Upcoming release of Enya Carbon Ukulele

Thanks for the reply Baz! I've watched a lot of your review videos so you're like uke royalty.

I did have a little chuckle when someone in this thread said you were rather favourable (paraphrashing) to Enya as I'd just watched the Kaka review that you referenced :D

EUx-MAD - I meant the x as "insert your size here" as most of the reviews I've seen have been for the concert (EUC-MAD) and I am wanting the tenor (EUT-MAD). I'm new to ukes so I'm not sure whether that's an accepted way to refer to models.

I've just discovered that the EUT-MAD (as all solid wood ukes) need a humidity range of 40-60% RH which is a bit of a bummer. I'm in Australia where we average 60-75% humidity. So I need to figure out whether I could easily maintain the EUT-MAD or if I should go for the X1M
 
To be honest ALL solid wood ukes need that sort of RH. Low RH is worse than high though, but even a high RH can cause things to warp and swell. Much better that than low RH which can lead to splitting.
 
Thanks Baz,

I just read your article from a few years back about humidity. I'd say 90% of material about humidity online refers to low humidity. As you stated in reply to one post in that article, it's not likely to have the same level of humidity inside as is reported outside by the weather bureau. First step seems to be a hygrometer, but I'm feeling less certain that if I get an EUT-MAD it'll spontaneously explode on me due to the humidity!
 
Yeah - you need to measure inside your house - only way to know. Keep away from heat sources, sunlight etc. Best in a case of course.

It is indeed the extremes that are the problem, and moving to and from extremes in particular. Temperature also comes into it too - it's a complex subject, but common sense helps most of the time.

Example of how the moving from extremes can be an issue. Somebody I know travelled for two hours on a very hot day in an air conditioned car. The solid uke was in a case and clearly had been chilled by the AC. Arrived at an outdoor jam, took the uke out in the warm sunshine, strummed a chord and the top split in two. It wasn't the 'being in the sun' that killed it, it was the move from the chilled car to the sun.

Short version though - it takes a lot of silly abuse to really destroy a uke with low or high humidity. Monitor, keep in cases, keep away from heat etc - you'll be ok.

Bear in mind - Hawaii is a hot and at times humid place, but became the de-facto birthplace of the ukulele. If such environments were so bad for instruments, how did that happen?
 
Bear in mind - Hawaii is a hot and at times humid place, but became the de-facto birthplace of the ukulele. If such environments were so bad for instruments, how did that happen?

Clearly they only have laminates :p

Looking at this chart though, I don't think I have too much to worry about:
Hawaii humidity.jpg

What you say about the variance makes complete sense. Standard principle of physics!

So when people say "in a case", does a soft case qualify as a "case"? Still a n00b and I don't want to assume that "case" refers to ALL cases when it may refer solely to hard cases!

I don't have artificial heating or cooling. I would envision leaving it in it's soft case either under my bed or on top of the wardrobe - both out of direct sunlight.
 
Any case helps create a more stable atmospehere, but thicker the better I find. Hard case is best for any uke.
 
Just an additional idea:
You can also get a plastic bag and seal it up or one of those plastic storage bins that will seal up tightly and store the uke inside its gig bag in there with whatever you need to control the humidity. You might look into the humidipaks from D'addario or if you could find the ones from Boveda (I think that's who makes the ones for D'addario) that maintain the correct humidity for you. They will give or take humidity as needed. If you're mostly worried about high humidity I bet they would last a lot longer. The only ones I've had to go bad were due to low humidity as they dry up then have to be replaced. Just another thought there. They are an added expense, but maybe worth it to you.
 
The worry from azairvine was, I believe, high humidity, not low!
 
High humidity issues

Thanks for the reply Baz! I've watched a lot of your review videos so you're like uke royalty.

I did have a little chuckle when someone in this thread said you were rather favourable (paraphrashing) to Enya as I'd just watched the Kaka review that you referenced :D

EUx-MAD - I meant the x as "insert your size here" as most of the reviews I've seen have been for the concert (EUC-MAD) and I am wanting the tenor (EUT-MAD). I'm new to ukes so I'm not sure whether that's an accepted way to refer to models.

I've just discovered that the EUT-MAD (as all solid wood ukes) need a humidity range of 40-60% RH which is a bit of a bummer. I'm in Australia where we average 60-75% humidity. So I need to figure out whether I could easily maintain the EUT-MAD or if I should go for the X1M


If you store it in a hard case with some Boveda 49% packs, they are designed to absorb excess moisture. Go ahead and spring for a 12 pack, unless you want to try a two or three first to be sure they will suck out the moisture. But cheaping out on humidity control is a road to heart ache! But you also should put a hygrometer in the case to assure the humidity range is right. You can take it out and play it to your heart's content, just store it in the case when not in use.

I have tried many hygrometers, and I find the cheapo analog ones are accurate enough, and don't need batteries. Yes, I have done the accuracy testing with a sealed container with moistened salt. Still find these cheapos are a great option. I also bought some that use a radio frequency for remote monitoring, since i have so many ukes. Links below.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B6AHW3K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PI5N9E6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
Post production sound mods?

I'd caution you that the sound in that video is NOT in fact the natural sound of the instrument and seems obvious to me that there is both reverb and compression added in post-production.

The smart bet would be to wait until Baz does a review of one of these on his Got A Ukulele site, and with his accompanying video you will get to hear the true, un-doctored sound of this instrument and also benefit from the careful guidance of a person who has played and reviewed more ukes than most people will ever touch in their lifetime...

Just my two cents here...

These have the transacoustic system option. That means they have an internal speaker to create a reverb affect when played acoustically. I believe that was a demonstration of one of these with the transacoustic pickup creating this effect played acoustically. That is what should be going on in their demo video, and it is possible the effect was not post prod. Readup about the
  • DOUBLE® TransAcoustic pickup.
I have one on pre-order, supposed to ship mid October. If I can get around to it I'll post something about it.
 
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