Ranking Tone Woods, Mellow to Bright

VegasGeorge

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DownUpDick's reply on the "https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...te-vs-Solid-Mahogany-A-Question-of-Mellowness thread got to thinking about the issue of Mellow versus Bright sounding tone woods. I have a number of different Ukes, made from different woods, and I think I can rank them now after spending a lot of time with them.

Here is how I would order them, from most mellow, to brightest sounding, based on solid top construction:
1. Mahogany
2. Mango
3. Koa
4. Cedar
5. Sinker Redwood
6. Maple
7. Eucalyptus
8. Spruce

How does that ranking conform to your experience?
 
There aren't going to be a whole lot of people who can reality-check that comprehensive of a list. Most folks only have experience with one or two solid wood ukes, let alone eight different tonewoods.

I can really only speak to spruce and koa. The spruce has changed so much over the years that it might have started out as the brightest, but now, it's probably warmer than my Kamaka. But there are a million variables that might be creating that perception.

I interviewed luthier Brad Donaldson a couple months ago for my podcast. He had lots of interesting stuff to say about uke construction: https://liveukulele.com/podcast/s2e5/. You might find it interesting from the standpoint of tonewood only being one factor in a uke's sound.
 
I have two solid koa concert ukes, a KoAloha and a Romero Creations ST Concert. The KoAloha is bright, the Romero is mellow. The difference in tone is striking. These 2 instruments differ in body shape, finish, bracing, and neck join. So in my (limited) experience, tonewood is only one factor among many that determine the overall tone of the finished ukulele.

My cedar-topped concert (Covered Bridge) is warmer than either the KoAloha or the Romero.
 
While there are certain characteristics associated with various woods. I have heard from some luthiers that a lot can be adjusted based on the knowledge and skill of the builder.
 
I find that a string change from nylon to fluorocarbon, for example, can change the mellow-to-brightness a lot; much better than wood type.
 
"Ovangkol?" What the heck is that?

Of course, there are a lot of variables that effect tone quality other than the wood itself. For instance, size is a big item. Just about any Soprano is going to sound brighter than any Tenor. It takes the bigger body to bring out the mellower tones. But there can be competition between Sopranos and Concerts, and Concerts and Tenors. For instance, I have a few Concerts that have a darker, richer tone and some of my Tenors. And there, the tone wood is a big factor.

Another point, the whole subject gets unbelievably complicated when you introduce Ukes make from more than one wood, such as Cedar top, Rosewood back, etc.
 
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Take this with a grain of salt, but I’ll rank my impressions based on ukes I’ve spent some time with from warmest to brightest...

1. Mango (Pono pineapple tenor)
2. Mahogany (vintage Martin and Gibson ‘ukulele of various sizes, Collings tenor)
3. Koa (KoAloha soprano, Kanile’a super concert and tenor, and Ko’olau tenor)
4. Cedar (2 Kala tenors, 1 Kanile’a tenor, 1 Jupiter tenor)
6. Spruce (J. Rieck tenor, Kala thin line tenor, bevy of other instruments)
7. Redwood (Jupiter tenor)
8. Maple (2 custom tenors)

As stated above, take all that with a hefty dose of salt. Among the ukes listed above, the spruce-topped J. Rieck is warmer than any of the koa or mahogany ukes whereas the all-koa Ko’olau tenor is brighter than anything but the all-maple tenors.
 
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My thanks to VegasGeorge and to bacchettedavid for their ranking tables. I realise and accept that the sound of a Uke is influenced by many other things too but, IMHO and all other things being equal, their rankings are a helpful start point.
 
My ranking of my current ukulele family.....
KoAloha Koa - definitely the brightest by a long shot
aNueNue Moonbird Spruce top/Rosewood body - most mellow overall
Cocobolo- Middle of the road in tone
 
"Ovangkol?" What the heck is that?

It's basically a cheaper alternative to rosewood. Many low to mid-end manufacturers use it for back and sides.

I love this kind of discussion about tone qualities even if one has to generalize a bit since, as mentioned, build quality is a major factor in the tone of an instrument.

Putting that aside, another factor is definitely the species of the wood. If you mention mahogany for example, it's quite important to specify what kind of mahogany we are talking about. Genuine mahogany, i.e., the Cuban and Honduran varieties, are indeed very warm sounding where as African mahogany (Khaya) can be noticeably brighter. Same goes for mango and acacia for example. I've heard ukes made out of Hawaiian mango to sound extremely warm and mellow whereas ukes made out of Asian mango are generally a tad brighter sounding. The acacia Pono use for their ukes - also known as monkeypod - sounds brighter to me than most acacia ukes from other manufacturers. You can even see the difference in the grain, monkeypod having a much straighter grain compared to some of the extremely flamy acacia you sometimes see from other brands.

Spruce is super interesting to me. Obviously it's one of the brighter tone woods but in can produce a really bassy tone as well. Of course, with soft wood topped ukes the wood used for the back and sides have a significant impact also.
 
I also like these discussions. I like learning something new.

Below are the woods mentioned and their densities and sound energy (which is a function of density and stiffness). Eucalyptus isn't in the list because there are 700 species of Eucalyptus which makes it much more complicated than talking about Mahogany.

Wood-----------------Density / Sound-Energy

Mahogany (Honduran)-4020 / 7.0
Mango----------------4780 / 6.1
Koa-------------------5180 / 12.3
Redwood-------------10870 / 4.5
Maple-----------------6450 / 6.0
Spruce (Engleman)-----1740 / 12.9

Finally, Joel at HMS told me that Pono concerts are all made the same. You can find videos at HMS (https://www.theukulelereview.com/2013/05/15/new-from-pono/) and SUS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HYd5CysmU4) that compare the Ponos in acacia, mahogany, and mango. That should take out some of the other variables we think about when choosing a ukulele.
 
I personally cringe when these discussions occur. You are not generalizing a little, you are generalizing a lot. Maybe there is some relevance if you build like Pono, where the ukuleles are all built the same, with the spruce tops being the same thickness as the koa ones. Wood is not an engineered material. All those numbers you see in the wood property tables are averages. There is nothing ever said about variability in the species. Koa for instance is one of the most variable woods on the planet. I have billets that are as light and soft as spruce and some billets as hard and heavy as most rosewood. The native Hawaiians describe 17 different types of koa, depending on how they use it. Bottom line, what you do with the wood greatly outweighs what the wood is.
Brad
 
I personally cringe when these discussions occur. You are not generalizing a little, you are generalizing a lot. Maybe there is some relevance if you build like Pono, where the ukuleles are all built the same, with the spruce tops being the same thickness as the koa ones. Wood is not an engineered material. All those numbers you see in the wood property tables are averages. There is nothing ever said about variability in the species. Koa for instance is one of the most variable woods on the planet. I have billets that are as light and soft as spruce and some billets as hard and heavy as most rosewood. The native Hawaiians describe 17 different types of koa, depending on how they use it. Bottom line, what you do with the wood greatly outweighs what the wood is.
Brad

See, I learned something more :eek: , and one day I hope to own one of your customs. I admit I try to learn by putting numbers by things, and since I'll never own or play all the ukuleles I might be interested in, the numbers and opinions and discussions of the regulars here are a help to me.
 
In general, as BuzzBD (Brad Donaldson) said, is the overall factor here.

It takes an experienced luthier, designer, craftsman to have an idea of what kind of sound the wood will produce if they have the wood in hand. Even then it's a bit of a lottery.

In general, spruce makes a brighter top than cedar. Cedar makes a brighter top than redwood. Which kind of spruce? Sitka, Engelmann, Red, Carpathian, Swiss Moon? Then, add in sinker wood where minerals have replaced part of the wood fiber. Or torrefied spruce. And the design shape, bracing used, glue, finish and it all affects the way the wood sounds.

MyaMoe had an excellent chart that gave a rough idea about where various woods fall on the warm to bright spectrum.

There are always exceptions. I have an early Arron Oya Spruce-Maple tenor that you would expect to be very bright and loud. Instead it is surprisingly warm and has a complex sound to it. Brighter than a spruce-rosewood tenor? Maybe. Depends upon the tenor. Apples to oranges.
 
Was about to say the same thing. Mahgony is king. Theres just something so sweet about it
 
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