Is there real benefits to solid tops???

Dan Uke

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Hi

I posted last week that I purchased my first Uke and now, I'm already itching for another Uke!! Can anyone say UAS???

My first Uke was a Koaloha Tenor and since it's my one and only, I feel that I will baby it until I get a ding. Consequently, I am contemplating buying a cheaper one so I don't have to worry as much taking it places.

My question is there really that much benefit of buying a Solid Top Uke vs. a Laminate in the lower price range??? I am talking about $300 or less

I know people say that wood sounds better with age but is it proven? I would figure as long as the wood's not too dry, it'll be difficult to tell a huge difference?

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks
 
It's not proven that solid wood improves with age. It's strongly suggested and widely believed, but I've never seen a scientifically conducted double blind test. My own experience indicates that, yes, sometimes it happens. I had a solid cedar top guitar that opened up amazingly during the first six months I owned it. In contrast, I can't tell that my Taylor with a solid spruce top has changed a whit from how it sounded when I bought it ten years ago. My personal "guestimate" is that, yeah, solid wood is more likely to change with time than a laminate (glue would tend to seal and stabilize the wood) but I also figure that it isn't necessarily always a good thing. I'm betting that there are probably some instruments that get worse with time.

The major problem with laminated instruments is that usually they are somewhat "inferior" in several respects. Laminated ukes are usually made of thicker wood, that is also laminated, so is likely to be less lively. Laminated ukes are generally those near the bottom of a manufacturers line, therefore less likely to receive close attention to detail during setup and QA.

Technically, a laminated instrument should be able to be made that is livelier and louder than a solid wood. In reality, laminates are usually used to save money, not improve performance.

I do have a Kiwaya KSL-02 laminated longneck soprano and just recently acquired a KoAloha longneck soprano. I have them strung identically. Not surprisingly, the KoAloha is louder with more complex harmonics. Surprisingly, it's not as huge a difference as you might expect. Of course, the Kiwaya KSL-02 is not your typical laminated uke, either. It's a very thin laminated material and very carefully constructed and as expensive as some solid wood ukes.

So, the bottom line is that, if you're looking for something to take camping, any old thing will do. If you're looking for a uke that sounds closer to your KoAloha but is a little less traumatic to see take a ding, you'll probably still want to look at a solid wood uke like a Mainland (or maybe a Kala with a good professional setup).

John
 
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There is certainly a difference between solid & laminate tops & yes, after that KoAloha, you will notice the difference. But... I have two KoAloha's & another on the way & have a couple of other solid top ukes AND several laminates. They all sound different & they all have their unique sound. I have a Yelow Makala dolphin hanging on the wall by my computer monitor & for quick breaks - it gets played the most. My more precious, expensive instruments stay in their cases TOO MUCH.

Last week I played an aNueNue laminate U900 Pineapple that was JUST FUN! Buy what suits you & expect it to sound different - its supposed to!
 
It is well known in the classical guitar world that solid tops do "open up" and sound better over time, although it can be gradual and not immediately noticeable.

Laminate tops consist of layers basically glued together and will not vibrate as well as a single piece of solid wood, hence they are generally not as loud. But, they are also considered more impervious to the elements, such as heat and humidity.

If you want to leave your Koaloha safe at home, by all means buy a cheaper one to take with you on the go. You can find a solid top for well under $300.

A lot of people really like Flukes and Fleas for durability and sound volume.
 
I can't speak for my Ukes, haven't noticed a change yet in my koaloha or kala's but I hav had a weber bitterroot mandolin for 12 years and that baby really opened up!
 
YES. They have much more " presence" : the part of space within one's immediate vicinity
 
Why don't you get it over with, really ding and scratch up your baby. Then you have a really good playing/sounding uke you can bring anywhere.
 
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Aloha Nongdam,
There are two schools of thought here...
if you're not planning to resell your uke and want the well played look..."Badges of Honor", Take it everywhere. isn't that the real purpose of the instrument...if you care so much how it looked and hardly played it, you wouldn't learn it's full potential or get good on it and used to it....or it would take a while..Your Ko Aloha would sound better than most all mid level ukes and would defeat
the purpose of you getting if you can't enjoy it worrying it may get damaged....Or just buy a beater ukulele so you can take around and wouldn't care as much and be more comfortable...and sound subpar...Either Way have fun and enjoy...Happy Strummings..
 
Thanks everyone for the reply. I am definitely playing with the Koaloha. I guess it's personality. I cover my irons and have ghost tape on top of my driver for golf. I have a beat up Ovation guitar that I take everywhere while my Taylor guitar is mostly played at home. I'm deinitely going to get another cheap, I mean less expensive Uke for beach and camping. Thanks.

MMStan...envious of the fact that you can have Zippys whenever you want!
 
First, I tend to think like this:

Why don't you get it over with, really ding and scratch up your baby. Then you have a really good playing/sounding uke you can bring anywhere.

Second, we did one of the tests several of you have referred to. Of course our instruments run a bit over the $300 range. Still, the results were revealing.

We did a pair of concert ukuleles, one with a solid top, one with a wood/carbon fiber laminate. As double tops can't be made thin enough for ukuleles, this looked like our best option.

Much to our disapointment, the solid top won out. As such, we never bothered to report the findings. We were hoping to be the first to pull off a laminate top ukulele with sound equal to a solid.

The solid top had more volume, more range, and more sustain. The laminate top, however, wasn't really bad at all. We sold it for what it was, an "all weather" instrument of decent performance (the back was also laminate). The gentleman who bought it was mainly a Tenor Guitar player, and didn't really have any high-end ukuleles. He said that compared to his ukes (speculating they were in that $300 range) our "second line" laminate top sounded better than any - and most of his others were solid.

Good laminates, top or back, do have the potential to be better than solid. While I'm not an expert in the $300 range, I can be dead sure that at that price, you're not getting a "luthier grade laminate". I would say the solid tops would have an advantage in sound, but if you're really looking for a "go anywhere" capability, you might want to give up a little sound quality.
 
Thanks everyone for the reply. I am definitely playing with the Koaloha. I guess it's personality. I cover my irons and have ghost tape on top of my driver for golf. I have a beat up Ovation guitar that I take everywhere while my Taylor guitar is mostly played at home. I'm deinitely going to get another cheap, I mean less expensive Uke for beach and camping. Thanks.

MMStan...envious of the fact that you can have Zippys whenever you want!
Worked there when I was in high school...ha ha know the menu well... get a solid top...or solid body uke...way better sounding...if you worry about cracking, get the laminate..
 
I don't particularly discriminate between solid tops or laminates much these days, but just judge from the sound of that individual uke.
Sometimes a laminate uke has the sound I'm looking for that a solid can't produce, so it goes either way for me.

Music is music. End of the day, after a good day's play, in your room or to an audience - whether you played a laminate or a solid top would be the last thing in anyone's mind.

Getting a take-everywhere 'beater' uke is a risky thing for the 'nice' uke you keep at home. You just may end up liking the beater more, and playing it more often than the expensive one, even at home! LOL
 
I like having a variety of instruments. One that's really nice that I mainly just play at home or places where I don't have to worry about it. A middle of the road one that's still nice, but something that I could easily replace if it got lost, damaged... Then I like to have the beater instrument that I don't have to worry about at all. The problem is I like to always play something that sounds good, so I never really get my beater instrument.

I currently play a Cedar top Kala Tenor as my main uke, but have a Concert size of the same model as my travel around uke. Mainly because it's smaller. Both sound quite nice and would recommend them as pretty good sounding instruments in the $300 - $350 range. I've played cheaper laminate top ukes but have yet to find one that I like the sound of.
 
Yes, but because terms like better or worse are strictly subjective, you can't really define anything in absolute terms.

Try various ukes. I like cedar and redwood tops because spruce is a bit too bright to my ears. Mahogany can be very nice too. You can buy a solid-topped Mainland for quite a fair price without having to descend to laminate tops.

A study by, I believe, Gibson, done a few decades ago showed that the wood of guitars actually changed its nature over time with playing. Micrscopic changes to the grain were identified. How this affects the sound, however, is open to interpretation. On a purely personal note, I've compared a vintage and a new Martin side by side and the vintage had a wonderful sound while the new seemed thin in comparison. But no two ukes are identical, anyway.

Best idea: try as many as you can and select the one that sounds nicest to your ears (and, of course, has nice action, smooth frets, good build, etc).
 
Is Red Cedar seasonal for Mainland website as they don't have any right now. I personally like Cedar as it's sounds warmer to me than Spruce on a guitar.
 
Is Red Cedar seasonal for Mainland website as they don't have any right now. I personally like Cedar as it's sounds warmer to me than Spruce on a guitar.

Should be back in stock the later part of June, unless they are late again.
 
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Bring the KoAloha with you when you look at less expensive ukes. I suspect you will walk out with just the KoAloha. (Unless you are looking at a KoAloha Concert.).

Play that tenor to death.
 
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