WestyShane
Well-known member
I never thought I would make a NUD post. My orange Mahalo and Martin CK1 were already more ukes than my playing deserves. Then I bought that Kala on Maui a few years back. For sure that was more than enough.
Then my dad called a few months ago. My step-sis, one of three who I hadn't met yet, lives on Oahu and is about to give birth to my step-mom's first grandchild. "We're renting a house for 2 months, if you want to visit you have a free place to stay, car, etc".
Can you believe I almost said no? End of summer is a horrible time for me to take a vacation, work-wise. But, I don't see my dad that much (less than annually), and there are a lot of family issues going on now that I want to support him on. And I just plain miss the guy.
To make a long story a bit shorter, he insisted on buying me a new uke. I protested, "mine are already too many and more than I deserve". He says, "nonsense, pick out something you wouldn't buy for yourself". I explained that I already have all the reasonably priced ukes I could ever ask for so the "one I wouldn't buy myself is a K-brand and they cost $x". Dad says, "so what? You can't put a price on a hobby and you should have the best". Wow.
After some shopping around I fell in love with a Kamaka 100th anniversary long-necked soprano (I felt guilty as heck about that, wasn't about to stick him with the bill for anything more).
The best part was that we visited the Kamaka factory the next day and he TOTALLY fell in love with the craftsmanship and history. I honestly think he's about to buy his wife a 100th anniversary concert uke (as her starter uke!) before their trip is over.
Here she is. Not the flashiest one on the wall but the sound is ohhh so sweet.
The headstock is gorgeous. The scrolling "1916 to 2016" part of the logo takes 5 pieces of mother of pearl that are actually made in Maryland. Neat.
And the quiver. Which I have absolutely no intention of growing.
Then my dad called a few months ago. My step-sis, one of three who I hadn't met yet, lives on Oahu and is about to give birth to my step-mom's first grandchild. "We're renting a house for 2 months, if you want to visit you have a free place to stay, car, etc".
Can you believe I almost said no? End of summer is a horrible time for me to take a vacation, work-wise. But, I don't see my dad that much (less than annually), and there are a lot of family issues going on now that I want to support him on. And I just plain miss the guy.
To make a long story a bit shorter, he insisted on buying me a new uke. I protested, "mine are already too many and more than I deserve". He says, "nonsense, pick out something you wouldn't buy for yourself". I explained that I already have all the reasonably priced ukes I could ever ask for so the "one I wouldn't buy myself is a K-brand and they cost $x". Dad says, "so what? You can't put a price on a hobby and you should have the best". Wow.
After some shopping around I fell in love with a Kamaka 100th anniversary long-necked soprano (I felt guilty as heck about that, wasn't about to stick him with the bill for anything more).
The best part was that we visited the Kamaka factory the next day and he TOTALLY fell in love with the craftsmanship and history. I honestly think he's about to buy his wife a 100th anniversary concert uke (as her starter uke!) before their trip is over.
Here she is. Not the flashiest one on the wall but the sound is ohhh so sweet.
The headstock is gorgeous. The scrolling "1916 to 2016" part of the logo takes 5 pieces of mother of pearl that are actually made in Maryland. Neat.
And the quiver. Which I have absolutely no intention of growing.