What is an unpopular/controversial opinion you have regarding the ukulele?

[rustydusty]

Or, the use of endangered wood species in high end ukes…
Just sayin’…

 

[PauoaPoiDog]

Yep. Chalmers Doanes brought in that tuning to Canada it seems but it goes way to Hawaii too from my vintage songbooks

I read somewhere that the slightly higher tuning was supposedly used to help school kids sing along to the songs they were playing that might have been a little too low to sing in key otherwise.

 

[Neil_O]

Here's a super duper unpopular opinion: Plastic ukes are bad for the environment.

Now that you mention it, I don't see a recycling symbol on my Waterman!

 

[Dave Holiday]

I get your point but I’d be surprised if the lifetime impact of plastic ukuleles on all the landfills in the world equal the impact of a months worth of plastic soda/water bottles sold at a few high-volume convenience stores here in the states.

Good point. Or styrofoam. Or disposable diapers.

 

[Joyful Uke]

Fair question. I will attempt to keep it brief. Because I could write a diatribe.

I have a thing where I spend a little time each week rescuing, rehabbing, and rehoming castoff and homeless ukes to people who want/need to play music but otherwise couldn’t afford them. An inordinate number of these ukuleles are manufactured by the usual suspects. In my experience the quality is not worth what Kala charges.

Kala is absolutely not alone in this. What sets them apart is that they position the company as “the world’s most popular and most trusted ukulele brand” and they repeat it so often that people start to believe it. Paid posts show up constantly in both my Facebook and my Reverb feeds so I know it’s common. How many people are quitting because they got a uke that isn’t fun to play?

That’s the dislike. If I have resentment, I think it may come from the company doing very little (other than price) to distinguish the, ahem, genuine-layered-wood assembly-line instruments from the ones that range from actually decent to first-rate, finely crafted instruments. Sure, we know the difference here on this board. But the new players have no point of reference, they are convinced that it’s a great brand, and it smells intentional to me.

I get that I am probably alone on this and that’s okay. I came by my opinion honestly through handling more Kalas than most ever will. I keep my mind open to rebuttals and opposing views.

Thanks for rehabbing and rehoming ukuleles to those that want/need them.

My first ukulele was a Kala. It was so bad that I put it away and thought I hated ukuleles. About a year later I got to try a better ukulele and have been hooked ever since. I tried giving away that Kala and it kept bouncing back to me because no one liked it. It finally found a home with a young child.

 

[rumdood]

If we're doing unpopular, I'd say it's that the debate about guitar vs ukulele is silly because the first instrument called a "guitar" was an 8 stringed instrument in the 1500s about the size of a uke, tuned (in doubles) to gCEA. The guitar was originally a ukulele and vice versa.

(Obviously this is more akin to how certain French loan words in English are kind of like a bug frozen in amber - a cultural artifact of when two cultures came into contact and then the original cultural product continued to evolve - but that wouldn't be very unpopular or controversial)

There's a fun video on the evolution of the guitar here:

 

[doctorapatite]

Fair question. I will attempt to keep it brief. Because I could write a diatribe.

I have a thing where I spend a little time each week rescuing, rehabbing, and rehoming castoff and homeless ukes to people who want/need to play music but otherwise couldn’t afford them. An inordinate number of these ukuleles are manufactured by the usual suspects. In my experience the quality is not worth what Kala charges.

Kala is absolutely not alone in this. What sets them apart is that they position the company as “the world’s most popular and most trusted ukulele brand” and they repeat it so often that people start to believe it. Paid posts show up constantly in both my Facebook and my Reverb feeds so I know it’s common. How many people are quitting because they got a uke that isn’t fun to play?

That’s the dislike. If I have resentment, I think it may come from the company doing very little (other than price) to distinguish the, ahem, genuine-layered-wood assembly-line instruments from the ones that range from actually decent to first-rate, finely crafted instruments. Sure, we know the difference here on this board. But the new players have no point of reference, they are convinced that it’s a great brand, and it smells intentional to me.

I get that I am probably alone on this and that’s okay. I came by my opinion honestly through handling more Kalas than most ever will. I keep my mind open to rebuttals and opposing views.

The "world's most trusted brand" probably starts with a "K", but if you gave me five guesses, none of them would be Kala (and I play Kalas and actually like them, for their price).

 

[Graham Greenbag]

Fair question. I will attempt to keep it brief. Because I could write a diatribe.

I have a thing where I spend a little time each week rescuing, rehabbing, and rehoming castoff and homeless ukes to people who want/need to play music but otherwise couldn’t afford them. An inordinate number of these ukuleles are manufactured by the usual suspects. In my experience the quality is not worth what Kala charges.

Kala is absolutely not alone in this. What sets them apart is that they position the company as “the world’s most popular and most trusted ukulele brand” and they repeat it so often that people start to believe it. Paid posts show up constantly in both my Facebook and my Reverb feeds so I know it’s common. How many people are quitting because they got a uke that isn’t fun to play?

That’s the dislike. If I have resentment, I think it may come from the company doing very little (other than price) to distinguish the, ahem, genuine-layered-wood assembly-line instruments from the ones that range from actually decent to first-rate, finely crafted instruments. Sure, we know the difference here on this board. But the new players have no point of reference, they are convinced that it’s a great brand, and it smells intentional to me.

I get that I am probably alone on this and that’s okay. I came by my opinion honestly through handling more Kalas than most ever will. I keep my mind open to rebuttals and opposing views.

Kala sell a lot of Ukes and whilst I think that their quality control is good I also don’t doubt that they have the occasional instrument slip through the net. I‘ve still got several old Kala Ukes and am well pleased with them, I’ve had many Makalas and have also been pleased with them (great value and I set all of them up to play nicely). One concert of theirs (Kala) sounded naff and I wondered if it was a fake - maybe I shouldn’t but it got binned, and I disliked how one of their mid price laminates sounded (it wasn’t to my preference) so I sold it.

Of course Kala sell a lot of starter instruments and folk either outgrow them or get bored with playing Uke … leading to (perfectly fine) Ukes to rehome. Additionally there will always be some instruments that are poor examples of that model and such poor examples are destined to be either binned or given away. I’d suggest that a small percentage from a mass manufacturer (say 1 in 100 multiplied by 1000’s) could easily dominate a rehoming scheme and particularly so when added to large numbers of outgrown and abandoned instruments from the same mass manufacturer.

 

[Kei]

Kala sell a lot of Ukes …

Oh, I get it. I do. My “unpopular/controversial opinion” is only that.

 

[Neil_O]

I very much dislike (resent?) Kala. There. I said it.

I resent some of my Kalas to friends and family members interested in starting the uke.

 

[EDW]

Anything larger than a soprano should be used for kindling.

(well, you asked for controversial! )

 

[Ukecaster]

Anything larger than a soprano should be used for kindling.

(well, you asked for controversial! )

Similar to "anything larger than a soprano is cheating"

 

[Kei]

The "world's most trusted brand" probably starts with a "K", but if you gave me five guesses, none of them would be Kala…

Nailed it. The one I think would get that title isn’t even my favorite K - but mad respect to them for 108 years now.

 

[Ukecaster]

"The #1 Ukulele Site"

Yeah, right.

 

[badhabits]

"The #1 Ukulele Site"

Yeah, right.

Lololol... I don't think that's cool. Someone should start a separate thread on that!

 

[Altrove]

Most ukulele players are "seniors" and us youngsters feel a little out of place in ukulele clubs where they are all in their 50's or 60's that do plain boring strumming so we don't go

 

[kkimura]

Most ukulele players are "seniors" and us youngsters feel a little out of place in ukulele clubs where they are all in their 50's or 60's that do plain boring strumming so we don't go

I feel your pain. Last time I checked, my “new” songs were around ten years old. (I’m 74)

So, don’t hangout with the seniors. Start a group of people like you. It’s allowed.

 

[badhabits]

Most ukulele players are "seniors" and us youngsters feel a little out of place in ukulele clubs where they are all in their 50's or 60's that do plain boring strumming so we don't go

We play songs older than you punks

 

[Joyful Uke]

Old strings sound better than newly installed strings, but sometimes you have to change strings anyway.

 

[Wildjoy]

Anything larger than a soprano should be used for kindling.

(well, you asked for controversial! )

Sometimes when I see a picture of someone playing a fretted instrument, my first thought is, "That is hilarious! This must be some sort of parody or something." But then I realize, "oh wait--that's just a normal sized guitar."