Are solid okoume Kmise ukes really solid?

Greetings all,

thanks so much for all the wisdom you've shared.

About the uke in question, I must say I'm still not sure whether solid or laminate. Looking through one side of the sound hole it looks rather solid (see picture 1), but then looking on the other side it looks very laminate (picture 3).

In the meantime it's getting some playing time. I must say that the seller did reply to my "complaint" and offered a partial refund.

I'm considering removing the strings and sand the edges of the hole to get a definite conclusion. I'll post it here when I do it.

Again, thanks for all the comments.

Eugenio

Good day Eugenio,
Sorry for my first side tracked comment/intro, I was just so excited to be here

I intend to order the uke in queation as it appears I have the same feelings towards the solid okoume ukulele from Kmise as you do, so I contacted the seller thru amazon.ca and got the following specs from them...


Specification of MI2066-KUS:
Color:Tiger Flame
Style: Classical Guitar Head Ukulele
Top Material: Solid Okoume
Back & Side : Okoume
Binding: Mahogany
Finger Board: Rosewood
Size: Concert 23 Inch
Neck: Okoume
Bridge:Rosewood
Frets: 18
Frets Wire: Cupronickel
Nut & Saddle: Real Bone
Machine Head: Chrome and Open Style
String:Aquila Made in Italy
Soundhole Rosette: Zebra
Package Include: 1 x Classical Guitar Style Concert Ukulele

Not sure if that helps since it looks pretty close to what I had already found online from several sources but I'll follow up when mine arrives with pics if I can... if mine comes and isn't as advertised then it's a free return for me and now that I have it documented through Amazon it would make zero business sense for them to send false information... My heart told me it was solid and after the hours I've put into searching for the truth online my mind now concurs, God willing the world isn't full of cheats and liars who's only love revolves around money, my hope is you truly have found a solid wood, heirloom instrument that not too long ago would have been considered a treasure in the right hands and not an internet bargain

Hello,

I don't want to bring fuel to the fire; just to share my own experience — bearing in mind that as a guitarist/lutenist I'm not an expert in all things ukes.
Actually, I have two Kmise ukes, one solid mahogany tenor and one solid spruce concert. After reading this thread, I carefully checked the edge of the soundhole on both of them and I'm 100% positive the tops are indeed solid ones.
The spruce concert is gaining in volume and sustain from day to day (I play it since Three months now), which to me is typical of a solid top. A laminate instrument sounds good or bad right outside the box, but doesn't show this "sonic curve" like a solid top, which often sounds thin out of the box and then gradually "open" with days, weeks and months of playing...

Just my 2 cents,
Gilles

I purchased one of their banjoleles for a friend. It came single boxed and there was a small hole in the box that followed through to the drum. I contacted the ebay seller and he sent me a new head and a gig bag for my trouble. the seller was purestore168. I would not hesitate buying from him again. your mileage may vary, but he/she was very responsive and tried hard to make it right.

There's a simple procedure for determining if a top is solid or laminate. Pick up and inspection mirror (cheap). Stick it in the sound hole and use a good flashlight. If the interior grain (underside of the top) matches the grain on the outside top it's very likely solid.

I have an early version of the Kala pocket uke sold as solid spalted maple yet... it has what they describe as a veneer... made of spruce, strangely on the inside.

*shrugs*

Thanks Rob Edney ,
yes the back is quite easy to see and distinguish, I never thought of that for the soundboard, it's a good suggestion, I usually simply observe the soundhole edge personally, but your idea is good
I've used the method of observation to determine the back/sides on my models are solid, with the soundboard mine are clearly solid by observing the soundhole edge, but I like the additional method of observation you've mentioned also.

Hi Inksplosive Al,
I have a Mojo Mahogany Solid Top , laminate back/sides, the inside of the back is lined with Spruce, obviously something going on there, i think it's good the thought has gone into it and they haven't used just any old cheap laminate but designed it for some acoustic purpose, I love my Mahogany Solid Top Mojo Uke btw it's lovely to play as it is
its interesting though because I had wondered if anyone else has a uke with a spruce lining on their inside laminate ..
The Mojo I have is an older model too, I looked at them in a music shop back around 2011, compared it with a Kala actually, the Mojo took my preference easily, although the Kalas were OK they didn't win me over, the other one I really liked was a Pono but it was a bit beyond my price range otherwise I would probably have chosen that. Anyway I saw some Mojo Ukes for sale online this year so decided to get one before I lose any future opportunity, although I purchased mine from a store it's in Eastern States about 4000 kms from where I'm at , so I ordered it. I think if I still wanted a particular uke after five years + then I must really like it, turns out I do. I haven't seen those in shops for the last couple of years, so really wanted one this time.
I also got one of their cheaper laminate models (soprano) but to be honest I can't say I love it, although i don't want to get rid of it either, I've domes one work on it though, but the Solid Top model with the spruce lined back is great for me, big deep body styling and lightweight and plays great in my opinion. The body on my other Mahogany Tenor (all solid) is significantly smaller actually and in comparison is only slightly larger than the bodies on my concert Ukes.
Thanks for sharing ...


Happy Ukeing

I have this uke and it is a solid top, on mine anyway. The little grain spots go all the way through, on top for sure and peering inside, at the sides and back I can see little specks and lines of grain that line up perfectly with similar spots on the outside. I am not sure I expressed that clearly! But i am sure it’s solid . . .

Hi All,

I found description for Okoume wood at http://tonewooddatasource.weebly.com/wood-details-n-q.html
- I trust this site.

So it says: "it does not resist impact well" and "it does not like steam bending". I am sure you can google "okoume" and find similar luthier's reviews for this wood.

I googled "okoume veneer" and found exceptionally beautiful pieces of art.

I believe Kmise MI2066 has top-solid Okoume as per manufacturer specs, but back and sides may or may not be veneer or solid; depends on wood availability; if solid Okoume is freely available and cheaper than veneer then it would be wrong to use veneer instead. Forgot to google again: if Kala can make all solid Okoume Ukulele KA-SMLTE-C, then for sure it is "doable": https://www.theukulelesite.com/ka-smlte-c-solid-okoume-tenor-slothead-electric.html

My question to luthiers: if veneer is stronger and lighter and thinner than solid wood, then why to use bracing? Why not to avoid / to redesign bracing so that veneer Ukulele sounds amazingly unique and wonderful, and Ukulele itself is much lighter than solid-wood ukulele of same size/wood?

I've had the Okoume Kmise for about a week now and it's a pretty good Ukulele for 70 bux.

Low action like my Concert Flea. Sounds just as good! I tried a low-g on it and it sounds weird...... switched it back to high-g.

Kmise thin body zebra wood tenor

Schotro said:

Oh, the Kmise I ordered is the thin body laminated zebra wood tenor, i also ordered a set of low G strings for it

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So what do you think of your Kmise thin body laminated zebra wood tenor?

I got my Kmise Solid Spruce top ukulele from this eBay seller

The sound is amazing, but I really wanted to check if the Uke has a solid Spruce top as the ad claims. First on the cut in the front it looks like solid wood with no layers and holding a close up mirror through the whole shows the same wood like on the top. Tapping on the wood creates a vibration like it is a solid one and I don't think there is any reason to doubt that. Sides and bottom are laminated and don't know how to check the quality of that. Been using from 3 weeks, holds the tunes pretty well (verifying with my phone time to time). It is surprising that people believe a solid top or even all solid Uke needs to be expensive, because a $50 is already a lot of money in a developing country. All they use is a machine cut very think sheet of wood (with a 2ft bark you can extract 100s of thin sheets).

All the Kmise variants that I have seen on Amazon have nut/saddle of bone. There are no longer any pianos made that use ivory. In 2018 we should be well capable of doing a lot better than this.

Graham Greenbag said:

To my eyes it doesn’t look like a single piece of wood (what we would call solid wood) and it does look like laminate. I’m not an expert so could easily be wrong, but if that was sold in a U.K. shop I don’t believe it could legally be described as solid - the rules in other countries and ‘internet land’ differ.

I always take the view that if something is ‘too good to be true’ it’s because it isn’t true; I also take the view that, loss leaders aside, you don’t get what you don’t pay for. For the price what should anyone expect? In this case too we potentially have variations in what the same words mean to different people who’s ‘mother tongue’ is different, etc.

Are the Chinese unethical and aggressive in their marketing? I really wouldn’t say so (no one has) as that would be too sweeping a statement but without respect to country of origin some companies certainly are, I try to be aware of them and buy from someone else when possible.

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I had a close look and to be honest it's hard to say one way or another. What you see as three layers could simply be how it's been cut and lacquered. I know that oukume is very cheap wood so it probably does not cost much to make it even if the piece is solid. The only way to tell is to hold it and do a closer inspection.

My gut says its a solid piece. But if it is then we need to be careful using it because it would dent very easily. It apparently is quite soft.

I guess the only way to tell is to buy one. It's not very expensive for what is an attractive instrument.

I appreciate your feeling and the thought of using ivory disgusts me too. But no one is killing cows to make nuts and saddles, or anything else out of bone, and cows are in no danger of extinction. I too will be happy if and when we're all vegan, and I think it's probably a necessary step for the survival of the planet, but ivory and bone are not equivalent. I may have misconstrued your point, and I apologise if so.

Orton Pearson said:

All the Kmise variants that I have seen on Amazon have nut/saddle of bone. There are no longer any pianos made that use ivory. In 2018 we should be well capable of doing a lot better than this.

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