Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm making a couple of soprano Ukulele's for my grandkids.
I have some birch that I would like to use for the back and sides.
Would I be asking for trouble if I used spruce for the top?

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

No, but I would go with more Birch tone wise. Also Spruce will need some sort of hard finish to protect it.

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Pat

I'd use birch for the top too. Spruce on a soprano emphasises the high frequencies and can make it very shrill.

There are lots of high quality ukes out there with spruce tops. I'm getting ready to build my granddaughter. A soprano with a spruce top. Birch is good too though.

But if you check them out you'll see that almost all are tenors. I've made spruce topped sopranos and they are definitely shrill.

However, a cigar box shaped soprano likes a spruce top - I think the rectangular shape cuts back the overtones and the spruce restores them.

Light hdwds work for soprano tops e.g. mahog , walnut etc. You can call me or PM me have built about 60 ukes ernie . Good luck. with the project.

I made a soprano entirely of Osage Orange, and mellow is not a word I would use to describe it. It is staccato and very loud. Carries very well when marching in a uke band. It is also a dreadnaught shape - does that make a difference?

Ed

There is nothing wrong with using spruce top for a soprano ukulele. Mellow it with some brown worth strings and you can have a very nice instrument. A soprano is the hardest instrument in the ukulele family to make well.

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Michael F Smith
Goat Rock Ukulele
http://goatrockukulele.com

I've only ever made two soprano uke's so I am no expert but one was all mahogany the other is mahogany with a spruce top and I like that one much better. So there's that anyway

15 years ago, not very many ukulele builders used sitka. But 0ver the years more and more luthiers that build ukus have been getting sitka from Alaska Specialty Woods.. Mostly tenor size though.