Splitting, types of wood, laminates etc...

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fiveqs

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Hi All! Very glad for this forum. My Wife and I are planning to purchase Ukes in the near future. After researching and getting a chance to play around with a few, we had pretty much decided on a couple of the Kala acacias from MGM (really like the sound, and they're beautiful). However... after reading about the splitting issues with solid woods, I'm having doubts. One of the main things I'd like to be able to do is grab the Uke and go sit out on the deck and play (we're in Northeast Indiana). I really wished I already had it today, it was beautiful out. We keep the house air conditioned in the summer and have gas forced air heat, so the place is pretty much always dry. So, the questions are...
  • Is there a % humidity level or amount of differential where this is an issue?
  • Do I really need to worry about it here?
  • Are different woods more prone to splitting?
  • I was looking at Mainland Ukes since He's in pretty much the same climate are His ok?
  • Anyone have any experience with the Kala acacias or Mainlands with splitting.
  • Is the mellow, quieter tone available in laminates?
  • Does the case humidifier really cure all these issues and what if you forget to add water?
I do have a large Hammered Dulcimer and a couple Autoharps and my Daughter has a few Guitars and no problems with those... buutt...we don't take them in and out much.
Anyway, this is a lot of questions, and I would really appreciate any help you folks can give. We can't wait to get started :)
Thank You!
Paul Q
 
fiveqs said:
Hi All! Very glad for this forum. My Wife and I are planning to purchase Ukes in the near future. After researching and getting a chance to play around with a few, we had pretty much decided on a couple of the Kala acacias from MGM (really like the sound, and they're beautiful). However... after reading about the splitting issues with solid woods, I'm having doubts. One of the main things I'd like to be able to do is grab the Uke and go sit out on the deck and play (we're in Northeast Indiana). I really wished I already had it today, it was beautiful out. We keep the house air conditioned in the summer and have gas forced air heat, so the place is pretty much always dry. So, the questions are...
  • Is there a % humidity level or amount of differential where this is an issue?
  • Do I really need to worry about it here?
  • Are different woods more prone to splitting?
  • I was looking at Mainland Ukes since He's in pretty much the same climate are His ok?
  • Anyone have any experience with the Kala acacias or Mainlands with splitting.
  • Is the mellow, quieter tone available in laminates?
  • Does the case humidifier really cure all these issues and what if you forget to add water?
I do have a large Hammered Dulcimer and a couple Autoharps and my Daughter has a few Guitars and no problems with those... buutt...we don't take them in and out much.
Anyway, this is a lot of questions, and I would really appreciate any help you folks can give. We can't wait to get started :)
Thank You!
Paul Q
Click to expand...

Never played a Kala Acacia so I can't comment on that. I did live in Fort Wayne, IN for a year and (at least for Fort Wayne), a humidifier is a very good idea. I had my Taylor guitar on a guitar stand the entire year and the top developed a small crack. Ideally, solid-wood instruments should be kept between 40%-60% humidity. I have found that the in-case humidifiers do the job just fine but I ended up just getting a room humidifier due to my number of ukes.
 
Seems to me you should be able to go outside and play without problems, laminates or solids. I would just be diligent about putting away the ukes when not playing them. Store them in good cases with humidifiers obviously. I just picked up an Oasis ukulele humidifier that hangs from the strings inside the body of my Kamaka while in the case.
Also, I would think both Mainland and Kala offer some sort of warranty on their instruments.

If you go visit the fine folks at Mainland, you'll get all your questions answered AND come home with new ukuleles!
 
Take my uke outdoors. Case when not in use. Got a Herco in each case. Yes, humidity is important but it's sudden drastic temp changes that will do in an instrument quicker.

And yes, go Mainland.
 
I don't live in the Midwest but it can be dry in my apartment, especially in the winter, so I use Oasis hygrometers and Oasis case humidifiers that clip onto the inside of my ukulele cases, including the case for my Kala solid acacia tenor. They keep the humidity in the cases at about 50%.

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Thanks for the help! During the spring/summer/fall humidity is usually good in the house so probably not that much of an issue. Now all we have to do is sell off an autoharp and some other stuff and we can get an order in :) Can't wait!!!
PQ
 
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