most stable wood choice?

igorthebarbarian

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I'm thinking of getting a solid soprano or concert/pineapple and was wondering if there is a certain solid wood that would be considered "more stable"?

I live in Arizona and it's hot/dry for most of the year (95 degrees in March - yikes!)

Is mahogany more stable than say, acacia, or mango, or cedar, or spruce, etc?

I try to humidify with a Oasis blue humidifier weekly, but I may forget and miss a week.

It probably varies by maker too, but just in general, are any of the woods more stable?
 
Yes I too wondered about the Blackbird Clara. That is the one I'll be looking at when the time comes!
 
My KA-SEM is very stable.
 
mahogany is a very stable wood. it also varies manufacturer to manufacturer as some makes are not prone to cracking. some people take minimal care of their ukes and get away with it.
 
If you live in the desert, you are really going to need to spend a little effort keeping a solid wood instrument humidified.
 
You should buy the ukulele wood you like and humidify it properly. I use the Humistat in my ukulele case. It's very easy to use. http://www.humistat.com You can find it on Ebay or in a music store. I like this humidifier much better than the ones that go in the holes of the ukulele. It does not leak. You could put two of them in your case and I would think that would be plenty. You may be able to get away with one. Buy a cheap digital hygrometer for measuring the humidity in the case.

Do not buy the analog hygrometers. The digital ones are easier to read and supposedly more accurate.
 
I figured Blackbird would come up and maybe a Clara would be theeee one to quench my UAS; they look amazing.
Or maybe a Kiwaya laminate which is closer to my price range

I do try to water the solid's Oasis tubes weekly (like they're flowers!)
I had a Mainland mahogany 2nd from Mike, which was great, and never had any issues with that so it's funny that Chuck in NY said mahogany.

Also I should have asked earlier but would my new Risa stick need humidifying?
 
Yes I too wondered about the Blackbird Clara. That is the one I'll be looking at when the time comes!

Yeah, that's what I'm gettin' too, when I can play better. I think I prefer the Blackbird (tenor) though.

I've given up on wood. From now on it's steel, carbon fibre or plastic for me. We're going to a music store today to look at Fleas (Flukes?), and I think I'm gonna buy a concert Flea.

And for what it's worth, if I ever lived in Arizona (again-Williams AFB), I'd never buy an expensive, solid wood Uke.

Sometimes it's so dry there one can't even spit. Nice and cool in the shade though (Ha?). :eek:ld:
 
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I live in New Mexico and have a thin laminate Kiwaya. It has not cracked but the top has dished pretty significantly. I don't mind it except that the resulting poor intonation makes a joke of the compensated saddle. Nice sounding uke but as time goes on it sounds less like real wood to me - either because my ear is getting used to the sound of it or I've developed some expectational bias.

I would like to get a Kiwaya KTS-4 sometime but fear that because the mahogany is so thin and light it may be more susceptible to damage from the aridity.
 
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Yeah, that's what I'm gettin' too, when I can play better. I think I prefer the Blackbird (tenor) though.

I've given up on wood. From now on it's steel, carbon fibre or plastic for me. We're going to a music store today to look at Fleas (Flukes?), and I think I'm gonna buy a concert Flea.

And for what it's worth, if I ever lived in Arizona (again-Williams AFB), I'd never buy an expensive, solid wood Uke.

Sometimes it's so dry there one can't even spit. Nice and cool in the shade though (Ha?). :eek:ld:
Dick, you have stated a number of times recently that you are going to stay away from solid wood from now on. What got you thinking that way? Did you have a problem with a solid wood uke, or is it just that you are tired of the maintenance?
 
Hi, Rollie, it's the maintence and the worry about it. No, I haven't had any trouble, but some folks on the forum have--even when they hydrated. I guess the stories (and pics) of cracked tops and fretboards and of sagging tops and of twisted necks scared me. I'm a bit thrifty, and, when I buy something, I like it to last 'til I'm though with it.

I'm kinda perfectionisic too, and I tend to go overboard with caring for stuff. When I was still an Archer, I usta get complements on the good shape my old equipment was in, and I spent a lot of time on it and on our bikes too. Anyway, after reading about the trouble that some Ukers were going through with hydrating and worrying about it, I decided to refrain from troubling myself about humidity. I do have an old hygrometer, but I don't know how accurate it is. I don't hydrate at all, but most of my Ukes are plywood or part plywood. If they don't crack too bad, I'll just keep on keeping on.

An ounce of prevention is sometimes a pain in the neck! :eek:ld:
 
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Dick, you have stated a number of times recently that you are going to stay away from solid wood from now on. What got you thinking that way? Did you have a problem with a solid wood uke, or is it just that you are tired of the maintenance?



He's a contrarian by nature.
 
He's a contrarian by nature.

Is it contrarianism to speak one's opinion? Or is buying and praising what everyone else buys better? That is conforming, and I have always tried to march to my own drummer. If one knows what he/she feels about something on his/her own, then most of time he/she will be on the correct path for him/her self.

I've read a lot about humidiy and wooden Ukes (even plywood Ukes), and I've come to the conclusion that I don't wanna bother with 'em. Did you read Nickies post?

Am I being contrary or careful or wise? If none of my Banjoleles or plywood Ukes crack or twist I'll be content. :eek:ld:
 
Concert scale, can't go wrong with a Blackbird Clara, very stable.

You can ask them to set the scale length to soprano. They've done it before.
 
Risa probably would recommend it, but I doubt your Uke Solid really needs humidification. At least, you won't need to worry about it. The troublesome properties of ukuleles don't exist with the Uke Solid.
 
Is it contrarianism to speak one's opinion? Or is buying and praising what everyone else buys better? That is conforming, and I have always tried to march to my own drummer. If one knows what he/she feels about something on his/her own, then most of time he/she will be on the correct path for him/her self.

I've read a lot about humidiy and wooden Ukes (even plywood Ukes), and I've come to the conclusion that I don't wanna bother with 'em. Did you read Nickies post?

Am I being contrary or careful or wise? If none of my Banjoleles or plywood Ukes crack or twist I'll be content. :eek:ld:

If you don't want to bother with humidifiying ukes, I don't see why anyone else should care. Personally, I don't mind it; I find taking care of my ukes easier than taking care of my clarinets/saxophone. Some UUers want to keep their ukes out of their cases so they'll play them more, and I find that interesting. When you play clarinet, it always takes time to pull out the case, get the reed wet, put the thing together, etc., so pulling a uke out of a case and spending a minute to tune it up is a relative breeze. No soundhole pads to fall off, no tiny screws to tighten, no swabbing out the condensation. Easy peasy. But that's just me, not everyone else.

I do find the question of "which wood is more stable" a very good one. I think it is not only the type of wood that has an effect, but whether it has figure in it, like curly koa vs. straight grained spruce.
 
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