Laminated ukes' sound improving over time-your experience?

rrieth

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There has been so much written about how solid wood ukuleles mature and sound better over time, while all-laminate ones don't. I have experience with 2 all-laminate instruments that indicate to me that it might be more complicated than that.

The first is an Aersi zebra wood all-laminate concert ukulele. I bought it nearly two years ago because I wanted a knockabout instrument. It was dirt cheap and had been given a favorable review on this forum. I wasn't concerned much about the sound. I just wanted a playable ukulele with the robustness of all-laminate construction. When I received it the sound was muffled and boxy and I had to strum hard to get any volume from it. I gave it to my sister who liked it and wanted to learn to play. She took it home with her and I didn't see her or the uke again until about a year later When I played the ukulele the sound had changed for the better. It was responsive even when strummed lightly and had a sweet sound with good volume.

The second instrument is a Baton Rouge 8 string which I bought 10 months ago based forum posts here and a favorable "gotaukulele" review. When I received it also sounded boxy and muffled and I had to strum hard to get any volume. I was disappointed and thought I must have gotten a dud. I've played it only sporadically since I bought it, Typically I would tune it up, play a song or 2, put it back in the case ad leave it for long periods of time because I was so discouraged.
I brought it to ukulele club last night, mostly to share it with other members who might want to try an 8 string. I ended up playing it myself for most of the night because it sounded so good. Unlike when it was new it now is responsive, even to light strumming and has a full rich sound with a rich sustain. I will be playing it more in the future. I no longer regret buying it.

I'm interested to see if anyone else has noticed this with their all-laminate instruments. My experience with these 2 instruments contradicts what is usually said about all-laminate instrument that the sound when new will not improve with age.

My limited experience indicates that some all-laminate instruments can change for the better over time and that anyone disappointed with their new boxy sounding muffled all-laminate ukulele might want to wait for about a year before replacing it. They could be be pleasantly surprised.

edit 6:15 pm
I'm requesting that you add a comment only if you have bought a new all-laminate ukulele and whether you have noticed a change over time. Let's not go down the "opening up" rabbit hole
 
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I suspect the changes in the sound of your ukes is more due to the strings settling in than the laminate material changing. The neck may have possibly been affected slightly by humidity and string tension.

Plus, our memories do play tricks on us. We remember a particular trait and with time our memory exaggerates it. Then we hear it after a period of not playing it and it doesn't sound the way we remembered it.
 
I'm not convinced that solids "open up", or enough enough to notice anyway, so I'm a bit skeptical about laminates doing it.
 
If they sound better to you then they do.
 
I am rather skeptical about any uke, solid or not, 'opening up' with time due to vibrations.

More likely explanations are your own familiarity to the instrument and subjectivity.

If "vintage" instruments have "opened up" it is because their nitrocellulose coating has thinned and the glues have broken down a bit.
Many modern instruments don't use nitrocellulose, but polyurethane - which don't change over time.
 
Please limit comments to your personal experience with new all laminate ukuleles.
 
Got a new lami uke some time ago. It sounded loud and had a typical lami boxy voice to it. Played 1-2 hours on it everyday for 3-4 months before I sold it as I need an uke with more than 12 frets. In my short experience with this uke, it sounded the same as the first day I got it.
 
Dude, this a forum—a place to exchange ideas—and members are allowed to express their opinions on the topic so long as they are civil.

Agreed... this is not a personal message site. Many threads go off on tangents while others shift the direction of a topic. All are free (including you) to ignore posts that are not of interest to you.

My incomplete understanding of ukes opening up is that the vibrations can change the sound partly due to unevenness of construction. Example might be where a little more glue has been used to limit the vibrations in a localized area and playing loosens up this area. No reason to believe that this can only happen on solid wood construction.

One other comment that is common to opening up discussions is that during this time frame the owner's skills are improving and it is difficult to separate the two.
 
Please limit comments to your personal experience with new all laminate ukuleles.

I have owned hundreds of ukes, solid, solid-top, laminate and solid body.

Any perceived change in sound over the years is so subjectively biased that it has no credibility.
That is my point. It's a very skeptical area.

That being said, maybe don't be so narrow minded in an open forum about ukuleles?
What useful data are you going to obtain for your sake (and everybody else's sake) if you're going to be so ignorant towards sound reasoning and opinions of the very people you are asking?
 
I'm curious if climate has anything to do with it. I've had ukuleles that came from distant places with different climates, that have initially been disappointing in sound. Yet sometimes they sound better after weeks or even months. It's to the point that I don't like to write off a bad sounding ukulele until I've had it for a while.
 
duplicate post removed
 
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Dude, this a forum—a place to exchange ideas—and members are allowed to express their opinions on the topic so long as they are civil.

I should have phrased my last post differently and I apologize if I offended anyone. I was only trying to keep the thread on the original topic which is peoples' personal experience with changes in sound of new all-laminate ukuleles over time. I appreciate the comments of those who have posted on topic comments and look forward to hearing from others. This is my first experience with a thread I started going astray and apologize again for handling it awkwardly..
 
I only buy a lam when it sounds lovely on the very same day that I try it out, prior to purchase. My lams don't change, nor would I want them to do so.

My ukes with perfect-sounding solid tops do change when played a LOT (thus becoming even more better perfecter) -- especially the cedar tops. My theory: solid topwood has growth lines. Vibration of the topwood flexes those lines so that the topwood can move more freely, & be better synergized** to that uke's sounds. (YEMV**)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Synergy is the creation of a whole that is greater than the simple sum of its parts.
**Your Ears May Vary
 
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Something to remember about laminate is not all are created using the same techniques or materials. In some cases, you have a thin veneer of wood selected for aesthetics and not tone, but with maybe other layers of the laminate possibly constructed of something like mahogany. There are also claims of some builders that their laminate is comprised of layered koa. Moving past the wood used, you also need to consider the adhesive. The glue selected by the maker isn't going to be a type that would be known for the ability to come apart-- that would lead to a laminate de-laminating and completely defeat the purpose. Laminate is generally made with wood that's been stacked cross grained, with adhesive in between each of the layers. All of these factors are intended to produce stability, which is to say minimize flexing and warping. This would counter the occurrence of whatever variables might be responsible for possibly making an instrument sound better over time, because that implies the construction method which is focused on fixity has to some degree failed to achieve its original intent. Best to buy laminate if and only if you like the sound at time of purchase.
Also, I hope you recognize that limiting the discussion to just laminates would also be too broad to arrive at a reliable conclusion based on the interplay of the variables that go into laminate construction, nevermind those that vary from instrument to instrument, let alone across different makers, so maybe the comments you didn't care for weren't really that far afield...
 
I have several guitars and ukes ranging from super cheap to very high end. I only noticed changes in one of them that I owned for 40 years and I find it sounds much worse than when it was new. But what I find is that as I own any instrument for a longer time and play it more I improve at making it sound better.
 
Chuck Moore who makes Moore Bettah ukulele (all solid woods) believes that instruments improve in sound over the first month. His theory is the wood begins to relax and stabilize. The glues and finish are hardening and setting. This instrument is becoming accustomed to its new environment, temperature, humidity and barometric pressures. He suggests you play the heck out of it for the first month.

Laminate is thin slices of wood glued together, it has a finish applied. The neck is usually solid wood. It goes through the same bending and shaping processes as solid wood instruments. Based on these factory it is possible “some” instruments improve in sound over time, some don’t or won’t or can’t. It’s all very individual.
 
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Chuck Moore who makes Moore Bettah ukulele (all solid woods) believes that instruments improve in sound over the first month. His theory is the wood begins to relax and stabilize. The glues and finish are hardening and setting. This instrument is becoming accustomed to its new environment, temperature, humidity and barometric pressures. He suggests you play the heck out of it for the first month.

Laminate is thin slices of wood glued together, it has a finish applied. The neck is usually solid wood. It goes through the same bending and shaping processes as solid wood instruments. Based on these factory it is possible “some” instruments improve in sound over time, some don’t or won’t or can’t. It’s all very individual.

Thank you for that comment Dave. I started this thread when I noticed the change in the second ukulele this week. I decided to post because it contradicts what I have read in various forum posts on the subject and thought it might be useful, especially for someone disappointed with a new all-laminate ukulele and no money to fund UAS

Several posters have suggested I didn't hear what I heard and proposed alternate explanations. I offer the following:

I've played guitar since 1964 and ukulele since 2013. I'm not claiming to be particularly good on either one, only saying that I can't attribute the change in the sound to an improvement in my skill level.

I own tenor and concert ukuleles and guitars with various neck profiles and scale lengths. I am used to adjusting to different instruments, so can't attribute the sound changes to increased familiarity with the instrument in question.

The sound spectrum didn't seem to change, just the resonance and response to my typically light strum. It's as though the instruments had come equipped with a mute which was subsequently removed.

I am also not trying to equate all-laminate with solid construction. I bought these instruments for budgetary reasons only, and, given the choice would buy an all-solid instrument.

Again, thanks to those who have posted.
 
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I have owned hundreds of ukes, solid, solid-top, laminate and solid body.

Any perceived change in sound over the years is so subjectively biased that it has no credibility.
That is my point. It's a very skeptical area.

That being said, maybe don't be so narrow minded in an open forum about ukuleles?
What useful data are you going to obtain for your sake (and everybody else's sake) if you're going to be so ignorant towards sound reasoning and opinions of the very people you are asking?

I was apparently writing my comment as you were writing your first one. Although my comment was posted after yours I wasn't directing it at you. in particular. I didn't mean to offend you. I have read many of your posts and valued them.

I was only trying to keep this from being another "opening up-fact or fiction" thread which are abundant here and on other forums. I appreciate that this is a very civil forum, and will be more careful in my comments in the future.
 
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