How did you get your Uke?

I went to Georges music is B-o-r-ing.

I was wondering if there were any good stories about Pawn Shop steals, late night poker games, rescued dog rewards or something like that.

I was in Micanopy, Fl. and was in Leonardo's Music. Picked up a $ 29.95 bright yellow soprano and started messing around with it. My wife convinced to buy it. That was it, I was hooked. I figured four finger and four strings, nice match. (If man were meant to play the guitar, he would have been made with six fingers). I bought my tenor on line after some reseach (KA- T) and my Baritone from Georges Music in Riviera Beach, FL. Pretty boring huh? Any good stories?

Mine was a retirement / long service award. The company I worked for has a program where upon retirement you choose your gift out of an online catalogue in escalating values based on years of service ( golf clubs, crystal glasses, big tv that sort of thing) . When my boss was notified that I had not chosen, he asked why, I explained that I had a quick look but not wishing to appear ungrateful there really wasn't anything I was particularly interested in. He offered then to just have his secretary purchase something of the appropriate value that I desired.

Next day I had a Collings UT2 mahogany ukulele , he and I get together to play poker still and he says he is very pleased to see a gift so valued and well used.

Mxyzptik said:

Mine was a retirement / long service award. The company I worked for has a program where upon retirement you choose your gift out of an online catalogue in escalating values based on years of service ( golf clubs, crystal glasses, big tv that sort of thing) . When my boss was notified that I had not chosed he asked why, I explained that I had a quick look but not wishing to appear ungrateful there really wasn't anything I was particularly interested in. He offered then to just have his secreatiary purchase something of the appropriate value that I desired.

Next day I had a Collings UT2 mahogany ukulele , he and I get together to play poker still and he says he is very pleased to see a gift so valued and well used.

Click to expand...

Nice story with a nice ending!

Petey

I was in Micanopy, Fl. and was in Leonardo's Music.

Click to expand...

You and I maybe the only people on UU that can say that! Weird but cool little store.

Tim

The ukulele I have was originally my daughter's. It's a pink Makala Shark. She played it for about three weeks when the one she really wanted arrived. It was an order that got mixed up. Instead of trading the Shark in for the Ukadelic, we decided to just keep it. I enjoy playing it, but I'm ready to upgrade. I'll still keep it when I upgrade. My only complaint is that it's pink (that can be changed). When I upgrade, I plan on getting a concert scale.

timmit65 said:

You and I maybe the only people on UU that can say that! Weird but cool little store.

Tim

Click to expand...

Wife and I like the Hurlong. Nice weekend get a way. If your there again, say Hi to Becky Sinn.

45 years after my sister took back "her" ukulele I stated one Christmas that since I had all the surf equipment, clothes, and chocolate I needed. I remembered that I'd played a ukulele. One appeared on Christmas Day. It was a Gretch that had a nice Diamond-head Hula Girl Sunset decal over the Gretch chevron. Still have it although I play Martins mostly. Best Christmas ever.

In June of 2013 I was leafing through a Musicians Friend catalogue when I came a cross a Mahalo uke designed after the Fender Telecaster guitar. I had recently bought a Telecaster and thought that this little ukulele would look good hanging next to it. I ordered it and the same week it arrived, I received a post card from the Los Angeles Music Center announcing the upcoming summer play-along series, including ukulele. Since I now had one, I signed up and got online to learn what I could in a short couple of weeks, but as soon as I started playing it, I found that I could not make many of the cords, too small.

I got online again and learned about sizes, the Mahalo was a soprano, too small for me, tenor is my size. I went online with Musicians Friend and found a Lanikai LQA-TCA (see signature) on sale for $149. Seeing that it would take too long to deliver, a went over to Sam Ash in Hollywood to see what they had, and what-do-you-know, they had that Lanikai, but for $329. I asked if they matched online pricing, he said yes, so I bought it for $149.

Since I played guitar for almost 50 years, it didn't take me long to learn a few chords for the Music Center seminars. I also found the the Fishman preamp installed inside the sound hole was way too awkward, so I yanked it and installed Fishman Isis+, which worked out very well. As I got better, I found that the uke did not have much projection or sustain, so infected with UAS, I started buying ukes in ernest. After all that, a couple months ago I put on Worth browns and let it sit, and when I picked it up the other day (over 1 year of ownership), it opened up and sounds much better now.

My first was my 10th birthday present. My Dad had just finished building our new house. I'm not sure if he didn't have any money or what, but he gave me his vintage Martin O. I didn't get around to being serious about ukes until about 10 years ago or so.

On my drive back from Florida last February, I took a diversion up the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA and visited Mim's Ukes in Meadows of Dan just after she moved in and was establishing her new abode. She displayed a bunch of ukes that I had told her I was interested in and after an hour or so, I whittled it down to a Pono ATDC with hard case.

Mim's is a great person to deal with and so accommodating. I never regret buying the Pono as it is truly a beautiful ukulele and Mim is one fine person to buy from.

Continued back home to Niagara with my new Pono in tow.

Regards,
Bill

PhilUSAFRet said:

My first was my 10th birthday present. My Dad had just finished building our new house. I'm not sure if he didn't have any money or what, but he gave me his vintage Martin O. I didn't get around to being serious about ukes until about 10 years ago or so.

Click to expand...

hopefully you still have it!

Inspired by hearing Iz's Somewhere/Rainbow medley on the radio, I got on Amazon, shopping for something cheap to start out with. Settled on a Lanikai LU-11, because the name sounded Hawaiian! :shaka: Still have it...;-D

Oh my! Which uke? Which story? Since you ask about bargains...From e-Bay:a new Ukiyo Vita-I was the one who turned it from red to green with a $400 bid which closed April 15th (Tax Day) it was a nine day auction..no one else bid on it.I called the seller to tell him that I felt sorry for him not getting more for what shows on Mark's site at $875. He told me he had paid $500 plus shipping from Mark. He refused my offer to just negate the transaction and for him to relist on a day when people were more in a buying mood. I called Mark to ask him if it would be alright to put PEGHEDS on it. It weight 15 ounces. I also asked him if I could make embroidered patches of his logo. "Only if I get get one free," was his reply. He got one of each of the two sizes. Inside of my hard case I shaved the fuzz on the top the size of the circles. My PEGHED patch is over the head of the case, and the Ukiyo label over the middle of the body. (Yes--I sell both with permission from Mark and Chuck)


From eBay: a new lacewood/rosewood tenor Mid-East baroq-ulele with a slot head. Retail $329.00
Auction finished on SuperBowl Sunday. No minimum bid. One hour to go with a $35.00 high bid.
Just to dignify the sale, I bid $75.00 (no, it is only when the seller/auctioneer and the bidder are in cahoots that it is called shilling) Monday a.m. there was the notice I had won. Won what? Oh!
Again, a call to the seller. He is the importer and it was his first time on e-Bay. After a discussion about American Traditions, suggested that we cancel the sale and he choose a better day for closing a sale, and set a realistic minimum bid. He declined the offer, and said he was glad it was going to a person who appreciated it. I had to cut my thread tapering tool because of the centre bar, but now instead of wooden pegs, it tunes with PEGHEDS. It is a guaranteed conversation starter as well as a wonderful sounding/playing instrument.

Each of my cases has a card that tells how it came to live with me. Space is limited: $800 balalaika pre 1945 at a garage sale for 20. A fourth hole and PEGHEDS on my Uke-alaika.

$500 spalted maple Bloodworks soprano with a dark walnut neck from a barn where Abraham Lincoln spoke for $150. Soundhole as an upside down rainbow on the waist of the upper side.
A player and a looker.

I won't go into detail about the 7 to 10 thousand sale estimate by Elderly (15 to 20 if opened to an Asian market) on a Dobro mandolin that I honestly bought for $275.00

My first ukulele was a Lanikai LU-21 that I got for my birthday from my mom. There's nothing terribly unique about it, just a typical ol' entry level instrument. My Kamaka concert is far more special to me. I fell in love with Kamaka over the internet and decided that I needed a newish model Kamaka with the pearl inlay KK on the headstock. I searched and searched and searched for one in my price range, but nothing showed. Finally, I found a spectacularly cheap one on an online website of a music store in New York. I thought the price was misprinted at first! But this particular Kamaka concert had a repaired crack on the soundboard and a small flaw in the finish on the back. Perfect for me. I wasn't looking for a museum piece or a stunning case-kept instrument. I was looking for something real that I could hold and play and enjoy without worry.

Well, one thing led to another, and some expenses came up that I had to cover that sapped my ukulele fund, so it looked like I was going to have to pass on this lovely instrument. However, my wonderful late grandmother stepped in and saved the day. She fronted the cash for me, and I was able to pay her back for it eventually. It was one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me, and now my ukulele has a special association with a woman who had a huge impact on my life. Now, that amazing Kamaka has dings and scrapes and strum marks like nobody's business. I've played my soul out on it, and I don't regret a thing. I'll treasure it forever.

We knew that my parents house needed to be sold to pay for my mom's nursing home care.

When we listed (July 3rd), a buyer immediately offered a decent deal. They wanted it to flip and were buying for location, not condition (which was kind of crappy condition as it sat empty for five years.) Only hitch was they wanted to close in 30 days. All the siblings agreed to the sale.

The job fell to me as I was the only sibling not working a face to face job - I only do online classes in the summer - and we would close the week before I started back to school.

It was a miserable experience. Each parent had left unexpectedly for medical reasons, so they never got the opportunity to pare down, give away etc. that one would do in a planned move. The house had 50+ years of stuff, no working appliances except a microwave, (and thankfully an air conditioner), and no TV or computer. For a month it was me, my Silvertone travel ukulele, and my smartphone.

At night I would shower off the grime, play my ukulele for a bit, check on my class website and grade, and then surf on my phone. My relaxation was to pore over every spec sheet of every soprano I could find. It was definitely a carrot on a stick for me - I would reward myself with a really good soprano when the job was done.

The Opio ended up being my carrot.

I had always viewed ukulele as an interesting curiousity. As a GEFFM (Good Enough For Folk Music), I have a couple. Last Summer at the Philadelphia Folk Festival I was wandering around in the Craftshow area and visited the Martin Booth. I grew up about three miles from Nazareth, (you could hear the stock car races at night). I have friends and associations with Martin workers. It goes a little further than that. My Dad Rebuilt the Martin Plant and My brother john married Judy Remalley. Judie's Dad Earl and his father had both worked their way up to shop foreman a Martin. - When I Showed Judy my IZ Tenor on xmas eve, she said; "I have one of those". She doesn't play.

Anyway, I was at the Martin Booth and it was full of ukuleles. They were hanging from the rafters! I Chatted with the guys and gals a while and told them to sell me a Uke. (I always had wanted a Martin but don't play guitar). I said I was interested in a tenor size and it had to have been made in Nazareth. - They couldn't do it! LOL They didn't have any tenors in the booth. That wasn't the problem though. They didn't know how to sell me a uke! LOL. It wasn't like they had to sell me on the idea of buying a uke, I was already interested. ROTFL. They said "they had an expert who was on break, if I could hang a while they'd introduce me". I was intensely amused by this time.

"Here He comes now". It was Fred Oster of Vintage Instruments, Fred is indeed an expert. I shook Fred's hand and asked him what he had been up to. I told him to sell me a uke. Gave him my requirements. Basically he sold me a uke. He started talking about an IZ Tenor. I thought he meant it was designed in Israel or something.

I made arrangements to pick it up a couple weeks later. Vintage Instruments had moved. They were now located in a mansion at Broad and Lombard in Philly. As I said Fred is an Expert. He bought the place selling fine instruments. I walked in Fred showed me the uke checked the tuning, It was in tune. Gave me to try. I said it wasn't necessary I wanted to learn ukulele, couldn't play and I do trust Fred. We walked upstairs to the cash register. They told me the price $1200. We haggled a little, for forms sake, peanuts.

I bought the Uke and walked across Broad Street Singing "Oh Dem Golden Slippers" - Actually today is New Years Day and a lot of people are singing that song on Broad St. It is the Annual "Mummers and Shooters New Years Parade". BTW in PA we do shoot off guns on New Years and other holidays. Technically it is against the law but it is Tradition.

Edit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Dmw4ogPYV9k

Footnote: Vintage instruments is a MAPP dealer. Thats why the price I got was so low.

Around 2003 I got interested in the uke. I can't remember why - it was before I moved to Honolulu so that wasn't it. Maybe it was the Magnetic Fields. But at any rate I looked online a little and found a message board. Can't remember which, maybe FMM. I posted a WTB for a Harmony. I didn't know anything about it, or any other brand. I'd just read something that said they were good and cheap.

Somebody messaged me and said he didn't have a Harmony, but he had another brand like it that he'd let go for $100. Hm, that was more than I wanted to spend. Then I got a second message. This guy said he had a Harmony and I could have it for free! Said he used to play it for his grandkids but didn't anymore. I was floored and said yes. I only had to pay the shipping. The next week it arrived. It was definitely played, and dinged, but I didn't care. It was cool and it was free. I messaged the guy asking for his address to send the shipping. There was no return address on the package. He told me don't worry about it, just donate that money to charity.

I kinda thought about it and never did.

Although I've since forgotten all the details, I had that uke, and only that one uke, for 10 years. Now it lives with other musical instruments at my toddler's preschool here in Brazil. Quite a trip for that ol Harmony Roy Smeck. In case any of you guys are that guy who gifted it to me, that's what happened to it. And thank you again.

I'm afraid my stories are all in the future - hopefully. The uke bug didn't bite me until very recently. I play a number of other stringed instruments, and have for years, but strangely the uke never crossed my mind. I've been offered two or three over the years, but always turned them down. I've seen countless ukes in thrift stores and antique stores, but never gave them a thought. Of course, now that I'm actively looking, they are few and far between. Isn't that always the case?

Got one for Christmas and I didn't even ask. The best Christmas present I have ever received. I have now extended my uke family to 3 (2 Kala's and a Luna) and would call myself pretty advanced.

IamNoMan said:

BTW in PA we do shoot off guns on New Years and other holidays. Technically it is against the law but it is Tradition.

Click to expand...

Sorry, but I'm going to be a little harsh here; it's not technically against the law, it IS against the law. I sure hope you use blanks, there are way too many stories of people getting hit by the falling bullets from that kind of lack of concern for the safety of others.