Laminate used for ukes

Lotsa ukes are advertised as being laminate (name the wood). Like Laminate mahogany, laminate walnut, etc. I believe this means a thin layer of the wood on top of some other, cheaper type of wood. Is that correct? If so, what type of wood is used for the underlying layer? I've always been curious about this.

I believe laminated mahogany would be mahogany. Putting a layer on top of another wood would be a veneer.

OK, so perhaps I'm confusing veneer with laminated wood.

What, then, would be the difference between laminated mahogany and mahogany?

Many "laminated" ukes are made with a flashy, exotic veneer over a multi-layer base wood (who knows what?). The inexpensive ziricote, ebony, spalted whatever, zebrawood, etc. ukes just have a thin layer on the outside and something cheap on the inside. Call them veneer or call them laminates, but it's still not a solid wood. There are some high-quality laminate instruments (Kiwaya, for example) , but they're usually not the sub-$100 ones you'll find on Amazon.

Thanks for the explanation.

John boy said:

Lotsa ukes are advertised as being laminate (name the wood). Like Laminate mahogany, laminate walnut, etc. I believe this means a thin layer of the wood on top of some other, cheaper type of wood. Is that correct? If so, what type of wood is used for the underlying layer? I've always been curious about this.

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Laminate is a form of plywood and plywood comes in various grades depending on the bonding and the filler woods, etc. Do not assume anything with laminates as they are definitely not all the same. About all you’ll know is what the outer (top and bottom) layers are claimed to be made of. Looking at the wood surface of the sound hole of one of my laminate Ukes that laminate has three layers, the inner layer is thicker and clearly not the same colour as the outer layers, so likely different wood types.

Luthiers don’t tend to use laminate because their customers perceive it as an inferior material to solid wood but it does have its applications (IIRC Pete Howlett said something along those lines). Anyway the best answer you can hope for is from a Luthier who might give some insight on the types and availability of instrument grade wood laminate.

When I looked at the possibility of building a cigar box Uke I found that model maker’s laminate sheet was available in suitable thicknesses but the better quality stuff (without voids, etc.) isn’t cheap, though part of the expense is carriage costs from specialist suppliers.

This gets more and more interesting. We've now got three different definitions of what "laminated" means. Thanks to all who responded. I guess the only thing I can conclude with certainty is that if it says laminated, it's not one solid piece of wood.

"the only thing I can conclude with certainty is that if it says laminated, it's not one solid piece of wood"

That is correct - and it might not even be wood in any form. I have bought several very cheap soprano ukes from the AliExpress site. They are surprisingly good, if you just want a sturdy, OK sounding instrument. I keep one in my car.

I broke one up, in order to use its components for a hobby project, and was amazed at how strong was the sheet material from which the body was made. It appeared to be a synthetic laminate product. There was a core of coarse fibres, and they might have been of plant origin, but didn't really look like wood - as we know it, Jim! The outer surface has a very convincing wooden appearance and texture, but that seems to be printed.

'Formica' is the closest material to what I am attempting to describe. That was originally made using paper, I believe. Paper is itself a wood product, of course.

Anyway, whatever this stuff is, it makes very decent, cheap ukes, and should be much stronger and more tolerant of varying ambient conditions than is solid wood,or even laminated wood.

John Colter

Just to add my 2¢... some of the confusion arises from the use of the word "laminate" as a noun and a verb. As a verb, it simply means gluing layers (of something) together.

When a ukulele or guitar is referred to as having a body made of "laminate" it often means something more like the formica countertop material. Martin, for example, offers instruments made from HPL (high pressure laminate) which is essentially paper layers bound in phenolic resins under pressure. To this, Martin then applies a printed layer to make it look like wood, or whatever..

Laminated wood bodies are a different matter.. but very often, makers don't use that term. They simply omit the word "solid" from their descriptions. For example, a uke will be described as having a "solid mahogany top and mahogany back and sides". Since they didn't use the word solid for the back and sides, you can infer they're laminated.

Then there's the grey area of using a thicker solid core wood and laminating a thin veneer of exotic wood to the top and bottom. Taylor does this on their Mexican made acoustic guitars. They use a thicker solid core of poplar which, on its own, is sometimes used as a solid tone wood. To the poplar, they then laminate mahogany, rosewood, walnut... whatever. Taylor refers to these as having "layered" backs and sides. This is similar to some of the Sailor brand ukes but they refer to them as having solid wood backs and sides with exotic veneers.

... and then there's solid wood.. which is, or ought to be, just that.

Many assume that instruments that have laminated backs, sides and tops are inferior, "economy" models. This isn't necessarily so. Lamination has a very respectable history and following in the world of more costly, custom built guitars and ukuleles. Laminated parts can be tailored to contribute to both the tonality and the structural integrity of instruments. This can be a high quality approach to building that is more costly and more labor intensive than using solid wood parts.

saltytri said:

Many assume that instruments that have laminated backs, sides and tops are inferior, "economy" models. This isn't necessarily so. Lamination has a very respectable history and following in the world of more costly, custom built guitars and ukuleles. Laminated parts can be tailored to contribute to both the tonality and the structural integrity of instruments. This can be a high quality approach to building that is more costly and more labor intensive than using solid wood parts.

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Yes, ukes with high quality laminate can often sound better than some other solid ukes

Basically the word "laminate" in ukulele context is used anything other wood based material than solid wood.

It could be HPL laminated from paper thin layers, it may be a plywood laminated from layers of the same wood all the way through, and it could in theory be a plywood with another veneer on top not corresponding to the internal plies. It is all made from layers.

But as pointed out, usually it would be made from layers of the same wood, unless specified as HPL or other.
I never heard of an Ukulele with a fake veneer on the outside. Except perhaps the front on the headstock.

"I never heard of an Ukulele with a fake veneer on the outside"

There are lots. The "Formica" like material looks extremely convincing, but I believe the patterned surface is printed onto the surface. It actually makes very decent cheap ukes. Much better than the ubiquitous basic three-ply painted ones.

John Colter

Sailor brand ukuleles are the only ones that say what the base wood in their laminate is. They advertise "Solid Poplar Back/Sides - covered inside/out w/" (whatever nicer wood applies to that particular model).

Good for them. It's nice to know exactly what's in the uke you're buying.

kkimura said:

Sailor brand ukuleles are the only ones that say what the base wood in their laminate is. They advertise "Solid Poplar Back/Sides - covered inside/out w/" (whatever nicer wood applies to that particular model).

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John boy said:

Good for them. It's nice to know exactly what's in the uke you're buying.

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Yes it's nice to know what they're using, but I don't think it appropriate for them to refer to it as "solid wood". After all, most laminated wood products are made from layers of solid wood.

As I mentioned earlier, Taylor does this same thing... a thicker core of poplar with thinner layers of a more exotic tonewood veneer laminated on the front and back. They refer to jt as "layered" and they get plenty of flak among many guitarists for calling it anything other than "laminated".

Some of this is just marketing trying to differentiate one product over another. Furniture made from mahogany veneer over hardwood sounds better than birch plywood. That said, it's still nice to know all of the woods used in the body of the ukulele not just the visible woods.

kkimura said:

Furniture made from mahogany veneer over hardwood sounds better than birch plywood.....

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Indeed! The 1940s mahogany veneer over solid maple nightstand we inherited from my late mother-in-law sounds much better than its IKEA counterpart, especially when tuned as a bari with Living Water strings

As Swamp Yankee mentioned, Martin OX and OXK ukes are HPL (high pressure laminate) with a printed pattern on the top layer to make it appear as natural wood (either bamboo or koa). Printing has come a long way, and they actually look quite nice. I've seen many excellent reviews for these ukes and this material too. Durable, light, resonant, and sustainable.

https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/ukulele/0xk-uke/