Choosing a Traveling Ukulele

Some of the links on this page are affiliate links

Choosing Your Ukulele for RV Traveling

In the article, 10 Reasons Why You Need a Ukulele in Your RV, I wrote about why you need a ukulele and the main types of materials different ukuleles are constructed with.

Here I will write about why you would choose one type over the next. This decision is driven by a number of factors.

1. Where do you plan to use your ukulele?

Will you only be playing it in the RV and directly outside of the RV?
Taking it hiking?
In a boat?
On the Beach?
Or with a Fox in Box

2. Do you plan to travel with it in the cab of your vehicle?

3. How much money can you spend on your ukulele

4. Do you like the tone?

5. Will you plan on getting more than one ukulele?

6. How important is the look of the ukulele?

General Storage for Your Ukuleles

The first thing I am going to recommend is that you store your ukulele in an accessible place. This means, do not store it in the case. If you keep it in the case, it will not get played. The ukuleles I play the most are hanging on the wall. Ukuleles are very light so it is perfectly fine to screw a wall hanger into the wall and hang it on that. The importance of accessibility is paramount! ⅔ of the time I play a ukulele is only for 5 minutes or less. Something to do between stirring macaroni! Having my ukuleles hanging on the wall means I can grab it, play and put it back, all in a moment's notice. If it was in a case, it would be a hassle to take it, play it and then repack it. It would not get played as much. A ukulele hanging on the wall can also be decorative. They make small floor stands for ukuleles. I have a light weight plastic one for setting my ukulele on when I am outside the RV and take a break from playing.

Choosing Your Ukulele Construction Material

Choosing a ukulele will be based on the 6 factors I wrote above. I can give you guidance on factors 1 and 2. However factors 3-6 will be personal choices based on your individuality.

Let me give some scenarios that would greatly affect which type of ukulele construction you would want.

It is a hot summer day. We take a drive to go for a short walk to a lake to play our ukuleles by the cool water. We hang out there in the shade under some trees and play for a while. Then we head back and pack up the ukuleles into the truck. Next we drive to a store where we will be for 30 to 45 minutes. Of course we close the windows and lock the truck. When we return to the truck, the inside temperatures have climbed to over 100F. We crank up the A/C and drive back home.

I would never want to have an expensive solid wood experience these major changes in temperatures. This is where having a synthetic or a laminate ukulele becomes a really good idea.

Let me take a moment, at this point in our story, to mention the use of ukulele cases . If you have a good 10mm case it will protect your ukulele from quick and drastic temperature change. It functions like an insulated cooler. Any ukulele should be in a case when traveling to protect it from temperature changes and getting whacked! It is a great rule but I do not always follow it. Remember earlier when I said ukuleles in cases don’t get played. On long drives we will keep a ukulele in the back seat to grab and play. If this was in a case, it would never get played. It is a worthwhile sacrifice!

Back to the scenario, we drive back to the RV to find the temperature inside a stuffy 98F. We of course crank up the air conditioner and cool the place down, back to a livable 72F.

In my scenario described above, laminate or synthetic ukulele will work. Granted, laminate ukulele would be getting more punishment than the synthetic. However if it is the case it will likely be fine. You will not want a solid wood of or a solid top ukulele exposed to the conditions I presented in that scenario. A synthetic or a laminate ukulele would be your best choice here.

Now let's change that story and go to the ocean beach instead of a freshwater lake. The air by the ocean is likely very salty. You do not notice it at first but it is. While sitting on the beach recently, at Gulf Shores State park, reading, I needed to clean my glasses every 15 minutes because of the build up of salt. The ocean air has a surprising amount of salt in it. If I had a wood ukulele there, I would never get the salt off of it. It would be ruined! If you plan to play on an ocean beach I would definitely recommend a water resistant ukulele that is polymer based and created from a synthetic material. A Kala Waterman is a great example of this. You can rinse the salt and sand from this ukulele without harming it. The Outdoor Ukulele (linked in the photo below) and the Enya Nova U series are other good options for this type of abuse. The Flight UTS may satisfy this requirement too but I have not played it so I can not recommend from experience. However, I have played and reviewed their wood top Flight TUC travel ukulele. If it is close to this it may be a good choice too. It of course makes sense to avoid any wood ukuleles around water.

One other great scenario is choosing a ukulele to play on a boat. I love to kayak. We carry foldable Oru kayaks in our truck. The sound of a ukulele out on serene still water is just majestic! A full synthetic ukulele is the only type one could risk getting wet. Even in a larger motor boat everything gets sprayed with water at one time or the other. If it’s on the water, it will get wet! The synthetic ukulele mentioned above are great choices here too!

Why You May Want to Choose a Wood Ukulele

Generally you will get a better sounding instrument with a solid wood or a laminate than with a synthetic. In any case that this is not true, at least, you will get a more traditional sound. Without a doubt a laminate will be more resistant to structural damage from changes in temperature and humidity than a solid wood ukulele. The neck on a laminate ukulele may be as susceptible to fret sprout as a solid wood ukulele because they are usually not more than 3 pieces and will shrink and expand. Granted, a laminate ukulele will still shrink and expand with temperature similarly to a solid wood ukulele. The difference is, the cross layers of the laminate are much stronger and more resistant to cracking. This makes a laminate ukulele a better choice for the rugged. You do not need a solid wood ukulele to get a great sound. There are many laminate ukuleles out there that sound as good or better than solid wood ukuleles. My Amahi UK660S soprano is a good example. Another good example is the Enya X1 HLP Concert and Enya X1 HLP Tenor. These are both being discontinued. However as of this writing you can get the Enya X1 HLP Concert for $50 on Amazon, which is a steal for the quality and durability of this instrument!! See my review on this ukulele as well as the Enya Nova U on my reviews page. I also have a written review on the Enya Nova U Concert and Mini

Another choice is a solid top ukulele. This one has a laminate back and sides but a solid wood top. Again, generally you are going to get a better sounding ukulele than with a laminate but this is not always the case. However, a laminate will again be more resistant to the harsh RV and traveling environment. I have a few examples of good solid tops that I have played and would recommend. The first in the Journey Instruments Solid Sitka Travel Ukulele. This ukulele is very attractive. This includes both it's good looks as well as what you get for the money. Journey Instruments is offering a small line travel ukuleles that have built in passive pick-ups and are built very well. They also come with a traveling case that is the best case out their, hands down. I bought 3 and reviewed them too. I also have a review coming on their Solid Sitka Spruce and Ebony soprano size. I have not played their concert size. (yet) My next recommendation is the Enya Concert Solid Mahogany Top Ukulele, (EUC-25D. I reviewed this too and highly recommend it because it's sound and quality are very good compared to it's low price of $50. It also comes in blue, EUC-25D BU, for $65. These prices may change. Another much more expensive example is the Kala Solid Cedar Top Acacia Concert (KA-SCAC-C). It sounds incredible but it's $280 price reflects that. There are others I can recommend and some I would suggest you stay away from but I will save that for another time.

The See-Saw Effect

There comes a point where cost, quality and risk balance out. Well at least, mentally in my head it does. Basically what I mean is, there is a point where you can decide that the cost of a higher quality, solid wood or solid top ukulele is worth the risk of damaging it due to temperature and humidity changes. I own an Ohana CK-35G solid mahogany that I absolutely love. This is not a ukulele I would recommend to RV travelers. I have other solid tops too. These each take extra time and energy to maintain and care for. For me, this is worth it. We also have two Kala Premier Exotic Wood concert size ukuleles that we bought for 1/2 price during a New Year sale. These are both laminates that sound great and are beautiful to look at.

Choosing the Best RV Travel Ukulele Material

Maintaining a Solid Top or Solid Wood Ukulele in an RV

There are also ways to care for and maintain these wooden ukuleles to help prevent them from getting damaged. One way is to always use a humidifier. I like the Music Nomad Humilele Ukulele Humidifier (MN302). I have more to say about maintenance but I will save this for another article. (Update I made a YouTube video about protecting your ukulele while on the road.)