Do you carry a Uke around?

I have a most likely 50s Martin Soprano that had a completely wrong back put on it. It has no braces there and is not high quality Mahogany if it is at all.
That is the "live in the car"ukulele for the past 10 years. It stays reasonably in tune and is loud and not too un-Martin like in sound. I no longer play it at stop lights.


I've only played a month, so it goes everywhere right now. It's so much handler than even my Taylor GS Mini. It's a solid wood concert, but I will likely get a laminate soprano for "in the car."
 
For those traveling with ukes in public places, do people come up to you and ask you to play certain songs? If so what songs?

#1 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
#2 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World
#3 - Tiptoe Through the Tulips (in which case I play Somewhere Over the Rainbow)
#4 - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (in which case I laugh and say I wish and play Somewhere Over the Rainbow)

Once in a while someone requests I'll See You In My Dreams or "that Jason Mraz song" or "something by the Beatles" or "a Hawaiian song" and I happily comply.

If I've got a banjo uke, they ask if I know Cripple Creek. I do, but not the one they're thinking of. When I get off of this mountain, you know where I wanna go...

As for the OP's question, I don't bring a uke along on everyday errands. I'll bring one to street fairs and parties and other gatherings. I can imagine strumming my way through CostCo... but a uke might get hurt in the mad dash for free samples. :cool:
 
Just a point of clarification. The Jive Aces, from the videos that I have seen, use a Yellow Makala Dolphin raterthan a Mahalo. I believe that there isn't any sponsorship link; Kala discovered then using a standard yellow Dolphin and then presented them with another that had an inbuilt electric pick-up.

All painted Ukes are not equal; I've heard a few Mahalo's and suggest that you'll regret the purchase. Yellow is a cheerful colour, if you can carry it off. I'm a Kala fan (and have a Dolphin), but I suspect that Ohana do a better coloured Uke. Unfortunately Ohana's SK15 doesn't seem to be available in yellow and costs about double the price of a Dolphin.

Thanks for the correction. After re-watching a few more of their videos, I can confirm that it is a Kala, but seems with some kind of brownish triangle under the headstock logo on some videos...

Also, I agree your assessment of the cheapo Mahalo ukes.

I have a U30-BK that had required extensive setup work to intonate properly, and in the end was disappointing in tone, but now plays well, and for $29, was a small investment to test if I could enjoy playing a soprano...which eventually led me to get a used and mint condition Martin 0XK for a good price...and I may rethink, and just use the 0XK uke as my 'all-day-carry'...

I have also been eye-ing an Ohana SK-14 for a while, and as per Baz's review (written and video), this looks like a very nice laminate soprano, and knowing that if I get it from Mim or Uke Republic, I will not have to worry about setup.
 
For those traveling with ukes in public places, do people come up to you and ask you to play certain songs? If so what songs?

When I'm out busking on the street corner sometimes people will just hang around and become my friend. And a lot of times it is because they have had plenty to drink. Usually they have songs that they ask for. I do a lot of Bob Dylan, so I get a lot of Bob Dylan requests. I purposely don't play Blowing in the Wind on my own, because if I'm playing Bob Dylan that one usually comes up. Tip Toe Through the Tulips a lot of times. I always say that I don't know the words, but I will play it if they will sing it. I do know the words, but that is what I tell them. I have gotten some pretty darn good renditions of it from people. The song is really a pretty song if it is not done in falsetto. I get asked to play Johnny Cash songs a lot of the time.

One day last winter I was out busking in the afternoon, and I knew that it wasn't going to be good day, so I hadn't made any money at all. I just felt like busking. And I was just walking around with my ukulele, so I stopped at a little bar for a beer, and it was about four in the afternoon. There was probably only four people in there at four in the afternoon. But they had a little stage and the bartender told me to go up on the stage and play my ukulele, so I did. I played and sang for about forty-five minutes. I think everyone there bought me a beer, and the bartender gave me a twenty. But talking about Tip Toe Through the Tulips, I got the whole bar singing Tip Toe Through the Tulips. And they were all Puerto Ricans, so I was laughing so hard I could hardly play it. It was fun. Okay, that's it for me.
 
Last edited:
One day last winter I was out busking in the afternoon, and I knew that it wasn't going to be good day, so I hadn't made any money at all. I just felt like busking. And I was just walking around with my ukulele, so I stopped at a little bar for a beer, and it was about four in the afternoon. There was probably only four people in there at four in the afternoon. But they had a little stage and the bartender told me to go up on the stage and play my ukulele, so I did. I played and sang for about forty-five minutes. I think everyone there bought me a beer, and the bartender gave me a twenty. But talking about Tip Toe Through the Tulips, I got the whole bar singing Tip Toe Through the Tulips. And they were all Puerto Ricans, so I was laughing so hard I could hardly play it. It was fun. Okay, that's it for me.

Great story! Thanks for sharing.
 
I just wanted to mention a couple of things:

1) You might not regret the Mahalo, but you will eventually move on. The one exception is a Mahalo that was played by Barry Maz (gotaukulele) where the owner cut the instrument in half and rebuilt it, and in the process it because a super Mahalo. If I were Mahalo, I would be contacting that person and working with them to improve the product. At any rate, your first ukulele is your first ukulele, it will forever hold a place in your heart and mind...and if it leads you to bigger and better things, why not?

2) I have been following Ohana on social media, although I do not own one. They just took delivery on a bunch of SK-10 models that are colored...another way to get that yellow ukulele experience.
 
Our group, the Ladies of Uke, proudly plays Tiptoe Through the Tulips, NO falsetto. The 1st time we did it, the audience (open mic) actually groaned at first, but now people sing along with us!
Tiny Tim.jpg
 
Oh my!
Consistently, obsessively, neurotically!
I completely understand feeling naked without a ukulele strapped to my back, and the bag I have made for it does exactly that. I typically ride a scooter to and from work, and it hangs there like a good friend hugging me from behind.
I have more ooks than I care to mention, but my travel buddy is the concert Flea Tiki King.
 
Last edited:
#1 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
#2 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World
#3 - Tiptoe Through the Tulips (in which case I play Somewhere Over the Rainbow)
#4 - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (in which case I laugh and say I wish and play Somewhere Over the Rainbow)
lol! Just know you got a good chuckle out of me.. cause it's so true!
 
I'm more of a cache and play uker, kinda like a squirrel with nuts. I keep a sop I won via the seasons at the beach house, a Cordoba baritone hanging at work and another is frequently "on loan" at a friend's house for when I drop by.

A tenor fluke in the original gig bag is tough enough to sling over my shoulder and take anywhere. I occasionally take it to the dog park on weekends. There's another gent there that frequently shows up with a guitar and we jam on occasion. The dogs seem to like it anyway.

I don't often hang out in public places but once in a while I will take the Fluke down to the waterfront park in Portland and hang out for an hour or two. It's not loud or particularly great sounding but there's something about it that just says "take me along dude!" and I'm usually glad I did!
 
ahoy

only been at it for a few months
playing is mistake filled
try try
do over
oh boy got it right this time
getting better
would not dare play in public at the VA Hospital
Outdoor soprano was in the car
also there is one here at the book store
but do not play it when anybody is around

don't know how long this love affair will last
but my oh my
am in love

yours truly
mac
 
Haha, we're on holiday, and today i made my first walk with a uke around my shoulder. Normally I'm in front becasue I have long legs, today I was trailing, because I was playing all the time. I loved it. the uke was a Kala travel soprano w. strap buttons added. Its flatness causes it to almost vanish against the body. Totally no problem manouvering with this thing around my shoulder.
 
I keep a uke in my office. A few strums here and there is great medicine for whatever ails you.
 
I am a nurse in a children's hospital, so I often bring my ukulele to work to play for my patients. It's also a great stress reducer to play in my office & when I take a break. My hospital is blessed with a wonderful music therapy department and they are mostly responsible for me getting a ukulele in the first place. I started messing around with one in the music room at work, and the music therapists encouraged me to get one & start learning to play. The music room is open every afternoon, and if I'm not too busy, I grab my uke and go down and jam with the music therapists, hospital volunteers & patients. Ukes, guitars, piano, bongos, mini xylophones.....you name it, we all play and have a good time.

When I got interested in the ukulele, I was looking for a portable instrument to take on my whitewater rafting trips & kayak touring trips. The ukulele is perfect. On my raft, it lives in a hard case, inside a heavy duty dry bag. It also fits neatly inside my sea kayak. It's so fun to drag out a songbook, start playing, and get my friends singing around a campfire. So far, since I started playing in April, my ukuleles have been through Stillwater Canyon on the Green River, Down the Snake & Salmon Rivers on whitewater trips, and on kayak paddling trips in Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone. Before the summer & fall are over it will go with me back to Grand Teton & down to Lake Powell. It's the best portable happiness machine ever!
 
For those that carry ukes around, are they mainly inexpensive ukes or do you take your expensive ukes with you? What about to uke festivals and events?
 
The RISA stick is made for travel. I just toss it in the suitcase (never worry about it getting broken). I usually tske a portable mini-amp just in case I want more volume.
 
For those that carry ukes around, are they mainly inexpensive ukes or do you take your expensive ukes with you? What about to uke festivals and events?
Expensive is relative I guess. I have two ukuleles and they both live in different places. One is my Mainland and the other is my Makala. I hate to label the Makala as a beater, because I think that it sounds nice and it is as easy to play as any, and I like it. But it lives in a harsher environment than the Mainland. But regardless, the ukulele that lives where I am does everything from gigging to bike rides to camping. It goes to ukulele festivals and events. So in Iowa, my Mainland is my everything, including beater. In San Juan, my Makala is the one, and it does everything from street corners to beaches. I don't have a different ukulele for every imaginable situation I might find myself. The Mainland does go visit the Makala once in a while, in which case they fight each other for my attention.
 
Last edited:
Today I was out getting my wife's car serviced and smogged. I took my concert Uke with me to learn a new song while I was out. In Jiffy Lube I asked the guy if he minded me playing and we had a conversation about Ukes and Guitars, he was an old guitar player. He said he had bought his son a Uke and it kind'a got put in the closet. I suggested he get it out and learn the chords to give his son a little boost. He was smiling when he left.

I stopped in a Taco shop to have some lunch and a young woman commented she liked the sound of my Uke. I talked with her a moment and said she ought to learn to play one. She grinned and said, "Maybe I will."

I was playing alone in the Smog shop until an older guy came in and we had a conversation about Uke's and music. He said he just did the crossword puzzles and I suggested he learn uke, as it's a great retirement advocation. He was thinking about it when I left.

So few people see a uke being played that they don't really think about playing a uke, but when they hear it, they do get interested. If more people played a Uke the world would be a happier place.
 
Top Bottom