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Original Post By:
MR Bulk
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Date: 2/19/2008 11:58:07 PM
(Updated: 2/19/2008 11:58:36 PM)
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...or why perhaps some seem to ring out and resonate so much cleaner, clearer, purer, sweeter and better for so much longer than some others...?
Results are according to your tax dollars at work, meaning a U.S. Postal Meter Scale courtesy of your friendly local neighborhood post office. In an attempt to eliminate/reduce measurement skewing anomalies, all ukes were weighed with their center balance points placed squarely on the middle of the scale's weighing platform. By the way no ukes with pickups were weighed:
First up is my daughter's Kala CONCERT (the one slathered with the infamous pink paint job - hey, it was her choice): 1 lb. 10.4 oz.
Next heaviest is a Pono TENOR, my first really good uke and one which I will keep always as it plays in tune, has great low action and is crafted with obvious carea and quality: 1 lb. 8 oz.
My made to order King/Chantus longneck TENOR scale (w/CONCERT body): 1 lb. 4.4 oz.
Now here come some even lighter instruments, the first of which is Kanilea's TENOR Sound Monster: 1 lb. 3.5 oz. (now we're really starting to get down some in weight).
King/Chantus TENOR (bear in mind that King tenors are oversized, about midway between a std. tenor and a baritone and should be even heavier): 1 lb. 3.4 oz.
Kanilea CONCERT Sound Monster: 1 lb. 2.6 oz.
King CONCERT: 15.4 oz.
Kepasa CONCERT (w/wider Lil Mac body): 15.2 oz.
And finally, the absolutely lightest weight quality ukulele that I have, a King/Chantus Nunes-style CONCERT: 14.6 oz.
So the last three ukes are under a pound each, and if sound were to be any guide, they could all hold their own with any of the regular production tenors. Really.
But for all the other questions now forming in the minds of those reading this report, well, let's just say that dozens of conditioned comparisons could be extrapolated from these weigh-in results such as type of wood, style of construction/bracing, thickness of bodies, weight of necks (now there's a very good one actually, some ukes were way neck-heavy while the better ones it seems balanced midpoint at the neck joints), and I will leave that to you as to how best to interpret this information. All i know is that, in GENERAL, the lighter the uke, the higher the quality of playing experience, all other criteria being equal of course.
Oh, look at the time, gotta go get dinner now...
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Posted By:
allenhopkins
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Date: 2/20/2008 12:36:16 AM |
| Let's stay away from the comparative weights of ukulele PLAYERS, please...
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Posted By:
MR Bulk
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Date: 2/20/2008 1:03:08 AM |
| Haw!!!
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Posted By:
musicguymic
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Date: 2/20/2008 3:55:26 AM
(Updated: 2/20/2008 3:59:26 AM)
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| MGM 252LBS I guess thas why Barry from Compass Rose keeps calling me "mgm Grand" and 24 hour fitness (i am a member} wiont be using me in a comercial soon. LOL But then again ZIPPYS might...
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Posted By:
Bruce E
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Date: 2/20/2008 7:30:43 AM |
| Yeah, I've got a tenor that weighs 230 pounds. Or perhaps I should say, Karol has a tenor that weighs that much.
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Posted By:
AlanJ
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Date: 2/20/2008 10:47:57 AM |
| Ukulele Luthiery - the act of making sawdust that somehow results in sound :)
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Posted By:
old smelly bob
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Date: 2/20/2008 12:47:14 PM
(Updated: 2/20/2008 12:48:52 PM)
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| 13.0 oz. Timberline concert, Port Orford cedar top back sides. 82.6 dB the one you can see the sun through on my site...now MGM and mr.B gotta get on the treadmills for a long time....
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Posted By:
Spats
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Date: 2/20/2008 12:55:09 PM |
Mr. Bulk, are those weights with or without nylguts?
www.spatswhite.com
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Posted By:
ToeBone
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Date: 2/20/2008 1:16:35 PM |
| Funny, Spats, but I actually have a spreadsheet with the weights of my ukes with and w/o strings.
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Posted By:
Ukester Brown
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Date: 2/20/2008 3:12:08 PM |
| This is another reason why I don't play Tuba anymore!
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Posted By:
ChefJeff
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Date: 2/20/2008 4:08:16 PM |
From heaviest to lightest (all on a digital scale verified to be within 1/4 oz. of my local PO's calibrated scale):
Applause by Ovation electric tenor - 2 lb. 13 oz.
Compass Rose mahogany tenor - 1 lb 8-1/2 oz.
Lanikai CK-TEQ electric tenor - 1 lb. 8 oz.
Hamano tenor - 1 lb. 2-1/2 oz.
Mele concert pineapple - 1 lb. 1/4 oz.
Tiki Flea concert w/rosewood - 1 lb. 1/4 oz.
Kepasa Little Mac concert - 15-1/4 oz.
Don't forget that when you weigh the whole ukulele the soundbox is not the only thing you're weighing. For example, I'm pretty sure the relatively thick, round neck on my Compass Rose is adding to its total weight because it plays light.
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Posted By:
Dave Means
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Date: 2/20/2008 4:56:32 PM |
| The last long-scale mahogany tenor I built (WITH an active pickup installed) weighed in at 15.8 oz. The lightest instrument I ever built was the 1850 machete replica I built for John King... weighs in at all of 5.6 oz.! -- Dave
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Posted By:
MR Bulk
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Date: 2/20/2008 7:31:30 PM |
Wow Dave, they must ring just when someone sneezes nearby or something! I know if I cough or emit some other loud sound near my wall of ukes they all seem to answer me back...
By the way my own Walnut Compass Rose tenor was not weighed because it has a pickup and I wasn't sure how much it might skew the weigh-in comparison.
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Posted By:
ed w
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Date: 2/20/2008 8:35:18 PM
(Updated: 2/21/2008 12:18:26 AM)
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I have an old Favilla (30's or so vintage) that weights in at 10 oz. My Glyph Mahogany tenor weighs somewhere about 15.5 oz.
It seems that the weight (or lack of it) may have something to do with the tone of these instruments. Both have a lot of ring and sustain.
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Posted By:
duane
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Date: 2/20/2008 9:00:01 PM |
| Weight is not always the best indicator for the sound or ring you want. For instance, a European spruce/Brazilian rosewood combination could weigh more than an all koa uke of the same size and construction. They are certainly going to sound different, but that is the great thing about wood. A uke could be made out of balsa wood, it would be very light and constructed well but the sound may not be that desirable.
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Posted By:
Dave Means
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Date: 2/20/2008 10:41:08 PM |
| I agree. My koa ukes typically weigh an ounce or so more than the mahogany ones (maybe two if they have a koa neck), and rosewood would weigh still more. -- Dave
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Posted By:
mLKauai
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Date: 2/20/2008 10:47:02 PM |
some ukes that are light are louder,
some are heavier, less loud but sweet as can be
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Posted By:
cfiimei
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Date: 2/20/2008 10:58:11 PM
(Updated: 2/20/2008 11:08:47 PM)
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Kamaka vintage soprano - 10.8 oz
Koalana concert - 15.9 oz
Stock soprano flea - 15.0 oz
Scratch-built solid soprano electric 35.9 oz
Cuatro from UkeJackson (Baritone size) 17.3 oz (lightest size to weight ratio)
Scratch-built Hamered Dulcimer 52.3 pounds (!)
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Posted By:
Minamator
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Date: 7/14/2008 6:32:58 PM |
1950s Harmony/Airline soprano - 9.9 oz
That's with a rosewood fretboard, I'm guessing the plastic fretboard models would be heavier. I love it, it's light as a feather. Plus the lady behind me in line gave me a funny look, I guess she uses the post office scale for something else.
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Posted By:
Papamonty
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Date: 8/10/2008 10:03:51 PM
(Updated: 8/11/2008 8:42:00 AM)
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Here are the weights for my ukes in ascending order from lightest to heaviest (notice where the Pono concert is):
a) 2006 Epiphone UKE-500KA Soprano 0 LB 13.0 OZ (with Grover open geared tuners)
b) 2000 KoAloha KC-00 Concert, 0 LB 14.5 OZ (with Grover open geared tuners)
c) 2007 Kanile'a Custom C Concert, 1 LB 2.0 OZ
d) 2007 KoAloha KCM-00 Concert 1 LB 2.5 OZ (with 5 Star planetary tuners)
e) 2007 Ko'olau T-1 Tenor, 1 LB 5.5 OZ
f) 2007 Pono PCOE Concert, 1 LB 6.0 OZ (with passive pickup)
g) 2007 Bushman Cedartone Tenor, 1 LB 6.5 OZ
h) 2008 LoPrinzi Custom Tenor, 1 LB 8.0 OZ
i) 2007 KoAloha KTM-00 Tenor, 1 LB 9.0 OZ
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Posted By:
Dave Means
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Date: 8/11/2008 9:43:21 PM |
| I just finished a mahogany soprano with Spanish cedar neck in the style of the old La Foleys for a British customer. Weighed in at 8.0 ounces, exactly. The original La Foley, which the customer sent me to use as a model, weighed 8.8 ounces (with birch back and sides, mahogany top, and "mystery wood" neck). -- Dave
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Posted By:
musicguymic
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Date: 8/11/2008 10:23:39 PM |
| The newest line of cedartop sopranos from Ohana weigh in at a mere 12.8oz for a production uke thats great....
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Posted By:
Pete Howlett
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Date: 8/13/2008 11:08:29 AM |
| Just weighed an old Howlett tenor with a very beefy neck - 1lb 3.7oz - gnarly figured koa. i recon I could get them under 1lb... my sopranos weigh in at 10 to 10.6oz.
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Posted By:
Pete Howlett
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Date: 8/13/2008 11:09:58 AM |
| Dave - mystery wood is likely to be alder - I've just discovered this Scittish wood and it is an ideal substitute for mahogany.
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Posted By:
Dave Means
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Date: 8/13/2008 10:53:15 PM |
| You may well be right about that, Pete... I hadn't considered alder. -- Dave
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Posted By:
don peyton
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Date: 8/14/2008 7:25:40 AM |
Interesting Dave. Alder replaced swamp ash and maple as a popular slab wood for electric guitars and basses by many companies including Fender,my 66 Jazz Bass weighs @6lbs,not impressive by ukulele standards but an ash one would be @12.
I appreciate alder's musical qualities,sustain,responsiveness etc. It is dense but light,straight and tight(certainly compared to ash).Today's quick growth mahogany has nowhere near the tonality of alder which also has that eco-sustainability we're all searching for.It's a great choice and looks nice,kind of like maple,imo.
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Posted By:
Pete Howlett
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Date: 8/16/2008 11:14:09 AM |
| The reason I suggest it is that it is a mystery wood I have been figuring about for over 30 years when back in the 70s I bought some old litho blocks. At the time, I couldn't identify the wood but it worked OK and was useful. It wasn't until I started looking for sustainable woods that i came a cross Alder and that old familiar smell when I machined it. There is only one issue here with obtaining Alder - finding someone who is milling it in the right section.
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Posted By:
joejeweler
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Date: 8/2/2011 1:00:07 AM |
Well,...this post got me curious, so i just put
my Moore Bettah soprano on a portable gold scale thatis accurate to 1/10th gram. (it weighs in avoirdupois ounces also, the kind we're talking here.
It came in at 15.71 ounces, and has Grover open back tuners on it. It has a wonderful deep and rich tonal quality to it, and the volumn is outstanding.
So it's fairly light,....except in the pocketbook. hehe (and worth every cent)
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Posted By:
Craig
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Date: 8/2/2011 9:49:25 AM |
| For MGM: "MGM Grand" LOL!
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