Do laminate ukuleles need a humidifier?

I use humidifiers in my two solid wood ukuleles. Do my two laminates need humidors? I live in NYC. The lowest the humidity has gotten in my apartment this winter was 39%. It was usually 40-50%. Thank you.

If the humidity where you live barely drops below 40% then almost certainly not. I'd say even your solid wood ukes might not need humidification but of course it's best to be sure.

In general, the body of laminate ukes doesn't suffer from low humidity nearly as much as solid wood ukes but otherwise the construction is the same, which means that at least the fretboard will be affected by humidity, laminate or not. If humidity drops really low you'll probably get fret sprout on laminate ukes similarly to solid wood ukes. But again, if the lowest humidity you've measured is 39% then I wouldn't worry about it.

I think if you are only down to 39% humidity during winter - heating season, I think you are fortunate. Sounds like your environment is pretty good. I wouldn't worry about the laminates. You'll get way more educated advice like that just posted prior to me. I'm just commenting that having your place only getting down to 39% in winter is pretty decent and probably a lot better than many may encounter during the heating season. Sounds like you are doing well taking care of your Ukes.

It depends on where you live! In some cases, it is most definitely needed.

I am generally curious how one determines a uke to be laminate when it is not explicitly stated. Should one assume a uke is laminate mahogany if the description says "mahogany" and not "solid mahogany?" I recently purchased a kala tri-top tenor. It didn't say laminate anywhere on the site, but a uke like the pros video calls the instrument "all laminate" when terry is discussing it. I'm not mad about the laminate, as it was very inexpensive. But I'm curious if I should just assume everything is laminate as long as it does not say solid?

donboody said:

I am generally curious how one determines a uke to be laminate when it is not explicitly stated. Should one assume a uke is laminate mahogany if the description says "mahogany" and not "solid mahogany?" I recently purchased a kala tri-top tenor. It didn't say laminate anywhere on the site, but a uke like the pros video calls the instrument "all laminate" when terry is discussing it. I'm not mad about the laminate, as it was very inexpensive. But I'm curious if I should just assume everything is laminate as long as it does not say solid?

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Sometimes you can tell by looking inside and if the wood pattern is not the same as at the outside then it is laminate. Also if it is supposed to be a quite exotic wood or very highly figured then it is not likely to be solid as these are often difficult to work with and usually can only be used as veneers.

donboody said:

I am generally curious how one determines a uke to be laminate when it is not explicitly stated.

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Here's a link to the video Baz did on how to tell the difference. That said, I think you hit on the main things I would think about, namely if they don't say and it's not higher end brand, then it's probably laminate.
https://youtu.be/Hf4tSXq6sgY