What exactly IS laminate?

YogiTom · Apr 7, 2019

May be a dumb question, but I couldn’t find an answer using the search function...

What exactly is laminate wood used for ukulele builds? For the purpose of my question, let’s say we’re talking about a spalted maple B/S laminate uke.

Is it similar to plywood, with multiple thin sheets of the spalted maple wood laminated together with the grain of each sheet perpendicular to those above and below it? Or is it more akin to having a solid piece of, say, spruce in the center with sheets of spalted maple glued on, similar to a veneer?

Mainly just want to know if a laminate is comprised of all the same wood or a composite of a cheaper/durable core wood with pretty wood glued on for the face.

Also, do different builders do laminate differently?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

Croaky Keith · Apr 7, 2019

Usually, just veneer on the outside, not sure if the middle is one or more layers, & of what wood.

Edit: Just to say that the laminate will be of a reasonable quality of wood, not like what you normally buy for construction type jobs.

UkingViking · Apr 7, 2019

There was a recent thread about this:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?138156-Laminate-used-for-ukes

Basically the "laminate" is used about every wood based product which is not solid wood.

Stuff like HPL laminate is made from paper thin sheets glued together.
Stuff branded as a surden wood, without the word "solid", and referred to as laminate in this forum, is probably similar to plywood made from this wood.

But you can't really be sure unless specified.

John boy · Apr 7, 2019

Right, I'm the person who started the original thread that UkingViking mentioned above. It got to several pages long, and what I learned is that laminate can be virtually anything that isn't one solid piece of actual wood.

YogiTom · Apr 7, 2019

UkingViking said:
There was a recent thread about this:

https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?138156-Laminate-used-for-ukes

John boy said:
Right, I'm the person who started the original thread that UkingViking mentioned above. It got to several pages long, and what I learned is that laminate can be virtually anything that isn't one solid piece of actual wood.

Thanks for the link! I’ll give it a read-through. Still learning to be a search Jedi, but hasn’t happened yet...
I had a feeling it could be virtually anything, but wondered if there was some “standard” method for the stuff used to make instruments.

glennerd · Apr 8, 2019

I think, typically, for the lower priced instruments, the laminate will be a thin layer of whatever the stated wood is, layered with cheaper woods underneath.

From what I've noticed, other types of laminated construction seem to indicate such. HPL is stated any time I've seen it. Also, I've seen laminates where all the layers are the same wood on a higher grade instrument, and it's reflected in the price.

glennerd · Apr 8, 2019

Bill1 said:
"Laminated" is a time wasting trap for beginners.
Laminating is a process of joining two or more smaller pieces of wood together to make a larger piece of wood. Plywood is a form of laminate, but not all laminated components are plywood.
When you glue solid pieces of wood together, you end up with a solid piece of wood, or you end up with solid pieces laminated together, depending on who is doing your marketing. The terminology is about distinguishing between quality levels in a lot of cases. They put the lowly "laminates" into the lower classes and "solid" into the "better" class. Its like a marketing slur to call someone else's product "laminate".
The truth is that almost every low cost uke made on the planet takes advantages of the benefits of plywoods and laminated components. There are very few ukes for sale in the lower price ranges which have a top made out one slice of wood. If you are looking at products in the lower price range you can save yourself a lot of time and worry by just assuming that you are looking at instruments made out of laminated components.
My advice to beginners is to move on from the term "laminate", look at more important things like intonation, set-up, construction quality, sound, how it feels to play, size etc.. Just assume all the low cost ukes are made out of laminate.
Over time you will learn more about woods and when you come to buy your second and third ukes, you will know a lot more and you might have saved more money, then you might be looking in the price ranges where ukes with a plywood top cross over to ukes with a single slice of wood for the top.

Way to cut through the BS Bill. Agree but, based on his signature, he's working from the top down.

YogiTom · Apr 8, 2019

glennerd said:
Way to cut through the BS Bill. Agree but, based on his signature, he's working from the top down.

Lol, you got me.

I do appreciate the straight talk, Bill, but it was more just my own curiosity than anything else. I figured if anyone would know, this community might!

UkingViking · Apr 8, 2019

I sold my non-solid ukes last year, so I can't go check it.

But considering how thin the uke top, back etc. is, isn't it usually made with just 3 plies of wood?
You can see the outer ply.
The one in the inside you can see through the soundhole. I dont remember the inside of the laminated agathis and mahogany ukes I had looking like a different wood. Not finished in the same way, but looking similar in grain.

So there is one ply in question. I would guess that you would need to be looking at a very cheap ukulele before that would be made from another wood.

Any other thoughts on that?

FatManInDevon · Apr 11, 2019

Am I right in thinking that laminate ukes (although on the cheap end of the price scale) are less prone to environmental variables such as varying temperatures and humidity levels than solid wood ukes? I’m sure I’ve either read that or seen it in a YouTube video.

Croaky Keith · Apr 11, 2019

Basically, yes, they don't need to be looked after so much as a solid wood instrument.

However, you can choose whatever you like here in the UK, just put the solid wood ukes away, in a gig bag or case, after playing them, that's all I do.

What exactly IS laminate?

YogiTom

Well-known member

Croaky Keith

Well-known member

UkingViking

Well-known member

John boy

Well-known member

YogiTom

Well-known member

glennerd

Well-known member

glennerd

Well-known member

YogiTom

Well-known member

UkingViking

Well-known member

FatManInDevon

Member

Croaky Keith

Well-known member

Similar threads