely provide you with playing enjoyment for years to come. This ukulele features a body made of Hawaiian Koa, the most valuable and sacred of trees from Hawaii. This Oscar Schmidt OU5 concert ukulele also features a beautiful abalone binding and rosette. The 17-fret neck is constructed from strong nyatoh wood and was built to give this uke solid support while you strum. Grover tuners ensure that your ukulele will stay in tune and high-quality strings will keep your ukulele sounding happy. This exquisite ukulele may cost a bit more than other ukes out there, but we assure you that this high-quality investment is worth it for beginners and pro players alike.
Pros
- KOA wood gives it a true ukulele smooth beautiful sound
- The action is set up great all the way up the frets, and maintains the tuning quite well
Pros
- There is some buzzing on the C and E strings
- The body is also really thick
Luna Mahogany Series Tattoo Concert Ukulele
Luna has built a reputation in the ukulele world for their creative designs and high-quality instruments. Their instrument’s laser-etched traditional Hawaiian tattoo design stands out in a crowd, and its sun-soaked tones ensure players will continue to love it long after first sight.
This instrument sports Luna’s signature tattoo design. The design is eye-catching, thanks to the chromatic patterns, shark teeth insets, Hawaiian-inspired adornment, and stunning brown skin. The mahogany body contributes not only to the instrument’s durability but also to a beautiful, resonating sound.
This instrument comes with high-quality Aquila strings, which make it easy to tune. It’s not bulky, and hence comfortable to hold when playing, particularly for beginners. Luna Tattoo Concert Mahogany Ukulele comes as a bundle with accessories like a clip-on tuner and a high-quality, padded gig bag to keep your instrument safe. The tuner is easy to use and functions great.
Pros
- Warm, bright, sound thanks to mahogany construction
- Quality, user-friendly tune
- Padded gig bag for improved safety
Pros
- Has no knobs to attach a strap
Ukulele Concert Size Bundle from Lohanu (LU-C)
Lohanu is a Canada-based company that has developed to become one of the well-known ukulele manufacturers in the music instrument industry. Though the company had its ups and down as witnessed in many cases, they succeeded in bouncing back better and stronger than they were.
The LU-C is gorgeously built, with an arched back, hand-made ABS bindings, a Rosewood fingerboard, chrome die cast tuning gears, Aquila strings – the best strings for ukulele and Sapele/Mahogany shell. The sound elevates it well past cheap ukuleles and nears high-end models. It comes with many accessories that improve your experience and save you money.
Pros
- Arched back for richer sound and volume
- Bundle includes; extra strings, digital tuner, gig bag, and strap which are handy for the beginner
- Reasonably priced
- Tone is balanced across the range
Pros
- Low-quality gig bag which doesn’t protect the instrument completely
- Requires proper setup on arrival for optimum performance
Conclusion – Choose your best concert ukulele
The ukulele world is quite wonderful and if you are interested in music instrument with the expectation of learning easily and being affordable, Concert ukulele is totally one of the best options.
With our list of the top 5 best ukuleles, we can assure that you can’t go wrong way with any of them. All of them are top quality, but each of them is unique and special by their own way and your decision is dependent on your preference. The reviews above may help you to choose which one is the most suitable for you.
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