Uke playing in the winter?

sukie said:

Of course you can still play. And take it places. You have a case, right? Use it. Put a humidifier in it. When you take it with you, do not leave it in your car. You'll be fine.

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kkimura said:

Winter is pushing its way into NH these days and I've got my Mainland in the case with a humidifier because the humidity in the house is at 50% and dropping.

My question is, can I still play the uke? How about taking it to the local uke club to play? If yes, are there any things I should or shouldn't be doing?

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RichM said:

50% humidity is actually pretty good! In the winter, it's not unusual to see relatively humidity drop to 25%, especially in a home with forced air heat. I find humidifying the room is a good solution in the colder months, but you'll still want a case humidifier for when you take your uke outside the house. A properly humidified room makes your skin and lungs feel nicer, too! I was pleasantly surprised at how much better I felt in the morning once I started running a humidifier in my bedroom overnight.

Your uke won't shrivel up and crack upon contact with dry air, so don't worry about that. However, it is wise to pay special attention to maintaining proper humidity levels during the coldest months; case humidifiers will dry out more quickly, and room humidifiers will need to work a little harder to maintain proper levels. A little extra diligence is all it takes. I've maintained my instruments for many very cold winters, and never had a problem.

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SeattleSean said:

I agree with others on all of their points.

One other thing to add, based upon my experience... if'n you're going somewhere to play and your uke has been in a cold trunk or car, as it warms up to room temperature its tuning is going to change. So, if you have a gig or a strummers group or whatnot, it may be smart to keep your uke warm or get there sufficiently early for your uke to warm up so the tuning doesn't change on you right in the middle of your playing.

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kkimura said:

Hmmm, interesting, so I should wait for my uke to warm up a bit before re-tuning?

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RichM said:

Avoid letting your uke get really cold. I'm not talking about carrying it from your house to your car; I'm talking about leaving it for any length of time in a cold car or (don't ever!) in the trunk of your car. When your uke gets very cold, both the wood and the finish will contract (shrink) slightly. If it warms up too fast, the wood can expand faster than the finish, which can cause finish cracks.

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haolejohn said:

Everyone speaks true. your uke will be fine as long as you don't leave it out very long.

I learned the hard way last winter (my winter is a little bit colder than your winter) when I had two ukes crack from the cold. One was a mainland and i traveled with it in a gig bag only. The other was a dolphin which I didn't even have in a case. Let's just say that there is a certain temperature that ukes can shatter.

I now have two hard cases for my ukes up here that I play regularly and for travel I bought an outdoor uke.

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ricdoug said:

I live in San Diego. What's this "Winter" y'all speak of? Is that like when it gets all the way down to 55 degrees Fahrenheit down here and we have to break out our thermal underwear, heavy jackets, beanies, scarfs and gloves?! Ric

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ricdoug said:

I live in San Diego. What's this "Winter" y'all speak of? Is that like when it gets all the way down to 55 degrees Fahrenheit down here and we have to break out our thermal underwear, heavy jackets, beanies, scarfs and gloves?! Ric

Click to expand...

ricdoug said:

I live in San Diego. What's this "Winter" y'all speak of? Is that like when it gets all the way down to 55 degrees Fahrenheit down here and we have to break out our thermal underwear, heavy jackets, beanies, scarfs and gloves?! Ric

Click to expand...