Gloss Mya Moe?

katysax

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In January I had my first Mya Moe built for me, and without anything particular in mind I put myself in line for another one to come a year later.

Now Char is emailing me that I'm going to need to decide what to build. And I'm thinking that maybe this time I'll go for the high gloss polyester finish. All things being equal I like the look and feel of a good gloss finish. It makes an instrument feel more "premium" to me. Don't get me wrong, I like various satin finishes also. And I think Mya Moe does a good job on their satin finishes, but I'm thinking of going for something a little different on this one.

It looks like they've used the gloss on only a small percentage of their ukes. Of those of you who have or have had one - what did you think of the gloss on the Mya Moe?
 
In most cases I think I'd go with the oil finish. It looks good and feels better. If I really felt compelled to do the lacquer, it would only be on a fairly dark instrument. Gloss shows up best on a dark color wood.

Overall, I think I like the feel of the oil over the look of the lacquer. Just MHO. Plus it would save $400 bucks. I even know one professional musician who uses body shop compound to compound the finish of the back of his lacquered necks so it has that bare wood feel. Oil finish is closer to that naturally.

I apologize that I've never seen nor held a MM gloss finish. But at this point I lean to the oil and its faster bare wood feel.

I recently put in an order for a myrtle straight grain. The oil finish seemed the best way to go.

Good luck with your decision.
 
Only 12 out of 1400+ instruments:
http://www.myamoeukuleles.com/gallerySearchResults.php?finish=Gloss

Says something. I'm not sure what it says, but it says something. :p

I don't know what it says either. I had no idea how truly rare mine was.

I had them build an instrument for me, #290. Everything about it was magnificent. The finish was without any flaw whatsoever. I think a satin finish looks cheap (just me). I never felt cheated in sound or volume. It was a wonderful instrument. Turned out I didn't really want a tenor or radiused fretboard. Alas, if I had known then....
What do you want to know?
 
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Yes there is a gloss finish and a high gloss polyester finish although I don't see the former offered as an option.

While $400 seems like a steep upgrade price - if you look closely at premium instruments you'll see that the price of one with a gloss finish is pretty equivalent or higher than a Mya Moe. Even though I have some beautiful instruments with a satin finish, I think a gloss - when done well - imparts a look and feel of completeness and attention to detail. A gloss also shows off the grain in wood better. I have tended to prefer plainer instruments because I am most interested in what I can play. But I'm considering blinging this one up a bit. Not too gaudy but maybe rope binding on the body or abalone purfling on the top.
 


UUer Lizzie P discusses her dozen MMs with Gordon here. They discuss, briefly, gloss on what is Lizzie's quietest MM. It's at 7:00 minutes.
 
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I like the user serviceability of TruOil. I added a layer without 0000 steel wool sanding post application to two of my Mya Moes and they became very shiny. Not lacquer shiny, but all the wood grain popped. Just another angle to consider, katysax.
 
With the arrival of your new Moore Bettah, my bet is that by the time your build slot comes up you won't be interested in your Mya Moe. Gloss or oil finish. Just saying.
 
With the arrival of your new Moore Bettah, my bet is that by the time your build slot comes up you won't be interested in your Mya Moe. Gloss or oil finish. Just saying.

I'm in line at the same betting window.
 
I'm not speaking of Mya-Moe's specifically here. But I like gloss finishes for the simple reason that I've noticed more body/movement noise on satin finishes. I don't like that, so though gloss has other drawbacks for me (stickiness at times, and slippery most of the time), I'd take the trade off any day. I also like the ring/bell-like tone of gloss, but who's to say that happens with every gloss... For any uke of mine, custom or otherwise, I go gloss.
 
With the arrival of your new Moore Bettah, my bet is that by the time your build slot comes up you won't be interested in your Mya Moe. Gloss or oil finish. Just saying.

The Moore Bettah is a spectacular uke, but every uke is different and has its own personality. I already have other Mya Moe. I'm not going to take the Moore Bettah to Uke Camp. I'm not going to travel carrying the Moore Bettah. I'm not going to take the Moore Bettah out when I play. It's something I'll enjoy playing at home. I signed up for the Mya Moe spot a long time ago; if I were to know then what I know now I would not have signed up for that slot. But I feel that I've committed to buy it so I'll have them make me something that will be fun to get and play.
 
The Moore Bettah is a spectacular uke, but every uke is different and has its own personality. I already have other Mya Moe. I'm not going to take the Moore Bettah to Uke Camp. I'm not going to travel carrying the Moore Bettah. I'm not going to take the Moore Bettah out when I play. It's something I'll enjoy playing at home. I signed up for the Mya Moe spot a long time ago; if I were to know then what I know now I would not have signed up for that slot. But I feel that I've committed to buy it so I'll have them make me something that will be fun to get and play.

I am sure you will love the new Mya Moe very much (for the record, I vote why not if you want the gloss, especially if your other one is not). But I am curious - why would you be unwilling to travel with the Moore Bettah? I have trips coming up to Hawaii and New England in the next couple of months and I would not consider taking any uke BUT the Moore Bettah. If it is not your favorite, or your most versatile uke, I understand. But for arguments sake, if it was, why not take it on a trip?
 
The Moore Bettah is a spectacular uke, but every uke is different and has its own personality. I already have other Mya Moe. I'm not going to take the Moore Bettah to Uke Camp. I'm not going to travel carrying the Moore Bettah. I'm not going to take the Moore Bettah out when I play. It's something I'll enjoy playing at home. I signed up for the Mya Moe spot a long time ago; if I were to know then what I know now I would not have signed up for that slot. But I feel that I've committed to buy it so I'll have them make me something that will be fun to get and play.

Yeah, I was in the same situation in that I had 2 customs lined up before I knew I would get another MBU. It was a dilemma as it's lots of money and I had someone else lined up. However, I want to honor my word and continued with the process.

I too believe in taking my MBU with me but I understand people wanting to be careful. Every uke has it's own voice so enjoy each the new build.
 
In January I had my first Mya Moe built for me, and without anything particular in mind I put myself in line for another one to come a year later.

Now Char is emailing me that I'm going to need to decide what to build. And I'm thinking that maybe this time I'll go for the high gloss polyester finish. All things being equal I like the look and feel of a good gloss finish. It makes an instrument feel more "premium" to me. Don't get me wrong, I like various satin finishes also. And I think Mya Moe does a good job on their satin finishes, but I'm thinking of going for something a little different on this one.

It looks like they've used the gloss on only a small percentage of their ukes. Of those of you who hIave or have had one - what did you think of the gloss on the Mya Moe?

IMHO go with what your gut tells you...after all it is a custom made ukulele made just for you!!!

There are differences of opinions concerning gloss or no gloss. I will not start a controversy on which is better. There are benefits attributed to both. My only comment is that I have not noticed any difference in the sound of both gloss vs non-gloss. Don't let anyone talk you out what you really want. I do have a May Moe Brazilian/Port Orford Cedar Tenor which I had made a couple of years ago. I personally favor the glossy but had it done with satin. Only because I let Gordon talk me into it. What he informed me about the benefits of the satin finish made a lot of sense and decided to go with his recommendation. I can only say that I have not noticed any difference in sound as compared to my other premium custom made ukuleles with glossy finish. I did go through a period of buyers remorse Remember no matter what the builder may say...the decision is still yours to make.
 
Why don't I want to travel with the Moore Bettah? Too hard to replace it. I can be a little absent minded. I'm also not the most careful person in the world. I prefer to travel with something more replaceable. Also when we go to uke camp you can't lock the cabins. And the temperature can vary quite a bit. It would undermine my enjoyment to be worrying about my uke to the extent that I would if I brought the Moore Bettah. The Moore Bettah is a tenor. To travel I usually prefer to carry a concert or soprano if I am flying.

In addition the Moore Bettah is tuned Low G and I like it as it is, but a lot of what I play uses the re-entrant tuning. Since I got the Moore Bettah I've been experimenting quite a bit with low G and it works very well for many things, but also still like high G.
 
There are two posts from two UUers stating that Gordon does not favor gloss when they spoke with him, plus a third mention of it as affecting sound in the video I've linked. Sounds like the luthier at MM does not favor a gloss instrument from his shop. That alone would have me order non-gloss from Mya Moe.
 
Is sending it to Addam Stark to finish an option? He's the man for an excellent gloss instrument finish.
Many well respected luthiers have Addam finish their instruments. His pricing is very fair from what I have heard.
 
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