Couldn't sleep, counted my ukes.

KohanMike

KohanMike

Los Angeles, Beverly Grove West
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Couldn't sleep tonight, so I thought I would count all the ukuleles I went through since I started playing 20 months ago, but counting didn't help, so I decided to make a list of them, then I decided to include photos of them, then I decided to post them here. My signature shows the ones I still have. (Still can't get to sleep.)

1 Uke mix.jpg
 
Play the intro to 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC on each one of them.

May not put you to sleep, but I'll bet your hands will get tired. :)
 
That is a lot of ukes! Hope you sleep better tonight.
 
Out of all your "lower end" ukes,which did you prefer? I see you have had lanikai,kala,and oscar. You still have the kala which i guess is indicitive of which you like lol ill be honest in that i have never once played a lanikai ive liked,what was your feel on them? And no ponos!? Lol seems like everyones got them nowadays,not that that is in any way a bd thing. Get some sleep!!
 
BigD said:
Out of all your "lower end" ukes, which did you prefer? I see you have had lanikai, kala and oscar. You still have the Kala, which I guess is indicitive of which you like, LOL. I'll be honest in that I have never once played a Lanikai I've liked. What was your feel on them? And no Ponos!? LOL, seems like everyones got them nowadays, not that that is in any way a bd thing. Get some sleep!!
Click to expand...

My signature shows the ones I preferred, the Kala is my best sounding, otherwise the Gretsch was pretty good once I changed the strings to Worth CT. When I bought the Kala, I traded in the Lanikai zebra (not enough sustain or projection, even when changing the strings), Lanikai spruce (neck was too narrow) and Oscar Schmidt (hated the output jack in the strap button), so the Kala went from $370 to $120. I once tried a Pono, it didn't have the sustain or projection I like so I never got one.
 
Wow, you're quite the prodigious ukulele aquirer! ;-D

You should change your name to CutawayMike! :shaka:

I thought I went through a lot in the 3+ years I've been playing, I think I've had 13, of which I still have 6 and am very satisfied with what I have.
have a good one, Mike and keep on aquiring...
 
I have a dozen or so songs that I can play and sing from memory. I go through them in my mind at night when I go to bed. I'm usually asleep before I get through the second one. My wife has commented before, that if I didn't do that, I would fall asleep before she got through saying good night.
 
Nice! Time to trade quantity for quality? I would love to see a K brand in there or a Hawaiian custom.
 
That and a nice old Chicago built ukulele like a Harmony for that grungy vintage bite.
 
I seem to have curtailed my UAS, or should I say I've replaced it with BAS (bass acquisition syndrome). After about 6 months of playing bass, I have 6, three I play, one is waiting for me to fix, one is at the luthier getting the body modified (the blue one) and one is going to get an entirely new body. Yep, I'm infected.
 
That's a lot of of ukulele. You must have a lot of hands! ;)

Cool looking ukulele you have there.
 
I like the look of the hollow body electric with the flamed wood the best! Yeah, it's hard to beat Kala for sheer value, in it's price range. The only thing that I kept that is close is my Ohana. The volume and the sustain are awesome. But I have one Kala I'll never part with, I got it from Mim, it's my baby. And it's only one amped.
If your insomnia persists, PM me....I'm a nurse, use to suffer from it. I'm cured.
 
Nickie said:
I like the look of the hollow body electric with the flamed wood the best! Yeah, it's hard to beat Kala for sheer value, in it's price range. The only thing that I kept that is close is my Ohana. The volume and the sustain are awesome. But I have one Kala I'll never part with, I got it from Mim, it's my baby. And it's only one amped. If your insomnia persists, PM me....I'm a nurse, use to suffer from it. I'm cured.
Click to expand...

I got the archtop electric last year when I spearheaded a group buy out of China for 20 other UU members, but I discovered I had no real occasion to use it, so I sold it, but not learning the lesson, a few months later I bought the Vorzon Tele steel string and ended up selling that a couple months later for the same reason.

Mim recommended the Kala I bought. Ran into her at NAMM this year and give her a big thank you.

Thanks for the offer Nickie, I really don't have insomnia, I just had a lot on my mind last night. I'm getting in bed before 11 tonight.
 
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Thanks for showing off your collection! er, obsession, um I mean, thanks for SHARING! :)

I really love the look of the Gypsy Jazz, makes me think of Django Reinhardt - how does it compare for sound, playability, intonation and feel compared to the Kala KA-ATP-CTG-CE?
 
Booli said:
I really love the look of the Gypsy Jazz, makes me think of Django Reinhardt - how does it compare for sound, playability, intonation and feel compared to the Kala KA-ATP-CTG-CE?
Click to expand...

For all the years I played guitar, I was always enamored by Django's guitar. When I was playing with the Westside Ukulele Ensemble with nongdam/Daniel, I saw his gypsy ukulele and had to have one, but didn't want to spend the money on a Luis feu de Mesquita, so after checking around, I decided to go with Bruce Wei Arts who made me the mandolele, his price was less than half of anyone else, $780 and just three months build time (which became 5 months).

It came out beautifully, BUT, I feel that it's overbuilt, the solid flame maple top is thick. It doesn't have the projection or sustain I would like, although Bruce and a few people here on UU tell me to give it time to open up. I also had to have a new nut made with wider string spacing. It's been about a year and my Kala, which sounded great right out of the box, runs circles around it.

Funny you should mention this, I cruise eBay often looking at tenor ukes and just the other day came across a listing of Bruce's for a gypsy style ready made uke all solid acacia koa for $290. The mandolele he made me is solid acacia koa and also sounds better than my custom gypsy, but I'm committed to mine, so I'm keeping it. Maybe one day I'll splurge for one from LfdM.
 
Mike I'm so glad you don't have insomnia....I hope the Gypsy jazz uke opens up. I think it's very cool looking. Yes, Mim is the best. I play my Kala from her almost every day. The ukulele world wouldn't be the same without her!
 
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