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My first ukulele is a soprano. What height should I shoot for above the 12th fret?

3 mm, with enough saddle to take it down to 2.5 mm.

Roughly speaking, on a soprano 3 mm suits strummers, 2.5 mm is for those who like to fingerpick as well. 2mm is for really flashy fingerpickers, but is hard to achieve without buzz and I wouldn't try it on a first build.

By the way, the plan I have uses a string spacing of 9/16", which is way more than classicals. Is that OK?

9/16 reads like a misprint, wherever you're measuring it.

I use 9mm at the nut, 13mm at the saddle, which is close to "standard" (i.e. what Martin used in the 20s, though I'm sure they measured in inches).

That's roughly 11/32 at the nut, 1/2 at the saddle. Though 9/16 at the saddle could work if you like such a wide spacing, I guess.

Do what I did - find a soprano you like the feel of and copy its spacing.

Yep....9/16" is weird. I use a 3/8" spacing at the nut. Check these free plans for dimensions.... http://www.grellier.fr/plans/Soprano_uk ... ele_en.pdf

I shoot for 0.09" action at the 12th fret. Some like higher action though. I'm a light strummer so I like lower action

I was referring to measurement at the bridge. So, it's 14 mm plus a bit.

I find that too wide for comfort. Like I said, worth finding a soprano you like the feel of and measuring its string spacing.

3/8 nut, 9/16 bridge, 2 - 2 1/2mm@12th. Pretty standard.

Although It's usually referenced as 1&3/8" nut (with strings about 3mm in fron the edges) and 1&3/4" string spacing at bridge.

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Pat