diffrence in woods

drubin said:

IMHO, it has as much--if not more--to do with the builder of the uke as with the woods. Much depends upon the following:

a) solid wood vs. laminate
b) mass-produced, production model, or single luither custom job
c) setup (nut, saddle, string width, height, and action, et cetera)

Most seem to agree that the soundboard (top) has the greatest effect on sound. Not just what type of wood, but how it is braced as well.

That said, general opinion holds that a solid spruce top will generally bring out the brightness of the soundbox. A cedar or redwood top, by contrast, tends to be warmer and bring out more midrange and lower frequencies.

For back and sides, mahogany and koa are traditional woods for ukulele luithery. I've heard great ukes made with both. Depending upon the luither, they can both make great soundboards too. Maple tends to be a brighter sounding wood. Then there's walnut, sycamore, rosewood, myrtle, acacia, mango, and a host of others I've read good things about. All different, but all capable (in the right hands) of making a great uke. Most can be "googled." Might be a good idea to do a few searches on woods on FMM and you'll find much. Try "tone woods," "spruce," "koa," and "mahogany" for starters.

As always, YMMV.

My best advice would be, if you're thinking about a custom, 'tis best to talk with the luither and get her or his perspective on the sound qualities of various woods.

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Phil Major said:

Call me an internet amateur, but what does "YMMV" Mean? I see it and I wonder... and then I wonder if others wonder, and so on...

Thanks

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• Birch
  
  Laminated Birch consists of 1/32" layers of Birch wood which is bonded with epoxy under high pressure into a composite material. This material is remarkably tough and strong for its weight. It is denser than Birch, but not excessively heavy. It is extremely stiff, and it's composite nature tends to even out its frequency response, alleviating "dead spots" inherent in single-piece necks. It is dark gray and in color, with alternating dark and light layers.
  
  
• Blackwood; African (Grenadillo)
  
  This is the most common wood for the orchestral woodwinds. The tonal quality is bright and stays clear and direct over the flute's full range. Black with a marble like figure of dark purple and charcoal gray.
  
  
• Bubinga
  
  A very stiff strong wood with a rusty brown color. Bright midrange and bass tones. Color is medium red-brown, with lighter red to purple veins. The grain is typically straight. Fine pores are diffused throughout the wood, which often contain a reddish gum. Turns well. Salmon pink with streaks of brown.
  
  
• Cedar; Alaskan (Cedar; Yellow)
  
  An even sulfur color with no distinctive pattern. For a soft wood, Yellow Cedar is quite heavy with a density about the same as Cherry. A very stable wood and it holds it shape with no shrinkage. A durable wood resistant to decay.
  
  Many companies use Cedar or some type of redwood specifically for finger style instruments as it responds quickly and with good volume to a light attack. It is also very well suited to open or lowered tension tunings as they require the same qualities for good separation and definition. Cedar does lose tonal integrity when over driven, making it a poor choice for versatility but an excellent top wood for showcasing finger styles.
  
  
• Cedar; Aromatic
  
  Guitar tops of Red Cedar are the Best Buy today. Material is very fine with good prices in the market. The color is light reddish brown, purplish or rose-red, usually with streaks of lighter colored sapwood. Grain is fine and even and texture is usually fine and takes a high polish.
  
  
• Cedar; Spanish
  
  Spanish Cedar is the Cedrela species from the Family Meliaceae (same family as Honduran Mahogany). Heartwood pinkish- to reddish brown when freshly cut, becoming red or dark reddish brown, sometimes with a purplish tinge. It is used in musical instruments for nylon string classical and flamenco guitars, because while similar in appearance, strength and workability to Mahogany, it is considerably lighter.
  
  
• Kingwood
  
  There are roughly a dozen species of true rose woods in the world. (Yes, they smell like roses when cut with a saw.) A partial list would include Tulip wood, King wood, Cocobolo, East Indian Rose wood, and Brazilian Rose wood. With the exception of the latter, these are oily to the point of being dead in the tone department. So what is the point in coveting these materials when there are sonic superiors available? The problem is that in the public mind, rose wood is cool, so it has long been over harvested. Because of this Brazilian Rose wood has been banned from importation to the United States for over twenty five years.
  
  
• Koa
  
  Koa is a gorgeous wood with well defined curly and flamed grain patterns as found in instrument quality Maple. The good Curly Koa is very hard to get. This very beautiful wood comes exclusively from Hawaii and has been in short supply. Weight varies somewhat from medium to heavy, a good wood for basses. Koa has a warm sound similar to mahogany, but with a little more brightness. It falls in the middle of the tonal spectrum, giving the instrument a brightness of tone without sacrificing warmth.
  
  
• Mahogany
  
  Mahogany is a moderately dense and very durable wood. It is commonly used for the backs, sides and necks of acoustic guitars. Because it is very sonorous and durable, mahogany is also used in banjos, resonators, ukuleles and acoustic guitar soundboards. It is lighter than maple and specifically provides acoustic guitars with great sustain. Mahogany also provides great weight balance between the neck and the body of an acoustic. It is reddish-brown in color and is incredibly strong and resonant, giving the guitar big, beautiful tones. African and Spanish mahoganies are often used as a replacement for Honduran Mahogany.
  
  
• Mahogany; Honduran
  
  Fender uses the Honduran variety on their set-neck series. It provides a moderate to heavy weight (body weight at least 5 lb.) with a warm, full sound and good sustain; used in conjunction with a maple top to add brightness. Honduran Mahogany is a favorite choice of instrument builders, but is very hard to find.
  
  
• Maple
  
  Maple is a strong and extremely dense, heavy wood. It is excellent for guitar necks and bodies because it can handle an inordinate amount of string tension. Maple has a bright and crisp tone and is used on flamenco guitars as well as some electrics. It has a wide variety of exotic grains that show up quite well when finished. Flamed maple is a very popular and brilliant looking exotic type of maple. "Flamed" refers to the rippling, or curls of the grain of wood that run across the body. Flamed maple in generally "book matched," which means that the body is made of two half pieces of a single cut piece of maple. This gives the guitar even weight, look and tone throughout the body.
  
  
• Nato
  
  Nato wood, also known as Eastern Mahogany, is a reliable, strong wood used on low cost guitar necks. It is a value-priced wood used more for beginner instruments. However, it still embodies some of the properties of more commonly used mahogany.
  
  
• Paduak
  
  Orange to brown color, smooth feeling when played raw. Tone similar to mahogany.
  
  
• Pau Ferro
  
  South American Hardwood, combines rosewoods warm tone with Ebony's smooth feel. Primarily available as fingerboards. Medium brown color, very smooth fine grain, warmer tone than ebony.
  
  
• Maple neck with Pau Ferro fingerboard
  
  Quarter sawn Pau Ferro has the good properties of ebony but seems to be more reliable and stable. Pau Ferro is a tight grained hard wood with excellent clarity on the "chunk" tones when using gain, especially when teamed up with an alder body. In overdrive mode it has a fatter low end and more pronounced sparkle when compared to maple. It adds excellent definition to the notes especially when using overdriven tones. Strong in the lower mids and bass, scooped mids.
  
  
• Rosewood; Brazilian
  
  Highly sought after by generations of luthiers and players for its unmatched beauty. Brazilian helps to impart warmth and darkness to the tone of the guitar. Tonal differences between Brazilian and Indian Rosewoods are subtle and consideration should be based on aesthetics, rarity, future value, and collectibility.
  
  
• Rosewood; Indian
  
  Like Brazilian, Indian Rosewood keeps the guitar at the warm dark end of the tonal spectrum. While not as visually striking as Brazilian, Indian Rosewood has an elegant appearance and should not be considered inferior to Brazilian on any account.
  
  
• Spruce
  
  Spruce is the most commonly used wood on acoustic guitar soundboards. The soundboards on acoustics are generally made of tightly grained spruce. Naturally yellow in color, spruce is a lightwood that has a very high degree of resonance, so it is a perfect match for acoustic guitars.
  
  
• Solid Spruce
  
  Solid spruce refers less to a difference in the wood than to how it is actually cut for the guitar. Laminate spruce soundboards are built as layers of cross-grained wood glued to each other. Solid spruce soundboards consist of one piece of wood running all the way through. This gives the guitar a richer sound because the solid wood soundboard can vibrate more freely and thoroughly.
  
  
• Canadian Sitka Spruce
  
  Canadian Sitka Spruce is a harder to find, more expensive variety of spruce. It has a light yellow color and is also used for acoustic guitar soundboards. It gives guitars a bigger more resonant sound, flush with crisp highs. It also improves with age more than other types of spruce.
  
  
• German Spruce
  
  This increasingly rare wood has a higher weight to strength ratio than Sitka and correspondingly complements the brightness and clarity of the guitars.
  
  
• Wenge
  
  A black hard wood with chocolate brown stripes. Very hard, coarser textured wood with open grain. Good midrange tone with warm lows. Recommended for Bass Guitars.

h-drix said:

its not allowed in the uke-glossery because it is more objective, so i decided to tart a new thread. im hoping to buy a new uke towards the end of the year, and would like to know the different sound characteristics of woods.

more specifically, i would like something that is warm and has a good sustain for both chords and finger picking.

cheers

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h-drix said:

unfortunately i dont have the money for a custom. i am buying off the shelf, know what types of wood makes what sound is helpful, at least in drums you buy by the type of wood used on the drum. it might be completely diffrent with uke.

just for the hell of it Ill look in to a custom, just see what the prices are. i live next to two cities so there should be a few luthiers, this weekend ill email around.

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deach said:

Glyphs start at $785. I think he's looking at the $200-$350 range.

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tad said:

Sorry, that wasn't really made clear anywhere in the thread...

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h-drix said:

Ill look in to customs, but i highy doubt ill find a builder in the 300$ range.

also how much would a +13 fret uke be? since the average uke only has 12 frets.

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deach said:

Glyphs start at $785. I think he's looking at the $200-$350 range.

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wearymicrobe said:

....
To add even more confusion, there are laminate carbon tops as well, spruce/carbon/cedar that they do in the classical guitar world. These to me are the best of almost all worlds, you can build extra thin tops with the strength of a thicker top.
...

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seeso said:

Ukuleles aren't priced by the fret. The way you pose this question makes it seem like you expect all +13 fret ukuleles to cost the same.

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h-drix said:

sorry, i meant...(let me word this with an example) if a Lanikai was 12 frets and cost 200 and the exact same model had 18 frets would the 18 fret uke cost anymore?
....

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