uke lore that I want to believe ... BUT is it true?

bellgamin

bellgamin

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#1-- you get more projection from matte & satin finishes than from glossy?

#2-- filing down the bridge causes a loss in projection? Ergo, there is a trade off between intonation and projection when it comes to adjusting string height-above-the-fretboard?

#3-- the best uke size for a beginner is a tenor?

#4-- there is NO mid-priced tenor that has a compensated bridge?

#5-- on average, men are better uke players than women?

#6-- (BACKGROUND: "cutting power" is the ability of an un-amped string instrument to be heard by the crowd even when it is played alongside 1 or 2 amped string instruments. My round-back Ovation dreadnaught guitar had amazing cutting power.) For max cutting power with a uke, spruce-topped concerts with high tension strings are the best?

#7-- no one has ever played a uke using a violin bow?
 
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bellgamin said:
#5-- on average, men are better uke players than women?
Click to expand...

I want to use a certain three-letter acronym here that begins with W and ends with F, but I don't know if it's allowed. But what?
 
Where does all of this so called lore come from? I've never heard any of it before. It all sounds like opinion to me.
 
bellgamin said:
#1-- you get more projection from matte & satin finishes than from glossy?

#2-- filing down the bridge causes a loss in projection? Ergo, there is a trade off between intonation and projection when it comes to adjusting string height-above-the-fretboard?

#3-- the best uke size for a beginner is a tenor?

#4-- there is NO mid-priced tenor that has a compensated bridge?

#5-- on average, men are better uke players than women?

#6-- (BACKGROUND: "cutting power" is the ability of an un-amped string instrument to be heard by the crowd even when it is played alongside 1 or 2 amped string instruments. My round-back Ovation dreadnaught guitar had amazing cutting power.) For max cutting power with a uke, spruce-topped concerts with high tension strings are the best?

#7-- no one has ever played a uke using a violin bow?
Click to expand...

Ive heard #1 but from what Ive been reading...it was more back in the day when gloss finishes were very thick. They really have them down now and most are sprayed pretty thin I think and dont effect sound as much as they used to???
 
It's the thickness of the finish, not whether it's gloss, matte, or satin.
 
Thanks! I never noticed those before. In that case,:wtf:, and also :troll:.

ubulele said:
The forum message icons include a "WTF" one, so at the very least that seems condoned by the mods.
Click to expand...
 
OhioBelle said:
:confused:

I sincerely hope you were saying that to be funny.
Click to expand...
Of course! (1) #5 is, of course, an absurdity -- as the 5th item in every list should be. An abundant supply of testosterone might make one's fingers hairier, but it would neither add nor detract from one's playing ability. (2) The sentence ended with "?" -- a question, not an assertion.

As to the WTF -- the "F" is how we all got here. Of course, there are nicer ways of expressing that fact.
 
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#1-- Finish matters. Every serious ukulelist knows this, and that's why we all seal our ukuleles with the blood of newborn seal pups. As an added bonus, it really brings out that koa curl. For best results, use the Hawaiian monk seal.

#2-- Possibly true; it's difficult to tell. I once filed a bridge all the way down past the top of the saddle; I no longer suffered any intonation or projection problems at all! Projection seems to vary directly as action height, which seems inversely proportional to intonation. This is perhaps best illustrated by the following equation:

Action Height = Projection / Intonation

and its derivatives:

Intonation = Projection / Action Height
Projection = Intonation * Action Height

As you can see, when action height is 0, there is no projection, and intonation is undefined.

#3-- The major draw of the ukulele is its small size and pick up and play nature, making the best size for a beginner Alvin Okami's micro ukulele. I smell an untapped market there!

#4-- Totally true. I can't remember ever having to pay a toll to cross an ukulele bridge.

#5-- Categorically false. Consenting male sample size too small to yield a statistically significant mean for comparison.

#6-- Not quite. For cutting power, spruce-topped concerts with high tension strings connected to 4x10^4W PA systems are the best.

#7-- No longer true, if ever; I just tried it. Cannot recommend it enough.
 
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Isn't a little late for April Fools?
 
My take -

#1 - finishes do affect tone - they must do - but it's subjective whether better or worse - this may be of interest - http://www.gotaukulele.com/2017/02/does-finish-on-ukulele-affect-tone.html

#2 Yes - an action that is too low can affec the vibrating space for the string that can kill projection and sustain

#3 - Absolute nonsense - they all have their place. People assume wrongly that scale length creates more space for beginner fingers - it does create a bit more, but not where it counts. Nut width and profile have much more to do with space that matters.

#4 - I'm sure there are

#5 - Nonsense. There are simply more that have made it on the big stage, but there are other things at play here. Look no further than Taimane

#6 - Spruce is certainly bright, but some of the loudest instruments I have ever played have been well made, light, resonanant Koa instruments

#7 - no idea!
 
Bill1 said:
Where does it all come from? And how true is it really?
For Example: everyone who knows anything about ukuleles will know for sure that a hand rubbed oil finish, crafted from oil collected on a moonlit night in summer, is going to sound much more marshmellow than if the oil was collected in winter.
And of course the strings definitely are not loud if the bridge is set in place when the uke is orientated to the magnetic north pole instead of the real north pole. This is why savvy makers always put the bridges in at 12.13AM on the 1/4 moon or 3/4 moon. You never see them touching bridges on the new moon in the daytime.
Tenors are definitely the size uke that beginners should start with in May, but in September they should get a soprano. This is because of the deep dark tones of the May nights compared to September nights.
The biggest rookie misconception is about spruce tops. As the spruce tree grows in the mountains the wood collects the sound of the wind and falling snow and codes it into the wood grain. A mahogany tree only has silly tropical swamp noises coded into the wood grain, so naturally it wont cut through a chilly North American night like wind and snow noises. And everyone knows that koa is made from wattle trees which have volcanic resonance stored in the grain caused by proximity to volcanoes and Pele.
Ukes made in Chinese latitudes have exactly 116.4 carbon atoms and 39.9 hydrogen atoms in the wood structure of the headstock plate. This is why they get Hawaiian sounding names all the time.
Ukulele 101, simple and just plain good old common sense.
Click to expand...

Hysterical. Very well crafted. I enjoyed this.
 
Sounds incorrect except 2, but part 1 and part 2 of that statement are not linked. A higher saddle puts more pull on the top. This can result in a higher volume. You can have a high break angle and good action. Depends on the instrument. So 2 is not really correct either. :(
 
Ziret said:
I want to use a certain three-letter acronym here that begins with W and ends with F, but I don't know if it's allowed. But what?
Click to expand...

Me too....
 
Bill1 said:
Where does it all come from? And how true is it really?
For Example: everyone who knows anything about ukuleles will know for sure that a hand rubbed oil finish, crafted from oil collected on a moonlit night in summer, is going to sound much more marshmellow than if the oil was collected in winter.
And of course the strings definitely are not loud if the bridge is set in place when the uke is orientated to the magnetic north pole instead of the real north pole. This is why savvy makers always put the bridges in at 12.13AM on the 1/4 moon or 3/4 moon. You never see them touching bridges on the new moon in the daytime.
Tenors are definitely the size uke that beginners should start with in May, but in September they should get a soprano. This is because of the deep dark tones of the May nights compared to September nights.
The biggest rookie misconception is about spruce tops. As the spruce tree grows in the mountains the wood collects the sound of the wind and falling snow and codes it into the wood grain. A mahogany tree only has silly tropical swamp noises coded into the wood grain, so naturally it wont cut through a chilly North American night like wind and snow noises. And everyone knows that koa is made from wattle trees which have volcanic resonance stored in the grain caused by proximity to volcanoes and Pele.
Ukes made in Chinese latitudes have exactly 116.4 carbon atoms and 39.9 hydrogen atoms in the wood structure of the headstock plate. This is why they get Hawaiian sounding names all the time.
Ukulele 101, simple and just plain good old common sense.
Click to expand...

I love it!
 
Hahahaha! Good point, Ukecaster! And I'll "second" Baz's observation about Taimane-- not to mention the lady who sometimes plays rhythm guitar behind her-- outstanding!
 
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