Oh crack! -- Ukulele accidents and misfortunes.

When I got my new Deering banjo in the mail, I examined it closely to make sure it was perfect. Then I decided to tune it and began twisting a tuning knob as one cranks away at a Uke peg. Then, pow! and I had a two piece #2 string! Of course, I was frightened and heartbroken, but luckily I had an extra so all was well. Banjo strings only take a few turns.

And you who (Yoo Hoo?) have a banjolele; be very careful when moving the bridge--hang on to it, don't just push it. One is supposed to lift it slightly. It makes a heck of a noise if it slips. It scared the heck oughta me when mine slipped. I thought the head had ripped.

Banjerin' ain't for sissies. :eek:ld:
 
I was at a friend's house...a fellow collector of vintage ukuleles and he was showing me one of his Santo ukuleles. He set it down on his chair to grab another to show me something on that ukulele and he backed up to sit in that chair. Luckily, I was in position to quickly grab that ukulele before he sat on it. He thanked me up and down as an 1890's Santo ukulele is NOT something which could ever be replaced! Consequently, I never set a ukulele on a chair. I hang my ukuleles on the walls and if I am with others and I put it down, I put it in a case and latch it. I've seen a uke come flying out of a case when placed inside but the latches not latched. (luckily it wasn't one of mine)
 
I've not actually smashed a ukulele yet, but I spent a year learning to play my Makala, searching and researching my upgrade that I promised myself if I stuck with it for that long. So I chose a gloss Mainland concert with a MiSi. I ordered a nice hard case while I was at it. So it arrived, and it was flawless. My Makala did not have a strap button, so I had not used a strap, but the MiSi of course provides one. My wife had an old guitar in the basement and I knew that there was an old hippie strap down there with it that would just go great with that uke. I ran down got it, put it on, and went to town. When I was done, I jammed it strap and all, in the case. The next day I pulled it out and was playing it, and my wife asked me how I scratched my new uke. It seems that the old hippy strap had brass rivets on it, and it put a couple of good scratches around the pickup. I was just sick about it. I had owned that uke less that twenty four hours and I already had these deep scratches in it. But, I've played it almost every day for close to two years, gigged with it, busked with it, and now it has enough scratches in it that those first ones don't stand out so much. I threw away that hippie strap by the way, and my guitar playing buddy gave me one without any rivets. So I'm good.
 
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Reading these horrific tales makes me cringe. I have mangled two pair of glasses, and made my flute look like a banana when they came between a chair and my big bum. Squashing a perfectly good ukulele would be something nightmares are made of.
 
sukie said:
Due to a few people dinging my ukulele, I now don't let people touch it without permission. And they can't be near anything. No chairs with arms, no nothing. I apparently caused a ruckus (totally unintentionally) when a friend was playing it and HER friend took it out of her hands and started playing it. I took it out of his hands immediately. He got pissed and my friend had to do damage control and I don't think the guy likes me because it. But....excuse me....always ask permission to play someone else's ukulele. Always.[/QUOTE
ESPECIALLY YOUR MOORE BETTAH, how dare him :), I'd explain it to him why you did it, then again...maybe not :)
Cause he might ask next time ha ha...Golden Rule, no one, I mean no one touches another ones Moore Bettah without permission. .did they know every ding is at least 500.00 off your mbs worth or more . Let them sign a waiver
Click to expand...
 
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How about this......
The uke is so light weight, forgot I had it on me. Walked into the wall, chipped the edge. Of course, this always happen on the most expensive uke .
Luckily, a very well-known world class luthier lives close to me. He went out of his way to repair it for me when it's not even his product. His magic hands returned my uke to the original condition !

This is another reason I bought a Fluke so I can afford to be careless! Those things can really take a lot f abuse!
 
SoloRule said:
How about this......
The uke is so light weight, forgot I had it on me. Walked into the wall, chipped the edge. Of course, this always happen on the most expensive uke .
Luckily, a very well-known world class luthier lives close to me. He went out of his way to repair it for me when it's not even his product. His magic hands returned my uke to the original condition !

This is another reason I bought a Fluke so I can afford to be careless! Those things can really take a lot f abuse!
Click to expand...

I believe the reason for this is the intoxicating auras of Simon and Dave. Blame them and make them pay for the repairs.
:cool:
 
Here's my uke abuse story. It wasn't "intentional", but that said, I knew it wasn't a good idea for the future of the uke. A few years ago, I had a couple of my grand kids here. they wanted to play in the hot tub. And they wanted Grandpa in there with them. So, Sitting in the tub and the grandkids frolicking around, decided I would see what I could do to chill em out a little. They also loved to hear and watch Grandpa play the uke, so I asked them if they wanted to have a uke party in the hot tub. I imagine by now you see what's coming. Well, I had a cheap LU21 I kept around as a loaner, so I grabbed it, and I sat in the hot tub with the grandkids and we had a little concert in the tub of sorts. They loved it, I loved it, but the uke, even a laminate didn't fair so well. After a couple days, it started falling apart. But then again, I kinda expected it would. But the fun memory for my grand kids, it was worth it.. ;)
 
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