agh! gloss or matte??

uke142464

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so, for my birthday, my parents decided that it would be appropriate for me to get a mainland mahogany soprano ukulele! I'm very excited, but need help with some decisions. First, gloss or matte finish? I have no clue, I love the way the old martin soprano's look with the matte finish (a vintage kind of vibe), but I also love reflective gloss finish and I think it would fit with the fancy rope binding. Second, gold or silver tuners (im getting friction) and with mop or amber? thanks in advance guys!:D mahalo
 
First off...congratulations and happy birthday! I like where you're going with the vintage vibe. I would go with the gold tuners with amber buttons (just me). I have a Mainland mahogany concert in gloss, and I love it. It's a hard call, though, whether I would go with gloss or satin on a soprano. Glad I could be of no help. ;)
 
First off...congratulations and happy birthday! I like where you're going with the vintage vibe. I would go with the gold tuners with amber buttons (just me). I have a Mainland mahogany concert in gloss, and I love it. It's a hard call, though, whether I would go with gloss or satin on a soprano. Glad I could be of no help. ;)

haha, I appreciate the response anyways :D
 
Both are good, both have some drawbacks. Gloss might show scratches more. Satin could eventually get shiny spots as your hand rubs on it from playing.

I like satin with mahogany, but that's just me. Gold and Amber sound like a perfect choice for tuners.
 
depends... shiny or not shiny.. it's up to you. Gloss is shiny, Matte.. not so shiny. Friction tuners... bleh :D I prefer geared. It's your ukulele mate, don't let us decides, that is what makes your ukulele special, you decide how you want it to look.:cool:

:shaka:have fun.
 
looks like Ill be putting an order in for a classic mahogany soprano with a matte finish with gold friction tuners and amber buttons!:D sooo excited, and if you have opinions, keep posting them, cause this is just what im at right now, can change.
 
The great thing about the matte finish is that you won't be as uptight as you would be with gloss. You'll be more relaxed about playing it, about where you take it - etc. Which you should be.

As Chuck Moore says: "don't fret about it, play it.". And you'll fret/stress less with the matte.
 
i currently have ohana mahogony gloss and a friend has matte. i prefer the feel of the gloss. its all preference though. enjoy your uke!
 
My opinion? Get the one you want. Not what anyone else wants. I can't believe I'm about to say this, but -- UAS will kick in anyway and then you can get the other style.:D Hope this helps.
 
That Martin vibe is definitely a matte thing. And with the rope binding a Nunes thing too.

That said, I love the way a gloss finish shows the wood grain. And, it might just be my imagination, but the gloss seems like it is a tougher finish. I find the gloss finish a little happier, which suits the uke. The matte seems more serious.

Just more fuel for the confusion! Happy Birthday, and enjoy your new uke!

–Lori
 
I have both a gloss and a matte uke.

The gloss one shows fingerprints - I'm wiping it down frequently. But I really like the shiny happy appearance of gloss and the way it allows the wood grain to show through.

But the matte one shows nicks more than the gloss one, which seems to have a tougher finish. The up side is that the matte one is more natural and traditional in appearance.

Sorry I'm not more help...if forced to pick, I guess I choose the matte. The gloss is prettier, but the fingerprints bug me.
 
The gloss one shows fingerprints - I'm wiping it down frequently. But I really like the shiny happy appearance of gloss and the way it allows the wood grain to show through.
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The gloss is prettier, but the fingerprints bug me.

I agonized for a week before ordering and ultimately went with the gloss because it brings the grain out.

I solve the fingerprint problem with Plexus. My wife used to laugh when I took brand new things that were plastic or had plastic-based finishes out to the garage for a spray and wipedown with it. Then we got a gloss-black netbook, which she noticed took on fingerprints very easily. Post-Plexus, it gets maybe 10% of the fingerprints it did before, and they wipe off easily with a microfiber cloth. My gloss Mainland is behaving pretty much the same way, and it's seen lots of playing and handling.

--Mark
 
I find the gloss finish a little happier, which suits the uke. The matte seems more serious.
–Lori

Funny, the difference in views from a player and a builder.

If I were spraying a satin finish, it would be so easy, simply because I wouldn't bother pore filling, and have that "natural" texture come through (pores and all). Fortunately, I have a good gun, so finish sanding would be almost non-existent, as would taking the instrument across the buffing wheels. About the only thing necessary would be level sanding between coats, and not a whole lot of coats at that.

Spraying a good gloss finish takes time, and effort. I would skip a few steps doing satin finishes, but I find that I have to redo a gloss finish more often than not. In this case, redo usually means spraying another coat (not doing the whole thing over).

I know a builder that charges $400 (not sure what it is now) for a high gloss finish.

Personally, as a builder, I would prefer doing a satin finishes. Simply because its easier, and from a woodworker's perspective, shows the natural tone of the wood more. Gloss finishes are like looking at wood through a piece of glass - while there's no distortion per se, reflections may alter the view of the wood. Of course, this matters more when you use really nice wood.

Actually, as a builder, I do gloss finishes. Oddly enough, on really nice wood.

Just adding in a different perspective.

-Aaron
 
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If you go with matte/satin and then decide you'd prefer gloss you can always polish it to a kind of antique medium gloss. I have done that to my Kala ASMT mahogany tenor. The back and ribs are still matte, but I decided I'd like the top to shine so I got out the T-Cut and buffed it up. Looks great.

Converting gloss to matte would be more difficult. :D
 
One of the interesting things about publishing a magazine about ukuleles is that I see a lot of them and get to play with them all the time. When I photograph ukes for the magazine, I find it much easier to do with matte-finished instruments.

When I used to shoot a lot of photographs of rock and roll bands years ago, I was always amazed at how bad the guitars looked due to all of the fingerprints.

Guitarists and ukulele players don't see the way their instruments look when they are on stage, but the lights show every smudge and blemish. When I shoot, in the post-process, I remove a lot of smudges and fingerprints with a clone-tool or similar device and that editing process takes time.

Matte finishes look so much nicer under stage lights. There are no strange reflections, no fingerprints, no smudges, and the color shows up much better. The wood-grain is much clearer.
 
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