Taking Ukulele into High Humidity

vcb233

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I've had a Cordoba 15cm concert ukulele with mahogany wood for nearly 3 months. I hoped to take it with me on a cruise in Belize. I live in SoCal, which has humidity in the 50's. However, the humidity in Belize will be in the high 80's throughout the week I spend there, and the temperature will be in the 70's. I don't have time to get a dehumidifier. The boat will have air conditioning. Is it worth taking the ukulele?
 
The Cordoba 15CM is a laminate...I doubt if the change in humidity will hurt it. Maybe you can "season" it for the trip by placing an orange in the case with it...I think you're safe...very high humidity here, lots of Cordobas here...
 
I've had a Cordoba 15cm concert ukulele with mahogany wood for nearly 3 months. I hoped to take it with me on a cruise in Belize. I live in SoCal, which has humidity in the 50's. However, the humidity in Belize will be in the high 80's throughout the week I spend there, and the temperature will be in the 70's. I don't have time to get a dehumidifier. The boat will have air conditioning. Is it worth taking the ukulele?
The risk with solid woods is dry weather and besides yours is a laminate which is very robust, so you couldn't really kill it with a hammer.
 
As you said it is air conditioned. Humidity will not be much above 50% in the cabin.
 
The humidity shouldn't be a problem with the uke itself. If it has Aquila strings I would switch them to fluorocarbons for the trip. I took an Aquila-strung uke to Louisiana a couple of years ago and it was dull and lifeless while there and for a few days after I returned - the same uke on a trip there a few weeks later but with fluorocarbon strings was fine. I think the coating on the NylGut strings absorbs humidity and it damps the strings.

John
 
Your Cordoba should be fine.

I always take a laminate instrument when I travel. I don't want to lose any of my ukuleles, but if one of my less expensive instruments were lost or damaged on a trip, the loss could be handled better than losing, say, my old Ohana TK35G or KoAloha concert. This is why people have multiple ukuleles.

While in Belize, take notice of how many people haven't seen a ukulele before. We went to Cancun a few years ago and the European tourists as well as some of the US east coasters weren't too sure what I had. Apparently from that side of the continent, folks don't go to Hawaii much--preferring the Caribbean for warm vacations.
 
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