Laminated ukes' sound improving over time-your experience?

See post #17-one person experienced negative change and admitted to it.

Thanks for the input.

Yes they did, but I believe that the common consensus is that they are going to get better over time.
 
Yes they did, but I believe that the common consensus is that they are going to get better over time.

Another negative has been posted-see post #29.

My personal experience has been that all my instruments have gotten better to some degree over time. The sound spectrum didn't really change. They just sound like a better version of themselves-more resonant and more responsive to picking. The one exceptionis a Washburn Rover travel guitar which sounded thin and banjo-like when new but several years later had mellowed. It is now more guitarlike, albeit limited in volume overall and some of the lower guitar frequencies due to the design of its small body which is about the size and thickness of a size 17 shoe. It's the only one I've owned whose sound spectrum has changed. If I had bought it because I liked its voice when new I would probably be disappointed with its mellower sound when it matured.

I would join the consensus which says 100% improvement because I prefer the sound of the Washburn now. I would not go as far as saying one could predict with certainty that any all-laminate instrument will improve based only on my experience.

I will, however, stand by my suggestion of not getting immediately rid of a new instrument which you like except for the sound. There is anecdotal evidence it may improve with time.

From your comments I assume you have not experienced a change. Thank you for adding a data point.
 
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My first ukulele was a Fender all-laminate Nohea Tenor. After a setup and a set of Living Waters strings it sounded pretty good. Not very loud, a little muffled and boxy, decent sustain, & good intonation. Built like a tank. I played the heck out of it for about 6 months, then bought an Ohana TK-50G solid cedar-rosewood tenor and then other solid tenors, and I didn't play the Fender much for the next 18 months or so.

Before I donated it to the local USO, I played it again for about an hour. Just to see if it was as I remembered. I have to say, it was. If anything, I noticed more of its nuances and its shortcomings. I was a better player and could do more with it. And, I owned several mid & higher-end tenors to which I was comparing it. Most were also strung with LW strings. But, to be honest, it sounded pretty much as I remembered. No more, no less.

It's popular with the young military people. I think they are attracted to the Fender Headstock and curious to hear how it sounds.
 
My first ukulele was a Fender all-laminate Nohea Tenor. After a setup and a set of Living Waters strings it sounded pretty good. Not very loud, a little muffled and boxy, decent sustain, & good intonation. Built like a tank. I played the heck out of it for about 6 months, then bought an Ohana TK-50G solid cedar-rosewood tenor and then other solid tenors, and I didn't play the Fender much for the next 18 months or so.

Before I donated it to the local USO, I played it again for about an hour. Just to see if it was as I remembered. I have to say, it was. If anything, I noticed more of its nuances and its shortcomings. I was a better player and could do more with it. And, I owned several mid & higher-end tenors to which I was comparing it. Most were also strung with LW strings. But, to be honest, it sounded pretty much as I remembered. No more, no less.

It's popular with the young military people. I think they are attracted to the Fender Headstock and curious to hear how it sounds.


I seem to remember reading Fender ukes, as well as acoustic guitars are overbuilt and, if so it might help to explain the lack of change in yours I've never tried one so I have to rely on the opinions of others. I do like the 4 on a side headstock. It looks cool and the tuners are all righty tighty lefty loosey which keeps things simple. What a nice gesture to donate it to the USO. I'm sure it brought smiles to many people.

In his review of the Baton Rouge v2t8 sun, the ukulele I used as an example in my first post Barry Maz mentions the thinness of the laminate in this model and considers it to be responsible for the good sound he experienced.

Thank you for your input. We're getting more data points.
 
I seem to remember reading Fender ukes, as well as acoustic guitars are overbuilt and, if so it might help to explain the lack of change in yours I've never tried one so I have to rely on the opinions of others. I do like the 4 on a side headstock. It looks cool and the tuners are all righty tighty lefty loosey which keeps things simple. What a nice gesture to donate it to the USO. I'm sure it brought smiles to many people.

In his review of the Baton Rouge v2t8 sun, the ukulele I used as an example in my first post Barry Maz mentions the thinness of the laminate in this model and considers it to be responsible for the good sound he experienced.

Thank you for your input. We're getting more data points.

Yes, it is a very sturdy uke. Which was one of the reasons I donated it. I thought it would hold up better than most. I used it as my travel uke for a while because it was so robust. When I tapped the top and sides, it was more of a thunk sound than a resonant one.
 
My $.02 short answer, yes. All acoustic instruments are made up of parts and assembled together and then finished. A gross over simplification, all the assembled parts have to get used to becoming part of a whole. All wood instruments will change a bit as it gets used to resonating. Good modern laminates will start to resonate more as it ages (to a limited extent). The question is would anyone be able to tell? The finish's have a big effect on any instrument. Almost no one uses Nirto on price point Ukes and Poly finish's vary greatly on their effect on resonance. A builder at Pono told me when asked a thin matt finish will sound "more broken in" right from the start. A Gloss finish that is slightly thicker takes longer. I can hear a difference in several laminates I have, but it is very subtle. Strings can be very deceiving as they age. To answer your question straight out I have heard a change, not as pronounced as with solid wood, but it is there. Trust your ears and what you can feel in your hands.
 
New information about my original poat.

It turns out the saddle was not flattened at the factory. The bottom of the saddle had a narrow ridge of material (a mold mark I believe) running across its bottom which was the only part of the saddle making contact with the bottom of the bridge slot. I'm thinking now that the improvement in sound was due to this ridge embedding itself over time due to string pressure. The uke sounds even better since I flattened the saddle and it's in full contact with the top. This is a good example of why a setup is important but it doesn't prove anything one way or the other about laminates opening up. I wish I had done this setup step before I posted.
 
New information about my original poat.

It turns out the saddle was not flattened at the factory. The bottom of the saddle had a narrow ridge of material (a mold mark I believe) running across its bottom which was the only part of the saddle making contact with the bottom of the bridge slot. I'm thinking now that the improvement in sound was due to this ridge embedding itself over time due to string pressure. The uke sounds even better since I flattened the saddle and it's in full contact with the top. This is a good example of why a setup is important but it doesn't prove anything one way or the other about laminates opening up. I wish I had done this setup step before I posted.

Yep, in my experience that would definitely have an impact. I suggest swopping out your saddle for a bone one too.

I’ve set-up quite a few Ukes including changing strings, nuts and saddle materials too. All that work gives small individual improvements but simply playing them has an additional impact too - overall improvement is the summation of many marginal gains. I’m not so sure that anyone can say for sure what the impacts of different things will definitely be (because there are just too many variables), but my experience is that typically the more you play an instrument the more chance it has of somehow changing to allow it to sound as good as it can be - of course it don’t matter how much you play a basic Mahalo it ain’t going to sound like a Martin. That experience of mine is good for laminates and for solids too and is something that I’ve found after completing other ‘improvement works’, provided the design and build isn’t significantly flawed (I’ve had a couple of laminates that were so limited) instruments typically respond well to being played.

I would generally echo the comments above by Uke@1415.
 
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I'm glad that everything turned out well in this instance. However, the problem with discussing laminates is that we don't know what's beneath the veneer of the laminate. We cannot make any statements about the qualities of the laminate because those qualities will change with the hodge podge of materials underneath. We are suspended in a state of aporia because each laminate is as unique as its composition. So, again, I am happy that this turned out well but we cannot extend this sentiment to other laminates generally since other laminates aren't the same. I suppose that is the attraction of the laminate: you never know what you'll get. You may be joyously surprised or grievously disappointed and you don't know which until you roll the dice.
 
I have never been a believer that ply instruments changed over time none of my ply guitars or ukes I was able to notice any difference over time , but my Yamaha GL1 has developed a very noticeable shimmering bell tone over time so I now believe some ply instruments can open up its a first for me .
 
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