What's the difference between various materials in ukulele?

The choice of different materials in ukulele is very different. Let me give you a brief introduction.

There are basswood, rotten wood, sapwood, mahogany, spruce, acacia, and some unconventional materials, such as HPL and carbon fiber, which I have used, and each kind of wood shows a different tone.

pipal

Basswood is low-end wood, often used to make colorful musical instruments for toys, and some low-end matchsticks. Nowadays, it is rare to see famous brands using basswood as the piano body. I'm lucky to have experienced it once and felt what you know, so I won't say much.

Rotting wood/trees

Dead wood, also called dyed maple, is actually a dead or decaying maple. The black line on the wood is produced by fungi (to be honest, I thought it was quite cool when I first saw it). Wood is soft and loose, and it is often used for veneering.

It absorbs a lot of paint and is a bit difficult to draw. In fact, this material with good paint can make the piano have a wider range, but at present, more attention is paid to aesthetics. From my personal experience, I think its timbre is not particularly online.

Shabilimu

Sabiri wood is often called "low-end peach blossom core", which is more boring than ordinary peach blossom core, and is often used to make matchsticks and low-end pianos. Although it is also a kind of redwood, it still has a certain gap with the redwood mentioned below ~

But Shapiro is not 100% poker. Some serious brands will clearly tell you whether to use Shapiro or peach blossom core, and will not make false propaganda.

Here are two wood photos I took when I visited the museum for your reference. There is another way to distinguish Sabili from mahogany by the grain and aperture of the panel. In fact, it is very difficult to really do it in the actual situation. After all, in addition to panel wood, merchants will draw something. After a while, the surface of wood will be very chaotic.

mahogany

The timbre of mahogany is very warm, and the sound extension performance is good. Because of its low price and good effect, manufacturers are willing to use this kind of cost-effective wood, which is why mahogany is the most common ukulele on the market at present ~

But as far as my personal experience is concerned, the effect of peach stones from different places of origin will be different. Simply put, Honduran peach pit > African peach pit > Asian peach pit. Many peach cores in China, especially Creary, are Asian peach cores, and high-end brands will use African peach cores, while Honduran peach cores are particularly expensive and generally do not appear on novice pianos.

In view of the problem that many unscrupulous manufacturers in the market pretend to be peach blossoms with Sabili, the simplest way is to look at the price and the brand. For example, if a merchant tells you that you can buy a single board with peach blossom core in one or two hundred, it is basically a lie, because the cost is not that low at all, and the price of a real peach blossom core plywood piano is more than two or three hundred. How can one or two hundred buy a veneer?

Picea wood

Students who know guitar must be familiar with spruce and fir. Spruce and fir have bright timbre and excellent * * * sound, which is often used to make guitar panels.

There are two kinds of spruce in the market, one is Ingermann spruce and the other is Sitica spruce. Ingermann spruce has a strong driving type. To put it simply, you can play the piano well without much effort.

The characters of Sitica spruce are dynamic, and even if you play at a high volume, the clarity and graininess of the timbre will not be reduced. From the appearance, Ingermann spruce is white, while Sitica spruce is yellow and red.

Now there will be merchants bleaching Sitika spruce as Ingermann spruce, so try to choose a reliable merchant brand when buying! In short, don't be greedy for cheap, what kind of goods to buy at what price, because I have no idea about buying a piano that is too cheap.

gum arabic

Acacia's ukulele can be said that all players who play Creary want to have it. Its density is higher than that of peach blossom core, its sound is brighter, its graininess is stronger and its high frequency is more prominent.

Hawaiian acacia wood is the most authentic acoustic wood for making ukulele, abbreviated as KOA in English. Its texture is beautiful and its sound is sweet. Because of the scarcity of resources and the protection of the government, it is very precious and rare, so many businesses will choose to use Asian acacia wood instead of Hawaiian acacia wood.

Acacia asiatica is a close relative of Acacia hawaii, and its wood and timbre are similar, but its voice is a little cold, but it is cheaper ~

★ Summary: Generally speaking, the price of acacia xylophone will be higher, but this does not mean that novice friends will choose acacia wood as soon as they come up. I suggest you choose a piano with a slightly better material and your favorite tone within your own budget.

HPL material

After talking about traditional wood, we have to mention HPL, a new material that has been very popular in the past two years. Because recently, more and more friends have asked me if the HPL piano is good. When chatting with them, I found that many of them don't know what HPL is, so I think it is necessary to tell you something in the article.

I try to say it in a popular way. HPL is actually a fireproof board, which was used to make furniture a long time ago. In the past, when the economy and technology were not very developed, fires often occurred at home, so some people used HPL materials to make furniture. Later, the fire prevention facilities at home were all perfect, and fewer and fewer people used this material to make furniture.

I remember Martin was the first brand to make a piano with HPL material, and then he basically gave up. There are also brands that try to use HPL as a piano in China, but because this material is not very good in timbre performance and the feedback from piano friends is not very good, I don't recommend this kind of piano. I think it is nothing more than stronger for ordinary novices.

Carbon fiber material

I was really shocked when I first learned about the carbon fiber piano, because I watched a video of a piano with a car pressing on a water pipe, and the real pure carbon fiber piano was intact! Because I didn't find a picture of pure carbon fiber ukulele, and I didn't buy a pure carbon fiber one myself, so I put a guitar, so we'll wait and see ~

Later, I saw that carbon fiber pianos were also sold in China, but the price directly discouraged me, not too expensive, but too cheap. Real carbon fiber materials are very, very expensive. Here, just search a few carbon fiber products of a treasure and feel the taste of RMB.

The above picture was sent to me by a friend who makes handmade pianos. According to what he told me, some pianos called carbon fiber are actually made by this injection molding process. Perhaps carbon fiber cloth is used in some structural parts, but after all, the use of carbon fiber in the whole piano is still relatively small.

To tell whether it is real carbon fiber, I suggest you look at the "carbon fiber material" on the Internet, which is similar to "straw mat" and "weaving".

As for some so-called carbon fiber pianos on the market at present, how much carbon fiber material is used, or whether it is this injection molding process, to be honest, I don't want to elaborate. Let's talk about it ourselves.

The ukulele made of new materials such as HPL and carbon fiber has a light, thin and crisp sound, and always lacks the "wood smell" that the piano itself should have when playing. I prefer the charm of the log piano.

★ Summary: If you really want to appreciate the charm of ukulele, I suggest you try to choose a round wooden piano.

If you want to choose Creary, I suggest you must choose a good ukulele brand, because if the ukulele brand is guaranteed, the quality of the piano will not be too bad. So that novices don't have to choose every detail.

At present, the well-sold brands in the market are Tom, Sheng Rui, Rainbow Man, Gloria and so on. Different brands have their own characteristics and advantages. For example, if you like the piano with very good timbre and have a lot of budget, you can choose Sheng Rui. If you want a cost-effective ukulele and plan to teach yourself, you can choose Gloria.

The ukulele market is not like it was many years ago. Now novices have more choices and more things to distinguish. Every coin has its two sides. I hope novices can choose the piano that suits them.