How Often Do You Buy a New Uku?

When I was at HMS. Aaron said there is a 'Uku Fever' . People don't usually stop at one or two ukulele. It is an addiction.
Just curious how often do you buy a new uku and how many do you already owned?
Do you play each and everyone or the old one becomes a display item?

I haven't bought one yet THIS month, but last month I bought 4.

I have played at least 4 different ones today.

It is rightly referred to as Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome (UAS) and is at near-pandemic levels within the Ukulele community.


I myself happen to be immune and am quite content with the five-ish Ukes I now own. (Of course, there are the two I bought as gifts for my wife... not to mention the Dolphin I got for my son... and I really have been thinking that I need one of those iUke piccolo Ukes to add to my musical palette.) But really... I don't have a problem. I can stop any time I want.



Scooter

For a while there, I was buying new Ukuleles at an alarming rate. My wife was thinking we needed a bigger house (which we got, but not for that reason) just to house them. But now, my passion for buying has cooled down a lot. I have just about everything I want. There is one more previously ordered Ukulele to be delivered, probably next week. And, I want to replace one of my recent acquisitions with a different make of the same style Ukulele. But that's it. I'll do that replacement as soon as the one I want becomes available. Then, I think I'm done for a good long time. And that's a good thing, because I want to spend more time playing the Ukuleles I have, and less time drooling over the next one.

Brenda Wong said:

When I was at HMS. Aaron said there is a 'Uku Fever' . People don't usually stop at one or two ukulele. It is an addiction.
Just curious how often do you buy a new uku and how many do you already owned?
Do you play each and everyone or the old one becomes a display item?

Click to expand...

Kind of a creative approach to the question.

I own three, and I play all three pretty much daily. Since I began playing seriously five years ago, I think I've owned a total of 9. As I'm not a collector, my purchases have been solely to fill a particular need - sometimes that need passes, sometimes it stays. When it passes, I do not hesitate to re-home a uke to someone looking for that particular thing. It's definitely not an addiction for me - I hate shopping and spending money in general, so I try to consider my purchases thoroughly before actually committing.

Most of my purchases happened in my first year of playing, as I was really rapidly figuring out what my wants and needs were. I went from a starter Ohana to a vintage uke; realized I didn't like the fussiness of vintage ukes so went to a brand-new Koaloha; realized I needed more than 12 frets so I went to a 16-fret Kamaka soprano; realized I liked the sustain of concert ukes so when a good deal on a Kamaka concert came up I went for it. Of all of those, the Kamaka concert is the only one I still have (I've since added a Kamaka pineapple and a Kamaka Ohta-San to the lineup).

The Ohta-San was my last uke purchase, almost a year ago. I don't really have any plans to buy anything else. There are a few that I'd consider "nice to have" - I like the volume of the Blackbird Clara, and I think it would be fun to have a National Resonator - but I'll patiently wait until the right one finds its way to me rather than actively seeking one out.

One or two per month.
I had a hope that my Kamaka Long Neck Tenor Deluxe killed my UAS but he didn't.
I think I still need one Kanilea Long Neck Tenor to totally kill my UAS.

When I started playing 18 months ago (after almost 50 years of guitar), I bought 5 ukes within about 3 months, then I tapered off to about one a month, traded in a couple, sold and gifted a couple. Then I converted a bookshelf to humid control cabinet which will only hold 8, so that's been keeping me in check. I also started playing u-bass a few months ago and immediately accumulated 3, with a custom on the way. I setup a small cabinet for those, which only holds 4. So for the last 2 months I have not bought anything new and so far I'm not feeling a strong need to.

I've been playing since December 2010. I have three ukes: a Kala KA-S, a Kelii concert (bought February 2013), and a Kamaka pineapple (bought October 2014). I have not bought or sold any others. So, I'm not a collector of instruments, though I sometimes think I "should" have a tenor. Then I remember how short my fingers are. I play my Kelii and Kamaka very often, but not so much the Kala. The Kamaka has better tone and intonation. The Kelii is strung low G, so it has quite a different sound and is used to play different songs. So it depends if I want to play high G or low.

I started playing ukulele a couple of years ago and my first uke was a $25 craigslist find. I have since bought and sold quite a few ukes as I journeyed along the jumping flea road while noticing my wants, needs and playing style preferences. I've had some good middle of the road ukes, a tenor, a concet and a soprano, some purchased new, another bought from a UU member used.
Now I feel I'm settling in with my ukes....prefer the hawaiian koa and hawaiian mango and the smaller sizes. So, that's where it's at for me, for now. Of course, nothing ever stays the same so.... a year from now, who knows!?

I got my first ukulele in early April. I sort of told myself that I would play it for a year before I get something else. First of all, I just want to see if I stick it out for a year. I've found that if I stay with something for a year, I'm going to stick with it for a long time after that. The second reason is that I want to be sure of what I want for the next one. I don't want to shotgun it and hope that I eventually end up with something I like. I think, at this point anyway, I'll make my year, and I know what I'm going to get when I do buy my next one. I wont say that I haven't been tempted a few times though. I also had a loaner for a month or so last summer. But I don't see another ukulele in my future until June, and I have a plan for that.

In the last 2 years I've bought five and sold two. Currently have four, three of which are regular players. The fourth is an inexpensive laminate uke that I use for travel.

I got my first ukulele October 14th then I bought one in November and built one in December. I already lost one eBay action this month and am hoping to win another. I'm also just bought plans for my next build which I'm hoping to start next month...
I do play them all every day.

kohanmike said:

When I started playing 18 months ago (after almost 50 years of guitar), I bought 5 ukes within about 3 months, then I tapered off to about one a month, traded in a couple, sold and gifted a couple. Then I converted a bookshelf to humid control cabinet which will only hold 8, so that's been keeping me in check. I also started playing u-bass a few months ago and immediately accumulated 3, with a custom on the way. I setup a small cabinet for those, which only holds 4. So for the last 2 months I have not bought anything new and so far I'm not feeling a strong need to.

Click to expand...

WOW that's a lot of UKULELES!!! I think we should add up our 'bills' to see how 'rich' (or should I say how very poor) we are with this addiction......

When you say 'build'. Do you mean you actually , physically built them??? Very impressive. Please share some pictures or video.

In the first ten days (three years ago), I bought eleven. I've slowed down considerably since then.

kvehe said:

In the first ten days (three years ago), I bought eleven. I've slowed down considerably since then.

Click to expand...

OK, that's got to be some sort of record!

I'm impressed!

Brenda Wong said:

When I was at HMS. Aaron said there is a 'Uku Fever' . People don't usually stop at one or two ukulele.

Click to expand...

Guess I never caught it then. I have one, and my wife has one. We both enjoy playing, and like the sound, but a little goes a long way.

Violins, the same. One acoustic and one electric. Though it's probably one of my favorite instruments.

Harmonicas, melodicas, tin whistles... can never have enough of 'em.

Banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, hybrids... one or two of each.

Keyboard instruments... one piano, 5 or 6 synths.

Guitars... I'm counting 9 on the wall, another half dozen scattered around somewhere. A few loaned out as well.

OregonJim said:

Guess I never caught it then. I have one, and my wife has one. We both enjoy playing, and like the sound, but a little goes a long way.

Click to expand...

I suspect you may though....I did not expect to get swept up into UAS ...had one Banjolele which I had a nodding acquaintance with for forty odd years...Then on a whim bought a cheap....

and I mean, Cheap, £10.00 uke 3 years ago...bugger me ...got 5 of the pesky varmints and another banjouke as well now....sheesh...

1st year: 1.
2nd year: 3 more, but gave the first one away.
3rd year, aka UAS year: 5 more. Gulp! So up to 8. Eee!!
4th year: 1 more. So reaching 9. Starting to sweat a little bit.
5th year: none. Still at 9. Phew!
6th year (this year): 1 more, so just reached the double figures but I'll stop here.

As long as you make sure not to be able to afford more ukes, you'll be ok