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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
 Posted - 05/03/2007 : 04:12:19 AM
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This Baja concert ukulele I just bought, which I restrung with Aquila concert strings (because it sounded bad with black nylon no-name strings), has a notably deeper and less "sweet" tone than the "birdhouse" ukuleles I built, although all have the same brand concert length strings on them.
Is this deeper tone typical of concert ukuleles? As a guitar manufacturer, was Baja just inclined to create ukuleles that sound more like guitars? (No complaint. I was just considering exchanging it for an acoustic electric guitar with built-in amp and tuner I saw for $79, then using G-C-G-C-E-A tuning.)
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Thank you. |
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javeiro
Lokahi
USA
459 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2007 : 04:45:51 AM
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| I haven't seen one of those nor do I know anything about them. But it would seem to me that "size matters." It would seem reasonable to me that the closer in size a uke got to a guitar, the more like a guitar it would sound. |
Aloha,
John A. |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2007 : 10:26:23 AM
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I see your logic, but the "birdhouse" ukuleles are closer to the size of a guitar than the concert from Baja (both with regard to length and soundbox volume). The Baja concert still has a lower tone, even with the same strings. The Baja has a solid spruce top. Looks like it might be mahogany on the back, at least the veneer appears to be mahogany. The "birdhouse" ukuleles are mahogany plywood (mahogany-pine-mahogany sandwich).
The Baja concert has a slightly shorter active string length (which should push it up in frequency like a soprano). I keep coming back to the way they built the Baja ukulele as a guitar manufacturer.
P.S. I ordered a concert guitar strap to compare to the ukulele strap. The guitar strap I purchased has a fixed length from the point where it branches off the neck loop to the hook for the instrument. That fixed length is way too long! (I knotted it twice to adjust the length, as a quick fix.) Beware of concert guitar straps that have fixed length lanyards to the hook for the instrument! The "uke thong" works fine relative to the guitar strap equivalent. |
Thank you. |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 05/03/2007 : 5:21:17 PM
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Almost any uke will sound bassier and louder with the addition of good strings from Aquila, Worth or Ko'olau. All my ukes have the thicker strings to get the mid/bass more active in the sound. Add a low G string and the uke can play the part of a classical guitar.
But some people don't like that sound, preferring the plinky timbre for old-time music or as a better contrast to the vocal range.
Most Hawaiian uke players play tenors because the have a hybrid guitar-like sound which is mellow and melodic. What magic Bruddah Iz created with just his tenor uke, his voice and some reverb. When you hear young uke players like David Kamakahi and Herb Jr., many pieces they play are adapted from the guitar and played fingerstyle, such as "Europa" and "Ave Maria."
Jesse Tinsley |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 09:19:39 AM
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I did install Aquila strings on all my ukuleles. (They're all I've ever used.) I'm just trying to grasp how a smaller (much smaller bodied) ukulele with a shorter string length and the same strings and tuning could have such a notably lower timbre than the larger ones I built. (Some people claim to like the higher, birdhouse tone better.) The Baja concert size sounds more like a guitar, while the birdhouse ukuleles tend to have more of a chiming tone, all with the same Aquila concert ukulele strings.
(I've got a lot to learn about the physics of building ukuleles. For the most part, I'm just glad that after so much tinkering with the nut and eliminating buzzing by filing one of the frets down slightly, they can still be easily played.) |
Thank you. |
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 2:54:47 PM
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The thickness of the plates, the style and quality of kerfing, the bracing pattern and choice of woods are all much more involved in a ukulele's sound than the size. But generally concerts and tenors are bassier than sopranos. A really fine soprano can be bassier than a tenor depending on the quality of building.
I went to a workshop with David Kamakahi and when I walked in, David was playing by himself on his beautiful Koaloha tenor strung with low G. I could have sworn someone had hidden a subwoofer somewhere in the room because the little uke emanated a pervasive bass range that filled the room.
Jesse Tinsley |
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Absolute
Lokahi
275 Posts |
Posted - 05/04/2007 : 3:44:14 PM
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You're right, of course.
As with a speaker, it isn't just the source of the sound, there's also the matter of the cone and the mass of the moving parts. The construction of the ukulele and mass distribution is a big factor in its responsiveness, particularly in terms of the resonant frequency that it tends to amplify, and thus the range that it emphasizes, which is associated with its unique voice. It sounds like solid wood may have a higher mass density per unit volume than the plywood of my birdhouse ukuleles, causing the solid wood to resonate at a lower natural frequency, thus giving the spruce top ukulele a lower timbre. Sounds like that applies to nice, solid wood sopranos as well. I find myself enjoying the tone of both of the ukulele "models" immensely. |
Thank you. |
Edited by - Absolute on 05/04/2007 3:46:20 PM |
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