The Cost of Uke

My wife uses some program to track spending, but she doesn't include my random purchases, so ukuleles aren't included. Neither are golf or motorcycles.

I can understand that. It's hardly worth the effort to track random purchases like that. : )

PS. I bought your book. I like to support independent authors.
 
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I never even thought about that. I don't keep track of that sort of thing. I know I've thrown hundreds of dollars around on ukes that I didn't keep.
But I don't consider that to compare even close to the value of the joy I've received playing the ones I've kept.
 
For me ukulele is saving me money:). I too have expensive hobbies like golf, and motorcycle but because of the Ukulele I have dialed those hobbies down. Green fees and motorcycle cycle insurance are comparatively expensive compared to the US. It's about $750 a year for motorcycle insurance (I'm on the cheapend!), and green fees around the greater Toronto area range from 50-200 dollars a round. It adds up.

As for the Ukulele... You buy one or two, and playing it doesn't cost you a penny. However, I am trying to resist what golfers coined, "equipment ho-ing" which is the same as UAS. We are looking for that magic bullet to improve our game. But I try my best to refer to the old adage, "It's not the arrow, it's the Indian." Like golf, people would benefit from teaching lessons and instruction than an equipment change. That new golf driver, ain't gonna make you hit straighter. Or that new ukulele ain't gonna make you play in time according to the sheet music. Having learned that valuable lesson, I end up, buying books, supporting Ukulele websites (RockClass, Ukulele Way,etc), and Patreons who offer so much to the community. 10 bux a month for those websites, Patreon members, you can donate a dollar which is less than a cup of coffee to get access to a bunch of songs and tips. Improving your playing skills goes a long way. You see dudes like George Elmes who started on a $20 dollar Ukulele and how great of a player he has become. At that point you can buy any Ukulele you want :) It's like new golfers purchasing expensive "blade irons" that pros use, instead of opting for the game improvement iron set......



With that being said, and dont wanna risk offending anybody. If you have the means to buy the latest and greatest. Or vintage and greatest, go ahead. Life it's too short.





My wife uses some program to track spending, but she doesn't include my random purchases, so ukuleles aren't included. Neither are golf or motorcycles.
 
I wouldn't go to that lengths either. And I don't count the shipping costs either. It's just the money that I have to pay for NOT having to go to the factory. Of course, if I have the opportunity to go there, I'd alway prefer that. I feel, the most important thing about buying a musical instrument is taking it in my own hands and play it before I buy it. Unfortunately that's not always possible.
E.g., it's too far from here where I live (near Frankfurt/Germany) to the Magic Fluke Company. As is it to Hawaii... But I did go to Brueko twice... the only or at least most renowned German ukulele manufacturer (I know, there is Risa, too, but they mostly produce outside Germany now). Going there always gives me the opportunity to choose from different instruments. And there are always some instruments which never make it to the online catalogues. On one visit I had the chance to pick up a really rare thing... and until this date one of my very favourite instruments: a longneck soprano with a cedar top and a body made of Brazilian rosewood. I'd never have had the chance to get hold of this beautiful and marvelously sounding thing just from ordering online.
So why should I calculate the driving costs? Brueko is about 75 miles from here, about an hour and a half by car. But the experience of going there and picking up this very special instrument, "my" uke, is just priceless. Add to that, of course, that I could take a look at the factory and the various production steps, which you usually don't get to see. Considering all this, why should I worry about the few bucks I had to spend to go there? I just don't see the point.
 
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I'm going with the happy factor. It's like working on mopeds. All of us think we're insane. You'll pick up a beat up 30 year old bike, but once you tweak the engine and keep buying the parts to get it running and the repairs when it breaks down (it will) you've spent at least $1000. Ask any of us if we'll give up the hobby and we'll all tell you no. We just go with the motto Mopeds, mo problems.

If the uke is in my price range, I don't worry about the other stuff. I'll go to a brick and mortar when possible because I can play them and I like shopping locally.
 
Ukuleles themselves are not an ongoing cost for me, it is all the other stuff. I just bought a mixer and another foot pedal that will let me switch between amps. I used to go to the coffee shop to do my gig there and just walk in with a ukulele. Now I have to make three trips out to the Ford for all my stuff. This thread is actually making me think about somehow documenting what I have in the tablet, amps, pedals, and microphones. Not to mention all the little accoutrements that I buy. I have to have a little do hickey to attach the tablet to the mic stand because the do hickey that I have doesn't work like I wish that it would. Just stuff like that. That is where I'm spending money. I suppose that is gear acquisition syndrome. I don't have UAS, but I do have plenty of GAS. But it might be good to get a handle on how much all that is costing me, if just for curiosities sake. But then it might scare me too.
 
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But it might be good to get a handle on how much all that is costing me, if just for curiosities sake. But then it might scare me too.

My wife and I did that one time to see what we spent on eating meals out in the course of a month. It was scary and I'd have to admit, a bit embarrassing.
 
My wife and I did that one time to see what we spent on eating meals out in the course of a month. It was scary and I'd have to admit, a bit embarrassing.

I know what you mean. With Quicken, too much information is available at the click of a mouse.
 
I think accoutrement was the word Rlink's preconceived textualisation deviant was looking five......;)
 
I can see how that would run into a chunk of change: accouchement is the process of giving birth, much more expensive these days than some extra gear.

I think accoutrement was the word Rlink's preconceived textualisation deviant was looking five......;)

Good one. (Big embarrassed smile:). I have trouble with them there big words.
 
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