Have you bonded with [all] your ukulele[s]?

Pirate Jim said:
mm stan, I hear you. My Uluru mahogany tenor was my go to uke for a good six months. Then, as my playing and my ear improved I noticed that the intonation was fairly poor, even at the 5th fret. I went through several brands of strings (assuming worn strings might be an issue) before replacing the heavily compensated stock saddle with a new one that I barely compensated at all. Intonation now really good but I'm having a dilemma - I've strung it low g with Thomastik Infeld CF-27 and CF-30 for the C and G strings. This is probably the best this instrument has sounded but I'm not enjoying the feel of the strings for some reason. It's weird because I have them on my Cordoba Mini and love them, just don't dig them on the tenor. Should I sacrifice sound for playing comfort or stick with it and get used to it (already had them on there a month or so).

Or, of course, I sell the Uluru and get an entirely new uke because getting new ukes is a whole lot of fun!
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Aloha Jim, that's the delima, high tension strings provide clarity, but feel too high tension for comfort
Before you change to lower tension strings I would recommend you drop the tuning to half step, f#,b, d#, g#
Or two half steps to hear the tone and voice. F, A#, D, G. You will a bit of clarity, bit muddy but improve on
Comfort and playability also you will have a sweeter tone. Good luck
Heavily built ukes I used to think was a bad thing, but a good luthier can make the into richer tone, great substain
And resonation.
one mistake I do believe many new ukers make is getting rid of ukes they cannot play...I try to keep all of mine, many times
many new ukers blame the ukulele for their short comings... as you get better you will be able to play ukes you couldn't or didn't like before...also they mature too and break in
becoming many times better sounding ukes.. I have nothing about newer ukes but Id rather stick to some with age and broken in too
 
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Rllink said:
That pretty much sums it up for me. I only have two, and I like them both. But I've not bonded with them in some sort of emotional way. I just do not have emotional relationships with my ukuleles. I see that so many do, and I am not critical of it. In fact, sometimes I wonder why I don't have those warm feelings that a lot of people have. I like playing the ukulele and the music that I make, but it is more a fun and entertaining thing to do rather than some sort of love affair with my ukulele and my ukulele experience. Anyway, I'm not trying to be a downer, I just don't have feelings for my ukes.
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I don't consider bonding a really strong emotional tie, like love or lust. For me bonding is feeling comfortable with the ukulele to the point where I can just play without too much thinking. The instrument is comfortable enough to become one with and I really enjoy the sound it produces. Other people might feel differently and probably do
 
DownUpDave said:
I don't consider bonding a really strong emotional tie, like love or lust. For me bonding is feeling comfortable with the ukulele to the point where I can just play without too much thinking. The instrument is comfortable enough to become one with and I really enjoy the sound it produces. Other people might feel differently and probably do
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You are right, it does depend on how you want to define bonding. Using your definition, I would have to say that I've bonded with both of my ukuleles.
 
No way. I bond with very few actually. I am down to one now. I went through many to get to this point but now I am actually thinking of picking up another tenor just for a different flavor from the soprano.
 
mm stan said:
Aloha Jim, that's the delima, high tension strings provide clarity, but feel too high tension for comfort
Before you change to lower tension strings I would recommend you drop the tuning to half step, f#,b, d#, g#
Or two half steps to hear the tone and voice. F, A#, D, G. You will a bit of clarity, bit muddy but improve on
Comfort and playability also you will have a sweeter tone. Good luck
Heavily built ukes I used to think was a bad thing, but a good luthier can make the into richer tone, great substain
And resonation.
one mistake I do believe many new ukers make is getting rid of ukes they cannot play...I try to keep all of mine, many times
many new ukers blame the ukulele for their short comings... as you get better you will be able to play ukes you couldn't or didn't like before...also they mature too and break in
becoming many times better sounding ukes.. I have nothing about newer ukes but Id rather stick to some with age and broken in too
Click to expand...

Cheers Stan - I'll give that a try! Don't plan on parting with it but would like to get the best out of it.
 
When I started this thread, bonding meant a couple of different things. An "emotional" attachment might be putting it strongly but with my first uke, the Lanikai, there are some sentimental feelings there. I was very excited to get it and it was my entry into the uke world. I might not feel sentimental about it if it didn't play so well. It has a feel I don't have with my other ukes and it sounds good for a cheap uke. As it was alluded to in another post, the test that I had a bond with it came when I had thoughts of selling it. I don't want to sell it and I love playing it.

With my 2nd uke, the Ohana, I had to work very hard to get it. I'm invested in it. It is a limited edition and at the time, I couldn't find one anywhere. I think I actively searched for over 9 months before I found one. It came with these ugly, boxy gold tuners which I hated so Ohana was kind enough to send me some silver, open gear tuners and matching ferrules for free. When I went to a tech to get them changed out, he didn't want to remove the gold ferrules already on the uke for fear of ruining the finish on the headstock. I was a bit wary at first but I told him to leave them in and just change out the tuners. Once I got it back, I thought the silver tuner pegs coming out of the gold ferrules looked pretty cool. I now had a one-of-a-kind, limited edition Ohana! On top of all that is the great back story of the sinker redwood used for the top of the uke. It too passed the test that I had a bond with it when I ask myself if I would consider selling it. The answer is no!

The Pono ATD I'm still on the fence about. The only thing I can really say might be against it is that it's a tenor. I'm still not sure if I'm a tenor guy. I haven't bonded to it at this point to where I would automatically think "no" if someone were interested in buying it. I'm not giving up on it yet. I'll have to spend some more time with it and then see what happens.
 
I sold my first three and every sale was really difficult. My first uke was a circa 1930 all solid mahogany Harmony soprano. the sweetest little uke! I had it on eBay and removed it twice before I let it go. I had a Po Mahina cigar box concert and an early Pono PKT-1 all solid koa. I also sold a Mele tenor all solid koa that I still miss.

I think I get attached to things because I had an evil stepmother that used to "clean" my room when I was at school, and toss anything she wanted. I'd come home and my stuff would be gone. It was pretty traumatizing to a little kid. I also grew up poor. I was an artist for a few decades, so I am into form, lines, color, fit, finish, all the physical aspects and visual delight in objects. I also understand that it's just stuff, but that stuff often equals ground psychologically, and that gives many of us comfort in a groundless world.

That said my priciest uke is a Collings tenor and it's gorgeous and brilliant sounding, and I love Martin copies, yet I can't bond with it. I like my K.Yasuma Martin tenor clone better; it's a pretty faithful replica and very accessible to play somehow. I've tried to sell it numerous times and am glad it hasn't sold.

Also I'd say my white label Kamaka concert is safe from being sold down the river, she just rings in my heart, as is the Kanile'a custom tenor my ex gave me. I'm not really bonded to ithat one as I haven't had time to play it much, but it sounds fabulous. I sold my other Kanile'a tenor which I got from MGM and never wanted to let go of, because this one sounded just as nice and is worth a lot more.

Eventually I hope to get down to just the ones that feel like an old friend and make my heart sing whenever I pick them up.
 
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mikelz777 said:
Have you bonded with [all] your uke?
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No, and it's good that way as I would have kept too many. :D

For me, bonding is a gradual thing that happens (or not) over time. I have enjoyed all the ukuleles I bought, but when the initial newness wore off, only three of them have become "close" to me in the sense that I pick them up often and play them several times a week. There's a connection of sorts. In case of my Barron River tenor I first had to grow a bit as a player and become more experimental with tunings and strings before I fell deeply in love with it, so selling prematurely can be a mistake. I sold most of the ones that I liked but didn't bond with.

The three ukes that I have bonded with are the aforementioned Barron River tenor (with low-G and a wound C), a 1920s Lyon&Healy mahogany soprano (in re-entrant D tuning with Aquila 33U D tuning strings; tuning up C tuning strings didn't work for this instrument), and my Black Bear koa soprano in re-entrant C tuning (Living Water Strings).

I am still unsure about my new Kanile'a GL6 guitarlele, which is an amazing instrument, really impeccable craftsmanship, and I have a Famous FS-5G soprano on the way from Japan. I'll know in half a year or so whether I have bonded with them. :)
 
Really interesting thread.

I'm by nature very minimalist with possessions - I sell or give away anything that doesn't get used regularly. I love my little ohana, its probably something I'd try to grab if the house was on fire :D

But I have another instrument thats arguably better, beautiful, sounds nice, but it just doesn't touch me the same way. Weird.
 
Bonding with instruments is a lot of fun for me. I've been playing the same clarinet for almost 30 years, and it has been a little like a marriage. You fall in love; you fall out of love; you fall back in love. It happens over a span of years, or decades. But, that clarinet is a part of me.

I've also bonded with my ukulele. When I take it out of the case and start playing it, it is joyous. The honeymoon is over, but we are still going strong.

My other ukuleles are fun, but they are just flirtations when compared to my main player.
 
Not a fair question for me because I tend to bond with lots of things. My first uke was a $40 Johnson soprano and it's still my favorite. The ones I've acquired since then are better instruments, but they don't "call out" to me when I walk by them.
 
I may be a rare breed but from guitars to ukuleles i prefer just the one. I have one acoustic guitar and right now due to receiving a Koaloha concert i have two ukuleles.

I played a cheap Mahalo tenor for a year and really bonded with and enjoyed playing it despite selling an Uluru solid concert before it. I didn't bond with it at all.

I then played the Southern ukulele store branded solid mahogany (Aria ACU250) for a year before just getting the Koaloha. Normally i would sell in an out with the old in with the new habit but... I like the Koa/Mahogany concert set. The SUS uke has opened up nicely and i guess i have bonded enough to keep it.

I know already the Koaloha will never leave. Such a sweet sounding uke. Stunning looks too.

I try to be minimalist with possessions and sell what i don't use. All ukes in the past have went. Kala, Ohana, Mahalo, Makala etc. We shall see...
 
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