It is a puzzlement....

bellgamin

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I visited a friend who had 2 identical all-solid-hog Ohana tenors, same exact model. He wanted to sell 1 of them.

I played each of them a while and noticed something odd. Namely, on one of those tenors, the wood vibrated a LOT when I played it. The other tenor manifested only what I would call "normal" vibration.

I examined them closely and could see zero differences in structure. My friend said he had strung both ukes with nylgut plus Fremont low G.

Of course I bought the one that vibrated. Several days later, my granddaughter visited. She played it for about an hour. As she was playing she said, "This thing feels like it's going to fly apart but it sure sounds nice."

I have 17 ukuleles and none of them vibrates like this particular Ohana. In fact, the vibration is almost startling, bordering on "ominous."

What is going on with this ukulele, I wonder?
 
Uketergeists. Like poltergeists but fewer exploding TVs and such :p
 
You had ukulele gnomes in your music room.
I have played several Ohana tenors that had no low range at all.
 
Sure sounds like a glued piece(s) shakin'
My set-up tech says all the inners are okay. When I pressed him to explain why the thing vibrates so much & sounds so good, he just laughed and said that maybe the uke got kissed by a menehune. Good grief! Can't anyone give me a straight answer?
 
My set-up tech says all the inners are okay. When I pressed him to explain why the thing vibrates so much & sounds so good, he just laughed and said that maybe the uke got kissed by a menehune. Good grief! Can't anyone give me a straight answer?

Mine was a straight answer. You might just need to experiment with dampening some sort of wacky resonance...
 
I can give you a straight answer but I do not think it will necessarily enlighten you. First of all, wood is not an engineered material. The physical characteristics vary widely among trees of the same species and even among pieces from the same tree. Factory assembled parts are cut, usually by CNC machines to nominal dimensions, but those dimensions can be changed considerably during the assembly and finishing process. Keep in mind tenths of a mm can make big differences. Usually these variables will work in different ways, resulting in an average sounding ukulele and sometimes they may be additive resulting in a superior sounding instrument. There are of course inferior ones produced as well.
Brad
 
I can give you a straight answer but I do not think it will necessarily enlighten you. First of all, wood is not an engineered material. The physical characteristics vary widely among trees of the same species and even among pieces from the same tree. Factory assembled parts are cut, usually by CNC machines to nominal dimensions, but those dimensions can be changed considerably during the assembly and finishing process. Keep in mind tenths of a mm can make big differences. Usually these variables will work in different ways, resulting in an average sounding ukulele and sometimes they may be additive resulting in a superior sounding instrument. There are of course inferior ones produced as well.
Brad
Thanks, Brad. That makes sense to me. To wit: in any production-line item, "lemons" sometimes happen. Conversely, "peaches" also occur... sometimes (but MUCH less often, sad to say). Maybe I got a peach.

By the way, does anyone know the "normal" solid-hog topwood thickness (in mm) for a production ukulele? My tech friend says this one's topwood is unusually thin.
 
I'm not a techie, but I would think that the difference would be in the particular pieces of wood used, particularly the top where most of the sound is produced. They're the same instruments, but not the same pieces of wood, so of course they will vary in sound. The thicknesses between the two tops could have varied a bit as well. A nicely vibrating top would be a big plus in the sound it produces. I used to go through several of the same model of guitars looking for "the one". With ukes, I haven't had that luxury.
 
Density of the wood(s). Thickness, contour, stiffness of the top. Thickness, positioning, gluing of the bracing. Dimensions & contours of the top, back, sides. Sound hole position or backing. Bridge dimensions, position, backing plate, glue, screws, saddle seating. Saddle thickness, compensation, seating. Aging, moisture content of the wood(s). Neck/fingerboard contact and attachment to the body. Overlap of the fretboard to the top. Finish of the body: thickness, type, buffing, polish. Hung over workers or ones who had their expresso. All of these can contribute to how the soundboard and the body vibrate.

The variables all came together and the pixies blessed it. You can go the scientific way or the supernatural way to explain it. Either way—jackpot!
 
By the way, does anyone know the "normal" solid-hog topwood thickness (in mm) for a production ukulele? My tech friend says this one's topwood is unusually thin.

Rule of thumb: Spruce soprano tops should be around 2 mm thick (start at 2,2 mm so you can dial it down gently). Cedar can go above that, larger surfaces (concert, tenor) as well. Harder tonewoods go below that, a Mahogany soprano could be around 1,8 mm and I've even seen koa ones that went down to 1,5 mm. Those are ballpark figures, because slices from the same billet of tonewood can give a different density (weight) and stiffness. Luthiers take it into account, for ukuleles from a larger workshop you're the one to pick the right ones. CNC machines really don't look at the grain, densitity, resonance the way a person does. On the other hand, they cut much more uniformly.

In my experience, light weight ukuleles with paper thin tops stand better chances of sounding above average. Think of it as being on the brink of exploding just by themselves...
 
My set-up tech says all the inners are okay. When I pressed him to explain why the thing vibrates so much & sounds so good, he just laughed and said that maybe the uke got kissed by a menehune. Good grief! Can't anyone give me a straight answer?

Well if you're the one playing it and you can't figure it out and you took it to a professional and he can't figure it out, what do you expect here, other than speculation?
 
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... you took it to a professional and he can't figure it out, what do you expect here, other than speculation?
Sure, I expected speculation by fellow ukulele lovers at UU. I truly enjoy reading this forum. I get some laughs. Sometimes I get my chain gently yanked (as by you, amigo), and I enjoy that, too. Best of all, I often learn stuff (or get a different slant on what I thought I already knew), & several posts in this thread have served exactly that lovely purpose.

By the way, my tech guy is by no means a "professional" -- luthier or otherwise. He's just a nice, friendly guy who is good with his hands and an excellent woodworker with lots of tools. He will work on your uke (or a chest of drawers or a broken chair) just as long as you stand there and watch him work, and drink coffee with him, and have a good chat with him.
 
Can I post? I have been notified on a “forbidden. Sender blocked”.

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Finally able to post something. Been think what have I done wrong since was blocked by UU yesterday.

So my experience was when I was trying out the Martin C1K in a store and there were 2 of them. One simply sounded more lively than the other which sounded good as well. Just not as loud and clear. I must state that they were not in your case of a huge difference. The difference is really small but it was noticeable for me.

Visually they are identical and I supposed one of them has a better wood overall.
 
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Don't laugh. I think that's a real thing. I've been woken up at night by the sound a ukulele coming form my uke storage closet. Creepy! :rolleyes:

And that’s why I keep mine in their individual cases, bag etc.
 
Can I post? I have been notified on a “forbidden. Sender blocked”.

Yes, I noticed that your messages weren't getting through. I could read them in my email, but they didn't appear on the forum. I've had the same experience - "Forbidden Sender."

Several times, I have gotten an email telling me that someone posted a message on the forum, but the message never appears.
 
I have gotten that message a handful of times in the past. I usually had to sign out and then sign in again, or sign out and come back an hour or so later. Once it took a day before it stopped.

No rhyme or reason that I could work out.
 
Yes, I noticed that your messages weren't getting through. I could read them in my email, but they didn't appear on the forum. I've had the same experience - "Forbidden Sender."

Several times, I have gotten an email telling me that someone posted a message on the forum, but the message never appears.
I was trying to post to your thread on bending wood. Was asking if you got a bathtub for soaking the wood soft. Then the system blocked me.

I have gotten that message a handful of times in the past. I usually had to sign out and then sign in again, or sign out and come back an hour or so later. Once it took a day before it stopped.

No rhyme or reason that I could work out.

Thanks, I will try your suggestion next time, but I hope I don’t get the block again. I attributed the experience to the mysterious ways of the uke god of asking me to use my time to play more uke instead of posting. Haha.
 
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