For a uke w/solid mahogany top, about how many hours of playing should it take in order for the soundboard to "open up"?
I own two Ovation/Applause acoustic/electric soprano UAE20's. They are about two years apart in age. Everyone wants to buy the older stained black one. It is not for sale. The difference is night and day. Ric
Its not a term I'm familiar with nor think I will bother to analyse ...........If I don't get that feel or sound about a Uke Instantly then I ain't buying it .
As wood is such an unpredictable material its basically a gamble isn't it ? Will it 'open up' to the required level of satisfaction with age or will it lose the orginal sound which first attracted you to it ?Given the uncertainty associated with degree and nature of wood movement, I think it would be poor investing, at the least, to buy an instrument that does not meet your sound expectations from the start.
The concept of "opening up" is real to me from my experience with some 25 acoustic guitars, mandolins and ukuleles; some have changed significantly, others not so much, if at all. But, my "opening up" experiences have made already fine sounding instruments sound better. Most of the time, the differenct is in volume, sometimes it is in the addition of complexity to the overall tone and, if you are fortunate, you get serious volume increase along with a richer tone.
But, if it don't sound pleasing to begin with, expecting the opening up process to make a marginal sounding uke sound better is likely to result in disappointment.
Speaking from a builder's perspective, I hear a newly strung uke open up in the first day or so, with no playing at all, and after a week or two, the majority of the opening up has occurred.
I don't think playing is necessary, but how would you know if it has opened up if you don't play it?
I would only expect a slow maturing of tone after a year of playing.
Do people keep ukes that long? It seems they flip them pretty quick.
175,200.For a uke w/solid mahogany top, about how many hours of playing should it take in order for the soundboard to "open up"?