Bill Bailey, won't you please come home
This is "Bill Bailey", He's a Christmas present from Mom 2014.
The "Bill Bailey" Story
Not long after I became became acquainted with "Izzy" my Martin Mahogany Tenor Ukulele that old devil UAS got a hold on me. Of course I rationalized the whole thing. I said I would try a tenor, a concert ukulele, and a soprano. Different scale lengths you see. Maybe by playing the three sizes in sequence I could climb the learning curve faster, let Muscle Memory help out. Find out what size was right for me. Not! OK, hmmn...Ahh. I know I would try three different Tone Woods. Yeah that's it! I selected mahogany, red cedar, and Koa. I had heard a lot about Koa wood from Hawaii in the forums at Ukulele Underground. It was a plan!
I figured the Mainland Soprano Red Cedar uke, solid top, would be a good choice. I looked it up. Modest price, made in USA, there is a combination you don't often see. N/C sealed "gold" tuners, 17:1 ratio - I liked that. I am a banjo player and reliable tuners are a godsend. Izzy had come with what I thought were carved fiddle peg tuners. Wrong! They were 4:1 Planetary Pegheds, (Yay! I like planetary tuners. None better). The kicker was you could get Amber buttons for the tuners too. Red cedar, gold tuners amber buttons, I knew that would work. Done! Not only was it a plan it was a solid plan!
Now there was a little problem none the less... I needed to talk this over with my wife Susan. You never bring a new member of the family into the home without discussing it with your spouse. Susan was away on a business trip so I had to wait awhile before I could talk to her about. I had asked her what song I could learn for her when I got Izzy. She had indicated "If You Knew Suzie". Well I know about the "Old Susan", (Before my time; but you find out things over the course of thirty odd years of living together). It is "Susan" BTW, period.
When Susan got back from North Carolina, I introduced her to "Suzie", my Lanikai laminate Koa concert. I explained my plan. She was cool about it! Even said I should spend more money on myself. Have I introduced you to "Siobhan", my Whyte Laydie No 2 banjo! - (Siobhan means white dove or white girl in Gaelic).
Back to Bill Bailey. Thanksgiving wasn't far away. Mom always asks about a "little list" around this time of year. I was ready. Had all the info written down for a change. I didn't let things go to chance though. Next day, Black Friday, I went to visit Santa Claus. Got in line behind the other folks. Santa was just finishing things up with a terrified two year old. He had an elf summon me to the front of the line! Knock me over with a feather! So I told Santa I'd been good and wanted a ukulele for Christmas. He gave me the old hairy eyeball. - Santa knows me pretty well... I asked him if my nose had grown. He laughed and said "No". Summoned the elf over, told her to write down the particulars.
End of story, Right?... Wrong! a A couple of days later UPS delivered a Uke - "Sweet Georgia Brown" . I checked it out - beautiful, played a little. She sounded good. I put it away. It was a Christmas Present right? A couple of Days later I had cause to open the case to check something out. The Ukulele had Exploded.
The bridge had become unglued. No Christmas present for Tommy!
The M & M boys Mike and Mike from UR and Mainland took care of me. "Bill Bailey" came home on January 8, 2015. He is a handsome devil, loud and punchy.
Within two days I graduated from being a beginner to an Intermediate Ukulele Player.
What JOY! end of story.