I WAS VERY ALARMED to get an email the other day from a valued customer in the cold midwest. She told me that her concert pinecone was showing a separation where the thick maple back joined the neck. She sent me a photo and sure enough it had come unglued at that point and the back had shortened to a visible degree. Tossing in bed that night thinking about the problem it suddenly dawned on me that it had to be a humidity problem.
Sure enough, the next morning I had another email from her. She had come to the same conclusion, had put a humidifier into her Pinecone and in 24 hours it had returned to proper shape. It still played wonderfully and she was happy- I was relieved and we both were wiser. SO THE LESSON IS, FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIVE IN COLD DRY WINTER CLIMATES-----KEEP YOUR UKE IN A CASE WITH A HUMIDIFIER1
I live in a reliably humid climate, The humidity hovers around 40% most of the time. I have learned that the humidity swings on the East Coast are huge. Very very humid in the summer, very very dry in the cold winter. Murder on acoustic instruments. Check with your local music stores, buy a humidifier for your uke,
