Cold Weather 'Uke

Peterjens

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Aloha, OR
I as well as many of you are witnessing the polar plunge this week. When I wake up the house is at 55F. I am retired and i don't turn up the heat until my DW comes home from work. What I have noticed is my mahogany, koa, and macadamia 'ukes need retuning during the transition but my '50s Maccaferri is ready to play whatever the temperature. Styron :cool:
 
Gotta be the change in both the temp and the humidity!!
 
I am in Iowa right now. I woke up this morning and it was eight degrees. Yesterday I was clearing snow from my driveway and sidewalk. It seems like my furnace is running all the time. I do have a humidifier attached to my furnace, but I don't know how accurate the dial is on it. I have it set at 45, so who knows. I suppose that if I weren't so lazy I would go to the store and get something to measure the actual humidity. My one and only is a laminate, so I'm not too worried about it, but I think about it. New year's eve we head South for the winter, and humidity is never a problem in PR.
 
I would like to have something that I can take in the car to play during car line, especially when the weather is cold. It is a little worrying to carry it to the car, get it out and notice how quickly it has fallen out of tune. It can't be good for it, even going from the front door to the van and back.
 
My Pono Acacia Concert seems sensitive to relatively small changes in temperature: I arrive at rehearsal or a gig from outside and tune up, and within about 10 minutes of playing it indoors it's too sharp and I have to tune it again. I'm in the UK, where it's damp pretty much everywhere and we don't have air conditioning, so I'm guessing it's a change in temperature not humidity..? It doesn't happen with my Pono Mango, Kala Acacia or my Anuenue Khaya Mahogany... :confused:

btw it also happened during the summer when I went outdoors and played in the sunshine (it was hotter outside and it went sharp within a few minutes). Is it the wood, the strings, or something else? (just curious really).
 
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