So... with one of my uke playing friends accompanying me, I went to the shop to pick up my on-hold Kamaka pineapple today. I noticed that the *other* Kamaka pineapple - the one I thought was prettier, but didn't sound as good - was still there. One of the managers took it down for me, played it a little, and - hey, that doesn't sound so bad after all, I thought... I took both pineapples off to the back room and my friend and I alternated playing them. The Pretty One kept coming out the winner every time. A couple of the other employees weighed in and were in favor of the Pretty One too. I started to get really confused - I had been so certain that the Plain One had the better sound. Fortunately my uke instructor walked in and saved the day - even though both he and I had liked the Plain One best a few days ago, today the Pretty One was the winner. And that's the one that came home with me.
The stock strings actually didn't sound bad at all to me, and I considered keeping them on for a while, but I just don't care for the way they feel. So I had some Martin flurocarbons I'd been wanting to try, and that's what I put on. So far, I like them a lot - they are LOUD though!
The date of manufacture on the new uke is February 14, 2011. Coincidentally, that was the last day of my Hawaii trip this year. On that day, I hiked Diamond Head, hung out at the beach in front of the Royal Hawaiian, spent way too much money in way too many ABC stores, and had a lovely evening with friends listening to music at House Without a Key. And I love that this uke will always remind me of that day