Two ply or solid

Would you describe a two ply side where the plies are both the same wood as solid wood or would you have to call it laminate?

Since in the uke community solid wood is understood to mean a single piece of wood, I think in order to pass the red face test you'd have to call it a laminate (or "two ply").

If the grain of the two pieces are perpendicular to each other a considerable amount of stiffness is added which I suspect would impact sound quality. If the grain is parallel I don't know how much the glueline would impact stiffness.

Two plys with the grain running longitudinal will probably be slightly stiffer than the same thickness in solid wood.

Two plys with one ply at right angles to the other will be floppier than either "solid" or a two ply laminate of the same thickness.

Call it what ever you like. I think you'd be a bit stretched to call it solid............since it's not.

I do my sides with the grain parallel. I refer to them as double sides. They are much stiffer than single sides of the same total thickness. Stiff enough that I can free build with no mold.

The reason I asked this is that a kit I'm working on has the two ply, grain parallel, but the specs describe it as solid. I'm sure for this ukulele it won't make any difference in the end anyway.

Ed – if you're talking about the Musicmaker's Baritone kit, I asked the same question when I called them. They said they ply solid mahogany for the sides to help retain the shape of the bending curves. The top and back are solid spruce and mahogany and are not plies. I believe it's a compromise they make to facilitate the kit building process. Since they are using solid woods in the sides, and plying these solid pieces to retain form shape – don't believe the sides are a major issue as far as tonal quality in the end product. At least that's what they told me. As usual, there will be varying opinions.

Hobo,
I'm going to stop analyzing this kit and just build the darn thing! Liam's description of double sides makes sense and probably is why Harpkit used them on this kit with the multipiece body construction.

Ed