Rllink
Well-known member
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.
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.
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.
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.