Use of the word balanced..

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kerneltime

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I have seen this come across many times in conversations/reviews/videos that a ukulele is balanced.
I am not referring to the balance between the head stock vs body.
This is the tonality/sound of it.
For strings one balance is the tension on the strings and response to a pluck of equal strength...
What else do people refer to when they use that work in the context of a ukulele?
 
No expert here, but I've run across ukes which had boomy strings, usually the C; this can sometimes be remedied by a string change, but sometimes not. Also ran into a seller, who had a shop selling acoustic instruments. His method of picking out good ukes was to listen to the volume of the A string, and also a D chord. He said that if both those were loud and strong, it was a usually a uke he thought was better than most. Me, I like balanced volume across all strings, with no boomy or wimpy ones, but agree with him that a strong A string is nice to have.
 
I always equate balance with tone. The instrument is balanced in tone from string to string, not boomy, not bass biased our treble biased. It has a nice balanced sound, that is what I look for.
 
The only time I talk about balance is for a uke with a piezo under saddle pickup and the amplified volume of each string. I've had ukes where the volume is higher from one or two strings compared to the other strings, which meant to me that the pickup is not sitting flat in the bridge, or is damaged to the point where it needs to be replaced.

8 tenor cutaway ukes, 3 acoustic bass ukes, 8 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. http://www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: https://www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos
 
I think of ukes being in balance when they complement my collection. Right now, I have 3 decent sopranos, 3 decent tenors, 2 decent concerts and another will soon be on its way... but only one baritone. So, I need two more baritones as the one I have is not well-balanced. :rolleyes:
 
DownUpDave said:
I always equate balance with tone. The instrument is balanced in tone from string to string, not boomy, not bass biased our treble biased. It has a nice balanced sound, that is what I look for.
Click to expand...

^ This. When I use "balanced" it is most often like that.
 
Ukecaster said:
No expert here, but I've run across ukes which had boomy strings, usually the C; this can sometimes be remedied by a string change, but sometimes not. Also ran into a seller, who had a shop selling acoustic instruments. His method of picking out good ukes was to listen to the volume of the A string, and also a D chord. He said that if both those were loud and strong, it was a usually a uke he thought was better than most. Me, I like balanced volume across all strings, with no boomy or wimpy ones, but agree with him that a strong A string is nice to have.
Click to expand...

You are so right about the C string. Another good test is to play a chord with an open C string (C, Am, F) and then fretted (D, G, Em). A balance issue might result in a booming open C, balanced fretted 2nd, and sometimes thudded fretted 4th. For me this is the ultimate C string conundrum.

John
 
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