Naive Question: why it seems some wood is always laminate not solid top

eighteen

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Hi all,

New to all of this. Been researching for a while, lurking in the UU vaults etc, and have been wondering the following:

Why does it seem that there are many types of "interesting looking" woods that seem to always be laminate?

i.e. This Bucote Kala

Others that I have seen include Zebra, different "spalted" species, the Kala Ziricote etc.

Does this simply have to do with sound? Or is it more (lack of) strength of the wood as a top?

Thanks.
 
There may be different reasons, some of which you already mentioned. The most prevalent reason might be cost: It is cheaper to use just a very thin sheet of a beautiful or well sought after tonewood than a solid piece with a lot of loss from sanding etc. Solid Ziricote is used for custom instruments, but the material alone costs more than one of the Kala laminates.

Another reason may be - as you mentioned - to strengthen a beautiful but unstable type of wood, such as one that contains burl knots or heavy spalting.

Soundwise, many people here agree that a solid instrument will most likely sound "better" than a laminate one. Personally, I'd always look at least for a solid wood top.

There is another reason connected to the subject of sound: The top of a stringed instrument is usually made of soft woods like Cedar or Spruce, or "medium" woods like Koa, Acacia or Mahogany. Most of the beautifully figured species, on the other hand, are hardwoods like Ebony or Rosewood (Ziricote belongs to that family, I think). These hard and therefore dense and heavy woods are more likely to be used for backs and sides, but rarely for tops. With laminates, the specific qualities (weight, density) of a species of wood don't matter that much, and this is why you often see them on laminate instruments. Basically, they are supposed to look attractive.
 
I think it is mainly down to cost/pricing. :)

A lot of people buy on the looks of something, the various laminate wood patterns mainly cater to these people, at a reasonable price point.
 
Not to mention that laminate trees are ubiquitous. :rolleyes:
 
In addition, if you have smaller diameter trees, from which you cannot cut a sizable plank for instrument building, you may be easily able to peel a sheet of veneer to do multiple instruments.
 
First thing to remember here is not to generalize about laminates. It's a process that dates back in guitars to the Romantic era and involved extra labour, making them more expensive. To this day there are still independent luthiers who laminate, and in those situations it is again more expensive. In other words, there are different reasons for doing it; sometimes to produce better sound in the overall design concept of the instrument, other times as Johnson said "show and go". And there is a lot of in between as well.

But for whatever reason it's done, once you've decided it meets your design criteria, then there's no reason not to use figure or species for the outer skin that would be risky in terms of stability in a solid timber. One qualifier there: the inner skin of a back will usually have greater effect on the sound of that board; the outer skin of a soundboard has the most effect there. Still, it's the total make-up of a veneer board that determines its sound, so it's possible for even a figured veneer soundboard to not be bad.

But to the OPs original question; the two species he listed are both relatively unstable. Ziricote is like a bad rosewood in it's tendency to split, but Bocote (a close relative) is even worse because of similar overall properties with the addition of the wild somewhat deep grain. Ziricote in particular is not so bad that it can't be used in a solid timber guitar or Ukulele, but solid Bocote is very rare. Few builders are willing to take the risk.
 
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Price. Lower end ukes usually come laminated with some solid tops thrown in. Once you get to a certain price point, you get the solid tops and solid body ukes, then after that price point you make your way to the ukes that are all solid.
 
One thing that I hope that doesn't get lost is the actual quality of the build and process of the laminate production are equal on all Ukes builds. Also alternative materials now showing up in various brands that provide a wonderful tone and sound such as Blackbird's "Ekoa" fiber-based composite, for example, that undeniably sounds spectacular from the sound files and videos I've listened to resulting from the combination their overall quality build process.

Aside from the laminated back and side Ukes with solid wood tops, I felt the best sounding all-laminate Uke I have ever played to date has been Martin's HPL OXK Ukulele. Most others I have tried from many of the popular higher production brands just seem to be missing that punchy response and defined tone.

But that view could change if or when I get to personally try a new Blackbird Uke constructed from their Ekoa composition - something I would very much like to do sooner than later. Since hearing one for the first time along with the steady amount of growing praise of the Blackbird brand, it has been a lineup I have had my eye on. Yes, the cost runs into the Solid wood field of offerings, but I look at these alternative material builds in terms of other alternative solutions that are proving successful choices to the mainstream such as what Tesla is doing in the automotive realm. While I love my traditional tone wood Ukuleles, I am actually excited to try these well thought out alternatives not just for sustainability, but the explorationand development of achieving a great result with different materials.
 
Solid wood isn't a guarantee for a good sound or good build quality. I'd take a laminated Kiwaya/Famous (which costs more than plenty of solid wood ukes) over most solid wood production ukes in the up-to $1000 price category. Laminate doesn't automatically mean cheap or lower quality. Kala might. ;) (I know they have an Elite series, my tongue is firmly in my cheek.)
 
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