Will Chunking ruin my ukulele?

aziandoll

aziandoll

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Hi, I have been playing for a few years, and currently play a Kala Tenor Exotic Mahogany laminate, and recently purchased a Mainland Mango glossy Concert. With my Kala, I placed clear packaging tape in the area where my fingers land so I don't develop scratch marks. It's worked pretty well, but there are still indentations on my uke. I guess I can't avoid it...so... I like playing my Mainland, but am afraid of chunking on it. Is this expected normal wear and tear for a uke, to have scratches on that area? Shall I just ignore it? and chunk on my Mainland? :/
 
aziandoll said:
Is this expected normal wear and tear for a uke, to have scratches on that area? Shall I just ignore it? and chunk on my Mainland? :/
Click to expand...

I wonder about this, too. I guess it is pretty much unavoidable, though. So I don't play any differently.
 
aziandoll said:
Hi, I have been playing for a few years, and currently play a Kala Tenor Exotic Mahogany laminate, and recently purchased a Mainland Mango glossy Concert. With my Kala, I placed clear packaging tape in the area where my fingers land so I don't develop scratch marks. It's worked pretty well, but there are still indentations on my uke. I guess I can't avoid it...so... I like playing my Mainland, but am afraid of chunking on it. Is this expected normal wear and tear for a uke, to have scratches on that area? Shall I just ignore it? and chunk on my Mainland? :/
Click to expand...

Since you're in So. Cal. head down to Candela's Guitars in East L.A. and get a pick guard installed. Guaranteed for 10 years and custom cut and installed on your uke. $15 from when I last talked to Tomas.

http://www.candelas.com/pickguards.php
 
I used to worry about it... especially with new ukes. But I've come to appreciate the wear and tear... my ukes are developing a bit of soul and character. And... they all sound better than ever. Heck, look at the piece of hoo-hah guitar Willie Nelson plays. Looks like the Iditarod Dog Sled race took place on it. But... doesn't matter... it's older than Willie, in the hands of that master guitar player it sounds great. Go with it... chunk away. Heck... a lot of players have tried to learn to chunk for years and just can't get it down! You're way ahead of the curve. Enjoy!
 
I'd much rather enjoy my ukes and if they get battle scars - that just shows how much they were loved and used. Anything used for a pickguard that will actually protect the wood or finish will adversely affect tone and volume. The same is true of a guitar but there you usually at least have enough surface area to lessen the impact - a pickguard on a uke, to be useful, is going to cover about a third of the most useful (most free to vibrate) part of the top.

To me it just doesn't make sense to pay premium for a good uke to get better tone and volume, and then muzzle it with a pickguard because you're afraid of scratching it. If I was going to do that I'd save the money and just buy a beater uke - a decent beater will probably sound very nearly as loud and good as a high-end uke muffled with a pickguard.

BTW, if you're really concerned about appearances, don't get a cedar topped uke - cedar is exremely soft. By the time I gave my Seagul S6 guitar away it looked like birds had been pecking at it - there were half-moon fingernail marks all over it and the wood was getting "ridged" where my energetic strumming missed the pickguard. It was a great sounding guitar and anybody who looked askance at the top quickly changed their tune as soon as I lit her up! LOL

Take a look at Willie Nelson's guitar, some time!

John
 
fitncrafty said:
This video should answer your question.. mind you this guy is crazy with his chunking and I don't think this is a pricey ukulele... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlwfq5A1skg
Click to expand...

I love that guy - I think maybe he's done a bit too much hard drugs but he sure has fun.

BTW, what he's doing goes a tad beyond chunking - he's intentionally brushing the top for percussive effects. I think just chunking you'd have to play for a long time to see that much wear. In fact, he may have removed the finish intentionally - some guys with guitars with glossy finishes will intenionally remove the finish from the top so they can get a "sandblock" effect by rubbing their fingers over it.

My original comment above still stands, though. I'd rather have even my KoAloha look like that and know that I'd derived every bit of pleasure I could from the uke than have it be pristine because I was afraid to play it. Whenever I see a thirty-year-old instrument for sale that looks like it was just manufactured my first thought is - "hangar queen - it must not be a very good player because somebody just let it sit in the case for thirty years!"
John
 
Aloha Aziandoll,
I have some transparent self sticking pickguards on my baritone....they work well and a lot thicker than tape....and they work...also reasonable priced..I think they were for guitars first...Good Luck,
Happy Strummings...you haven't been on the forums for some time, glad to have you back...MM Stan
 
I'd think the packing tape would do damage to the surface too.
 
I think this is only a problem if you plan to sell their ukes in the future. In solid ukes (that you expect to get 70/80 years with them) this is really cool, and does not affect the sound.
 
Yeah don't worry about it if you're not going to sell it. When I was taking clarinet lessons, one day my very boring teacher was out sick and her husband substituted. He was first chair in the local symphony. He was friendly, funny, and I learned a lot in that one single lesson that I carried with me throughout my clarinet playing days. That was even the first lesson where I played a duet. His clarinet was very old, very expensive, and very beat up. The keys looked dull and the wood duller. But he was so cool and the sound was so sweet. I looked at my shiny new instrument in dismay. I wanted it to look like his.

Ever since then, I've always carried the idea that others have posted already, that a real musician has a real beat up instrument. I even asked him how it got like that and he laughed and said it was just from being played.

Maybe one day, I'll have an instrument that looks like that, and got there in my hands. It's sort of an unattainable goal. :)
 
If I had usage marks on my ukulele I would be prouder than heck. It'd just show how much I play and love it.
 
I have an inlaw that bough a brand new car and kept it in the garage for 3 weeks and would not drive it. I have a friend that has some old nice Gibson guitars and he pulls them out to show folks but won't play them. The best advice I got from a old musician friend was "You bought it to play, right?".

Chunk and play it and have fun with it.

Remember, you never see a U-haul being towed by a hearse.
 
Thank you everyone! Wow, now I don't feel so bad :) I guess I'll go enjoy my Mainland now, and feel less stressed about it :)
 
I hope nobody finds this response offensive or gross, but I just can't resist mentioning that, when I was in high school, the term "chunking" referred to vomiting, usually after a night of drinking and gorging on greasy fast food. Needless to say, I was instantly drawn to this thread by its title.

I realize now that it isn't what I thought, but before I knew what the OP meant by "chunking," reading through the first several threads was pretty hilarious. Try it and you'll see what I mean!
 
Well, I got the term chunking from UU, BUT... my ukulele club students at school call it scratching. Is there really a correct term for it? I think palm mute... but..that's different...
 
I'm not questioning whether your terminology is correct. I've just never heard the term "chunking," personally.

As a side note, come to think of it, another term for "regurgitating" that became popular in my neck of the woods about 20 years ago was "uking," which rhymes with "puking" and is the same word many of us use to describe playing the uke. So when someone tells me they've "been uking a lot lately," my instinct is to recommend Pepto Bismol.

Anyway, I hope you got the answer to your original question!
 
I get 'em to play 'em, so anything that happens while playing is just part of the process.
 
musiccityuker said:
I used to worry about it... especially with new ukes. But I've come to appreciate the wear and tear... my ukes are developing a bit of soul and character. And... they all sound better than ever. Heck, look at the piece of hoo-hah guitar Willie Nelson plays. Looks like the Iditarod Dog Sled race took place on it. But... doesn't matter... it's older than Willie, in the hands of that master guitar player it sounds great. Go with it... chunk away. Heck... a lot of players have tried to learn to chunk for years and just can't get it down! You're way ahead of the curve. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Wille just has a new top put on when it gets too bad... He also plays more than one axe...
 
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