Spent time playing laminate ukes the other day

cornfedgroove

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I havent had much experience with laminate ukes...but thought I'd give it real whirl and see. I had my friend get a Kala flamed maple tenor from MGM, it's a solid top, so a little "up" from full laminate...but I really liked it. I thought I'd spend some time with all laminates and see what I thought.

for a person with alot of experience, I can see where this would be a painful experience, but if the uke plays well, they're so much fun...who cares. Although I'm admittedly a little snooty about laminate, imo an instrument that plays well and is affordable is more important than tone, volume, feel etc. Those are just the finer points of instrument quality, but basic construction and playability are fundamental. Even the best players can have fun on an inexpensive laminate if it plays well. I could now understand having a solid top as a beater...you know, as a compromise to my snootiness.:cool:
 
lol, it seems that laminates have a lot more negative bias than they deserve.
I for one started with all-solid.. then went to solid-top.... and now my ideal acoustic uke is an acoustic-electric all-laminate, or an all laminate with plastic back and sides (such as the Flea).
Many people told me that I needed to get an all-solid uke or at least a solid-top to have a good uke. I listened to them at first. But as time went on, I found myself preferring to pick up my cheaper laminates and play them more often.
So in the end, I decided I would just invest in the highest quality laminate (or equivalently durable) ukes. I also like to ensure all my ukes also have an electric pickup for amplification.

The solid and solid-top ukes I played sounded bright and loud. They were a joy to listen to. But I prefer a more durable instrument that I can sling around everywhere and anywhere without worrying whether the environment will do it damage. I like all my ukes to be the beater uke, travel uke and performance uke at the same time.
And a well made laminate fits that role the best for me. Whatever solid ukes have over laminate ukes in terms of sound was not worth it for me ^^

I think if you play good music on it, very few listeners will bother snobbing over its laminate heritage :)

I also think it is debatable whether all-solids sound 'better' than solid-tops. One theory is that solid-tops have better projection due to the stiffer back and sides allowing the sound to push forward, with an added bonus of durability.
 
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I prefer laminates. I'm lazy and try to keep things as simple as possible. That and I prefer the things I own to be zombie proof. My ideal ukulele is something that sounds pretty and can be used as a weapon in the event of a zombie invasion.

Someday I will have a Pineapple Sunday though...someday.
 
the first "good" ukes i played before i bought my laminate uke were solid wood and i loved the sound of them. i think it set my standards high when i was looking for a good "cheaper" uke. i have told a few of my friends with solid ukes that mine sounded good, and they said it couldn't be anywhere near as good as a solid wood uke and they would never touch it. they all have since played mine and love playing mine. if you try hard enough, you can find good sounding laminate ukes, imo.
 
I have a Kala novelty painted pineapple soprano that sounds better than most solid sopranos I've played.
A few months ago I got my nephew a Kala KA-Kt Koa laminate and was really surprised by the sound...pretty construction too. It sounded much better than a friend's (thick) solid Pono.
 
Sorry, but there is nothing like the sound and feel of playing an acoustic instrument made of solid wood.

Having said that, decent laminates have their place. I find solid instruments are often too loud to sing over, I don't need to worry about someone else picking up my ukulele (or guitar) and plonking around on it, and I am at ease whilst travelling.

But then I come home to my babies...
 
A few months ago I got my nephew a Kala KA-Kt Koa laminate and was really surprised by the sound...pretty construction too. It sounded much better than a friend's (thick) solid Pono.

My friend's KA-Kt laminate Koa tenor sounded better than my KA-ASM-TEC All-solid mahogany tenor too =\
 
if you prefer laminates for durability and the feeling of "no big deal" if they get smashed, I can understand that...and when it comes to amp'ing up, the playing field is leveled quite a bit since the electronics take priority. However, if you think that laminates sound as good as solid wood, you be ker-azy! Solid wood being louder is not a theory...there is far more projection, there just is. I could be mistaken, but I've never seen a luthier building custom laminates because of their equal quality. I'm not doggin laminates, to each his own...as long as an uke has good playability, you got hours and hours of good clean fun whether a $35 dolphin or a $2500 custom.
 
Both of my ukuleles are laminates. I love them both. I will however be buying a solid something or other in the future.
 
ukes are great instruments...beautiful, unassuming and non-threatening. I'm glad they make so many inexpensive, quality ukes for people to learn and love
 
I have had lots of laminates as well as all solid koa, acacia, and mahogs and to be honest a lot of the laminates sounded better than the all solids. I think that this is especially true for good laminates over $200. I don't think that the really inexpensive laminates can compete... jmho
 
I have had lots of laminates as well as all solid koa, acacia, and mahogs and to be honest a lot of the laminates sounded better than the all solids. I think that this is especially true for good laminates over $200. I don't think that the really inexpensive laminates can compete... jmho

aaah, see...I've never seen an expensive laminate. Interesting...name a couple make/models so I can scope em out
 
aaah, see...I've never seen an expensive laminate. Interesting...name a couple make/models so I can scope em out

Here are some beaters for you ........

KALA KA-MT CURLY MANGO TENOR UKULELE
LANIKAI CURLY KOA TENOR UKULELE W/PICKUP
KALA HAWAIIAN KOA SERIES KA-KT TENOR UKULELE
OHANA TK-200G TENOR UKULELE
 
remember - flukes and fleas are laminates!
 
yeah, but for just a little more money you can get an all solid like a lanikai ck-teq

You need to do your homework friend. The Lanikai CK-T and the Lanikai CK-TEQ are laminated rather than solid curly koa. You better stick with the laminates.
 
oscar schmidt also makes semi-expensive/expensive laminates. ou5 and ou6 are laminated koa and the ou7 is spalted mango. i've played both the ou5 and 6 and they're pretty decent. i like the ou6lce.
 
yeah, but for just a little more money you can get an all solid like a lanikai ck-teq

Let's assume for a sec that it is an all-solid.
In the realm of cheap solids, is it worth the maintenance that comes with them when you can have a laminate that sounds pretty darn good while being so much more durable :)

I think a laminate can sound VERY good if it was built with great attention to detail and craftsmanship.
Fleas and Flukes are one example.

Expensive doesn't always = better sound.

I'm pretty sure that one of the reasons why solids generally cost more is that solid wood itself is more expensive and more challenging to work with than laminates.
There is also the widespread legend that solids always sound better, which gives companies the extra excuse to price up their solids compared to lams.
In the world of guitars too, the negative stigma on laminates is getting less and less with time.
Because historically, there was a time when laminate guitars were only made by companies that made cheap, crappy guitars. They were bad instruments, not necessarily because they were laminate, but they were poorly constructed with bad parts.

Today, some better craftsmanship is used with laminates, and the sound of laminate instruments are getting better and better as technology catches up.
I won't say that laminates are as good as the top-end solid instruments - can't deny physics that the single wood layer resonates better overall.
At the top end, where you're paying thousands of dollars, I would hope that you are paying that much for a reason. I think when it comes to the "maximum level" of acoustic tone possible, solids definitely have more potential to do well than laminates.

But does everyone need to attain that "best possible freaken acoustic sound ever" to be satisfied with an instrument?
Perhaps in the low to medium budget range, for the lot of us who don't want to spend a fortune, do not need to be so anti-laminate and assume solids always prevail.
I think it would have to be a pretty expensive solid instrument to clearly outperform a well-made laminate.
Generally between laminates and solids that are similarly priced, I have not seen a clear difference in volume, projection and tone.

And I think this topic has definitely shown that the notion solids are always better and always sound better is not unanimous at all.


I'm not saying people should ditch solids and love laminates.
I just want to share my view that perhaps some laminates are better in person than what they're credited for.
 
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And so the laminate v solid discussion rumbles on. You're never going to persuade a guy who has spent a gizillion dollar/pounds on an Ook made from solid koa by some Hawian guy in a shed that, in fact, a high quality precision factory instrument made from high pressure laminate probably sound every bit as good. So I say let them believe whatever they want.

As a footnote, it seems to me that the use of koa as a material was more a matter of availability rather than acoustic properties, indeed i believe it was also used by native Hawaiians to make dugout canoes. Anyone from Stradivarius to a good acoustic guitar luthier will probably tell you that Spruce is the wood of choice.
 
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