Hi folks,
My name is Andrew and I live in Wake Forest NC. I've been playing electric guitar since I'm 13 (now 42), so I'm not new to frets and strings. I play electric guitar regularly in my church worship team, but also have been know to play acoustic guitar, bass, banjo, and mandolin there (it helps that I own at least 1 of each of these). I've also owned a Fluke a for a few years. I noodled with it for a bit but was never really that into it - it was just a novelty and something I tried to (briefly) teach my younger daughter to play.
A few weeks ago I was in Oahu on a vacation/company trip with my wife. I knew I had to come back with a nice Hawaiian uke. After seeing a lot of touristy junk all over the place, I did manage to play a decent one at a nicer souvenir place. The brand was Locals. It looked really nice with figured solid koa, played very well, but didn't really sound all that amazing (especially for $400). I decided to sleep on it.
The next day we climbed Diamond Head and I decided to drive into Waikiki to check out Ukulele Puapua at the Sheraton. I limited myself to checking out things in the $400 price range, which lead me to a Hawaiian brand that did some of its work offshore (I forget the brand). It was also quite nice, but it didn't choose me, if you know what I mean. I decided to sleep on that one.
So the next day (or same day?) we were up in Haleiwa. I sought out Ukelele Site / HMS. When I said I was committed to Hawaiian made there the price floor was closer to $800, which was more than I wanted to spend. But, what the heck I'm here, let me try your entry-level Hawaiian uke. They handed me a KoAloha KSM-00 Soprano. WOW! What a difference! The playability, tone and volume were head and shoulders above what I had been playing. Even my wonderful wife noticed the difference and, to her credit, said, "hey, it's your money."
I also compared it to a discounted (last year's model) concert from KoAloha that was 1/2 koa 1/2 mango. It was also really nice (but different - more mellow) and I almost went for that one. In the end, though, I bought the KSM-00. I mean, it's my first "real" uke, so let's keep it as traditional as possible. Also, I have pretty small hands/fingers, and soprano isn't that hard for me to play. They were nice enough to upgrade the case and I walked out of there with a huge smile on my face.
Since then I've been having a ton of fun with it. I've dedicated myself to really learning it the right way. I haven't even played my guitars since I've gotten back from Hawaii 2 weeks ago. I am following a couple of the courses available on Truefire.com (I am an all access member there). I wish they had more than 2 uke courses there, but man there are so many great videos on youtube and so much tab out there I am not really lacking for material to work on.
Anyway, I've been lurking here for a few weeks and learning a lot. I figured I'd post an intro with my uke journey so far so it wouldn't be as awkward when I pipe in on other threads.
Thanks for reading!
-Andrew
My name is Andrew and I live in Wake Forest NC. I've been playing electric guitar since I'm 13 (now 42), so I'm not new to frets and strings. I play electric guitar regularly in my church worship team, but also have been know to play acoustic guitar, bass, banjo, and mandolin there (it helps that I own at least 1 of each of these). I've also owned a Fluke a for a few years. I noodled with it for a bit but was never really that into it - it was just a novelty and something I tried to (briefly) teach my younger daughter to play.
A few weeks ago I was in Oahu on a vacation/company trip with my wife. I knew I had to come back with a nice Hawaiian uke. After seeing a lot of touristy junk all over the place, I did manage to play a decent one at a nicer souvenir place. The brand was Locals. It looked really nice with figured solid koa, played very well, but didn't really sound all that amazing (especially for $400). I decided to sleep on it.
The next day we climbed Diamond Head and I decided to drive into Waikiki to check out Ukulele Puapua at the Sheraton. I limited myself to checking out things in the $400 price range, which lead me to a Hawaiian brand that did some of its work offshore (I forget the brand). It was also quite nice, but it didn't choose me, if you know what I mean. I decided to sleep on that one.
So the next day (or same day?) we were up in Haleiwa. I sought out Ukelele Site / HMS. When I said I was committed to Hawaiian made there the price floor was closer to $800, which was more than I wanted to spend. But, what the heck I'm here, let me try your entry-level Hawaiian uke. They handed me a KoAloha KSM-00 Soprano. WOW! What a difference! The playability, tone and volume were head and shoulders above what I had been playing. Even my wonderful wife noticed the difference and, to her credit, said, "hey, it's your money."
I also compared it to a discounted (last year's model) concert from KoAloha that was 1/2 koa 1/2 mango. It was also really nice (but different - more mellow) and I almost went for that one. In the end, though, I bought the KSM-00. I mean, it's my first "real" uke, so let's keep it as traditional as possible. Also, I have pretty small hands/fingers, and soprano isn't that hard for me to play. They were nice enough to upgrade the case and I walked out of there with a huge smile on my face.
Since then I've been having a ton of fun with it. I've dedicated myself to really learning it the right way. I haven't even played my guitars since I've gotten back from Hawaii 2 weeks ago. I am following a couple of the courses available on Truefire.com (I am an all access member there). I wish they had more than 2 uke courses there, but man there are so many great videos on youtube and so much tab out there I am not really lacking for material to work on.
Anyway, I've been lurking here for a few weeks and learning a lot. I figured I'd post an intro with my uke journey so far so it wouldn't be as awkward when I pipe in on other threads.
Thanks for reading!
-Andrew
