uv finish v's satin finish

RAZZLE

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I hope this is the right forum.My question is does the uv finish on the kanilea bring out the koa grain more than satin?I know the satin finish is louder hence soundmonster, but is there other positives and negatives for both finishes?
razzle
 
I have the UV finish. I don't know for sure about the visual on the grain.

But I can tell you, my ukulele recently dropped and fell on a tile floor. It did chip, but there are a couple of fine scratches. With the UV finish, the scratches are almost impossible to see, and only visible at certain angles. It hides scratches much better than the satin does. The benefit of the satin is that it doesn't show fingerprints as easily as the UV does.

As for the soundmonster, I could be mistaken, but I believe Kanile'a is now using that bracing system in all their ukuleles, UV and satin finish. Perhaps on an older one, the satin was the only one that had it, but on new ones, I think they both sound the same volume. But don't quote me on that, I may be mistaken...
 
As for the soundmonster, I could be mistaken, but I believe Kanile'a is now using that bracing system in all their ukuleles, UV and satin finish. Perhaps on an older one, the satin was the only one that had it, but on new ones, I think they both sound the same volume. But don't quote me on that, I may be mistaken...

I thought the soundmonster had to do with the finish not the bracing. I think they were using the TRU bracing for all thier ukes. I might be wrong.

As for the finish question I don't have a Kanile'a ukes (yet) but I did have a uke built for mw recently and I was told by the luither the glossy finish brings the wood grain out better.
 
I thought the soundmonster had to do with the finish not the bracing. I think they were using the TRU bracing for all thier ukes. I might be wrong.

They use TRU for all the bracing now, except maybe on special order customs, UV or satin.

The grain comes out significantly more in the UV. Example's below. Both very good Koa the UV is a Kanile'a the satin is a ko'olau.


UV Image
FrontShot.jpg


Satin
Kookau1.jpg
 
I have a Kanile'a K1 Concert in satin and I really like it.
It's true that the UV shows the grain a lot more than the satin but I don't think it has a big impact on the sound as the UV coating is also very thin.

What I don't like on the UV or any other glossy finish is the fingerprints. I also have a glossy uke and it really annoys me so I end up cleaning it all the time in stead of playing it :p

What I like most about the satin finish is that it really looks simple and basic. It really looks hand made. Also very Zen ;)
I don't like ukes with lots of decorations.
 
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