Have you bonded with [all] your ukulele[s]?

mikelz777

mikelz777

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Have you bonded with [all] your uke?

My first was a Lanikai LU-21C (concert)and I can still remember how excited I was to get it. It was a nightmare to play at first but I had a guitar store lower the action and and it played like a breeze! When I got my 3rd uke, I planned on selling it but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I've bonded with it and I love the feel of playing it. I think it sounds pretty good as well!

My 2nd was an Ohana CK42-R (concert) with a sinker redwood top, rosewood back and sides with maple binding. I love everything about it's looks and I love the history behind how sinker redwood came about and how it was harvested. The wood top has a great American back story. It's also got a great sound and I I've bonded with it as well but it took more time and I don't think I feel as deep a bond as I do with the Lanikai. Is that weird? It's a much better and more expensive uke. The Ohana gets more play but not a whole lot.

My 3rd uke is a Pono ATD (tenor) which is a beautiful, wonderful sounding uke but I'm still trying to bond with it. Lately I've been trying to play it exclusively. I want to learn finger picking so I've been self teaching myself on it hoping that will help me bond with it. It's not that I don't like it, I do but it's more like an ambiguous feeling. I haven't any real emotional attachments to it (yet). Maybe it's because it's a tenor. I think I prefer the feel of chording on a concert scale. Maybe it's because it's my 3rd uke and 3's a crowd? I'm still trying to sort out my feelings:
-Should I sell it and carry on with just 2 ukes?
-Should I sell it and replace it with a desirable concert? (I kinda have one in mind if I went this way.)
-Should I keep it for variety in size/scale/sound and continue to play it with the hope I bond with it in the future? What to do? What to do?

Have you ever had a uke that took a while before you bonded with it or is bonding something that happens early or probably not at all? Can one bond with more than 1 or 2 ukes? I can totally understand bonding with your first uke whatever it may be because it is your first and that feeling is something you'll never have again but what does it take to bond after that and how long should I chase a feeling that hasn't happened yet?
 
I've owned quite a few ukes in the last 3 years (like ~50). Some I never bonded with, some I bonded with quite quickly or immediately. I, for one, am bonded with more than one uke.

Despite being the among the very best sounding ukuleles I had heard or played, it took me a bit to bond with my Hive initially. I think there are two reasons for this. For one, the neck is a tad thicker than my favorite shape. I knew this would be a non-issue with some playing time. The second and bigger reason, I believe, is it is strung linear and I really did not know any songs to get the most out of a linear uke. So it didn't get a lot of play the first six months. However, once I learned how to adapt a re-entrant song when needed and I started working on a tab specifically written for linear tuning, I played it a lot more. The result? I'm completely and fully bonded with it.
 
I had a custom ukulele built that I could not wait to receive! It was a several month build, and the day it arrived I could not wait to get home to see it. As I was driving home that day to finally see it I had a call telling me my best friend in the world had passed away. I just never bonded with that uke. It was beautiful and sounded great, but the timing.............
 
I had a problem with my Caramel CT-100 tenor I bought last Dec. When I got it, I was a little disappointing with it. The wood was blonder than I had hoped and it sounded different than my first Uke a RT-102 travel tenor. But it was nice to play and LOUD so I kept playing it in rotation with my other ukes. Then I changed strings a couple of times and shifted it to G tuning, like my baritone and I found I liked the sound and the softness of the strings in G tuning. Now it is my go to Uke for most songs. It has a different sound than my RT-102, also in dGBE, but the CT-100 is catching up.

I have a Ohana CK-22 spruce topped concert I bought last summer that is in many ways a great little Uke, but ... I don't know if it is the spruce top or the C6 tuning but I can't get it. It plays well and easily, but somehow even though it is my most expensive uke I just can't fall in love with it. I keep playing it but I don't love it. I keep it in hopes that if I learn to finger pick it's responsiveness and crisp tone will make it bloom in finger picking. I even shifted my Carmel CC-100 concert back to high g in hopes that the Ohana's low G would draw me into it, but no despite the linear tuning, I still like my cheapy CC-100 a little better.

So cheer up, you are not alone in this. There is no accounting for taste, and even fat girls need love too.:D
 
I have sold off the ones that I have not bonded with. They were all good ukes and sounded great but most had shallow neck depths which I do not like. The ones I have kept (/more than three) have taken different lengths of time to bond with. I have found out I can love the sound but if the "playability" is not there I can never bond with it.

When I forget I am making the physical movements of playing and things just go on auto pilot then I know the connection is made and I have a keeper.
 
mikelz777 said:
Have you ever had a uke that took a while before you bonded with it or is bonding something that happens early or probably not at all?
Click to expand...

I've had a few "not at alls" over the years (all of which have been re-homed without regrets). I definitely had no attachment, sentimental or otherwise, to my starter uke, which I passed on to a friend as soon as I got something I liked better.

As for should you sell yours - if you have to ask, I think you're already halfway to a decision! When I've been on the fence about selling, my trick is to put it in its case and in a safe place for three months. If you don't find yourself hankering to play that uke during that time, it's pretty likely you never will.

Oh and - I'd say I'm bonded with three. One of those three doesn't get played nearly as much, but it has its place. No more than that for me, though.
 
No. The only one I've really bonded with and which I play the most is my KoAloha. I loved it from the first strum and every time I pick it up, I'm still amazed how good it sounds.
 
I can't say I ever expect to bond with a ukulele. Some I prefer playing more than others, but I'm happy playing anything (so long as it's smaller than a concert). Even the very cheapest ones I enjoy the challenge of getting an acceptable sound out of them.
 
I've got 10 ukuleles (and three guitars, a bass, and a double-neck 8-string steel guitar) and I have only passed on one instrument in my life - the 3/4 size classical guitar I learned on. I gave that to my best friend when I got my second guitar which I still have, and that was over 35 years ago...
I would say my first ukulele, a Lanikai LU-21 Tenor, I rather quickly outgrew but now it collects autographs, so I will definitely keep it.
I have two built just for me, a hand-me-down from my wife's late grandfather, and one I won in a raffle. I have some I love to play and others I wish I played more often and a couple I never play. I could never part with any of them though!
I think I will likely get one or two more, when I can afford exactly what I really want.
Until then, my Pono and my customs are just great!
 
With most ukes, I am very excided on arrival. After that, it usually takes a while to really get to know it, put it into perspective and compare it to others. Some ukes inspire me to play, others not so much and I just pick them up every once in a while to not let them go unplayed. In my own experience, only time will tell.
 
Rakelele said:
...... In my own experience, only time will tell.
Click to expand...

I'm with you on that, some feel right straight away, others take a bit of time to get to know.

I have a few ukes, & I sometimes find the one I am liking at the moment isn't the right one for a particular tune, so then out the others come, until I find the one that makes the tune sound right to me at that particular time. :)
 
It's funny. My second ukulele was a Mike Pereira custom Zebrawood concert pineapple. Then, deciding it was a bit too.... I don't even know, I got a Mya-Moe Maple and Cedar. It's a lovely ukulele.

But just the other day, when I went to record my arrangements of Christmas Carols, the MP sort of called to me. Not literally. I was just recording, and the Mya-Moe wasn't quite doing it. So, I thought, "I've only got one other option." (I'd given away my first)

And the MP seemed to sparkle somehow. It's also very different to play, as it has a wider nut, and so different string spacings. It's a fingerpicking dream.

Funny that this thread came up. :) Thanks.
 
I've released all my ukuleles except my LFDM tenor. There were some really great instruments in my collection but I'm much happier with just the one now. It's very liberating for me to not have to choose between ukuleles any more.

I had taken a year-long break from ukes and concentrated on mandolin but just last week the LFDM has worked its way back into my playing time.
 
"So cheer up, you are not alone in this. There is no accounting for taste, and even fat girls need love too."
Ahem, me thinks this sounds a bit....what, sexist maybe?
Well, I'm not gonna rake the poster to task for it, it's just that the sorry politics of late have made some of us gals a little nervous.

To get back to the topic.....
Yes, I have bonded. Out of 15 ukes, I've bonded with 2, and I still have them. I have a 3rd which I never bonded with because it sustained a warped neck, making it unplayable. I bonded with my old Kala that I bought from Mim about 6 years ago (geezus, Mim, have I known you that long?) probably due to the fact that it soothed so many anxious hospice patients, and really got me starting to play decently.
Also I recently bonded with my Cocobolo, I wouldn't trade it for any ukulele, anywhere, no way. It was built for me, and people have tried to talk me out of it, but I'm keeping it. When I play other ukes now, I think, um, well, it's nice, but I like mine better. Even if I don't SAY that....LOL.
 
In the first year of playing ukulele a little over three years ago, I went through 16 ukes, all the same configuration; tenor cutaway with electronics (or I installed it). I bought for looks, trying to keep each a little different from the other. I then decided I would only keep the few that I really liked, so culled them down to four, I like all of them for one reason or another. I thought I had all the ukes I needed, but a few months ago I saw a brown burst on eBay that struck me, so I bought it. turned out to be nicer than I was expecting. Again I wasn't expecting to buy anymore, but after loosing an auction for an Ovation Applause, I bought a beautiful Godin Multiuke from the UU Marketplace to let go of my regret, I'm glad I did.

I've also been playing bass uke for almost two years and I'm up to 11 (two on their way). I've had them modified in some way or another to be more to my liking, so for now they're all keepers.
 
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Not all ukes you will bond with, there will be some that may not work for you but..
There are many you can improve and improve yourself
Listen to the voice of your ukulele, and hear it talking to you... what am I missing?
Too thin of a sound, tone, or playability or tension of strings. Many can be altered with strings and tuning.
Or technique. Get a good set up first, change the nut and saddle too if needed
Happy Strummings
 
mm stan, I hear you. My Uluru mahogany tenor was my go to uke for a good six months. Then, as my playing and my ear improved I noticed that the intonation was fairly poor, even at the 5th fret. I went through several brands of strings (assuming worn strings might be an issue) before replacing the heavily compensated stock saddle with a new one that I barely compensated at all. Intonation now really good but I'm having a dilemma - I've strung it low g with Thomastik Infeld CF-27 and CF-30 for the C and G strings. This is probably the best this instrument has sounded but I'm not enjoying the feel of the strings for some reason. It's weird because I have them on my Cordoba Mini and love them, just don't dig them on the tenor. Should I sacrifice sound for playing comfort or stick with it and get used to it (already had them on there a month or so).

Or, of course, I sell the Uluru and get an entirely new uke because getting new ukes is a whole lot of fun!
 
If we didn't bond, they're not around any more...
 
jimavery said:
I can't say I ever expect to bond with a ukulele. Some I prefer playing more than others, but I'm happy playing anything (so long as it's smaller than a concert). Even the very cheapest ones I enjoy the challenge of getting an acceptable sound out of them.
Click to expand...
That pretty much sums it up for me. I only have two, and I like them both. But I've not bonded with them in some sort of emotional way. I just do not have emotional relationships with my ukuleles. I see that so many do, and I am not critical of it. In fact, sometimes I wonder why I don't have those warm feelings that a lot of people have. I like playing the ukulele and the music that I make, but it is more a fun and entertaining thing to do rather than some sort of love affair with my ukulele and my ukulele experience. Anyway, I'm not trying to be a downer, I just don't have feelings for my ukes.
 
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