Spruce top with mahogany, or solid lacewood?

Ayo Woozy

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Found a very good deal for a solid lacewood tenor by Kala. I was wondering what you UUers liked better. Is the sound of the mahoggany or lacewood louder? Which tone do you prefer out of them? So which one, S-TEQ or KA-ASLAT?

Mahalo.
 
No expert Ayo, but I'd go with mahogany everytime, especially with the sprucetop...great combination there...rich and well balanced tone..bright and punchy but wiith enough warmth underneath to get you through those cold winter nights...he he...not sure about lacewood as a tonewood, haven't played one, but I did have an amazing spruce/mahogany concert that I regret selling bigtime
 
Something like 95% of your sound quality comes from your top. The back and sides material don't make that much of a difference. Go with whichever you like better cosmetically. One thing though is that I think the lacewood model is all solid wood vs. the Mahogany one is laminate (I could be wrong). I'd lean towards the solid wood one given the choice.
 
I had the Kala lacewood concert....sold it a week ago. It was a good player and very loud. Lacewood is a beautiful wood. In my opinion, it is a bit like maple for sound quality; very transparent. Mahagony would be mellower with more overtones. It all depends what you prefer.
 
Played a lacewood tenor a few weeks ago, it was awesome. I was very impressed with the quality and sound of the Kala aslat, I was very surprised how great it was.
 
I just realized that you said STEQ not STE-C. So are you talking about the Lanikai vs. the Kala? They look very very similar and are probably made at the same factory with just a few different specs. Lanikai and Kala share quite a bit of history so it could be the same uke with a different headstock.
 
Played a lacewood tenor a few weeks ago, it was awesome. I was very impressed with the quality and sound of the Kala aslat, I was very surprised how great it was.

:agree: I played the same uke and I doubt that Kala makes anything that sounded better to me. It was full, and sweet, and loud. I am a mahogany fan myself, but I'd choose the solid lacewood Kala with the solid spruce top. If you can try both, just pick the one that sounds best to you!!!!!1
 
I just realized that you said STEQ not STE-C. So are you talking about the Lanikai vs. the Kala? They look very very similar and are probably made at the same factory with just a few different specs. Lanikai and Kala share quite a bit of history so it could be the same uke with a different headstock.

Well the Lanikai and Kala versions of the spruce top with mahogany look very similar. So I'm more comparing how the mahogany and lacewood affect the sound or tone with the spruce top.
 
I liked every lacewood ukulele I have played. I can't really tell you what they sounded like b/c it has been awhile since I have played one. Spruce is spruce. It is loud and sounds great, which is why it is one of the most common tops you will find in guitars and ukes. I prefer other woods as tops on my ukes.
 
Well the Lanikai and Kala versions of the spruce top with mahogany look very similar. So I'm more comparing how the mahogany and lacewood affect the sound or tone with the spruce top.
Very little. The difference is not something you will notice since the wood that your back and sides are made of don't have that much of an impact on sound.
 
Ive got the kala lacewood and it is a fantastic uke. Havnt tried the mahogany though.
 
Something like 95% of your sound quality comes from your top. The back and sides material don't make that much of a difference. Go with whichever you like better cosmetically. One thing though is that I think the lacewood model is all solid wood vs. the Mahogany one is laminate (I could be wrong). I'd lean towards the solid wood one given the choice.

Won't argue that the vast majority of sound "volume" is generated by the top, but i would say (from first hand experience) that a whole lot more than 5% of the overall palet of tone is generated by the choice of back and side woods.

"Loud" only goes so far,.....you need warmth and fullness of tone to really enjoy a ukulele aver a long period of time. The varierty of back and side woods handle that desired tone shaping in varying degrees.
 
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Just joined the thread. First post here. Started playing ukes about 6 months ago and bought the Kala KA-ASLAT as my first Uke. It sounds absolutely amazing. I don't have the deepest experience with reviewing ukes but I played quite a few before I decided to purchase that one. I can't recommend that uke enough. Just purchased the Epiphone LP style Uke but I don't expect that to sound nearly as good, just bought it due to my love of Les Pauls. Now it's time to pick out another uke. Damn you Eddie Vedder for getting me hooked. lol
 
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