Do you still play your first ukulele?

Do you still play your first ukulele?

  • Yes, I still have it and play it!

    Votes: 37 43.0%
  • No, I no longer have it.

    Votes: 33 38.4%
  • No, though I still have it somewhere.

    Votes: 16 18.6%

  • Total voters
    86
  • Poll closed .

Mivo

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On a whim, I pulled out my first ukulele from the closet. It's a Stagg UC80 concert with a solid mahogany top that I bought a little over five years ago. I had never changed the strings (that seemed such a daunting task when I was a new player!), and between feeling the action was too high (I don't feel this way now), my beginner inability, and no doubt the influence of the forum here too, I quickly bought a nice tenor and a nice soprano, thinking that the concert size was neither fish nor foal and my instrument subpar.

I retrieved it from the storage room this morning, cleaned it properly, oiled the dried out fretboard, and replaced the five year old strings with Aquila Reds after remembering that I had a pack. One of the tuner buttons had broken, so I ordered a set on ebay that I hope will fit, and in the meantime tuned that string with an oversized guitar tuner button. The strings are still settling, but I sat there for a couple hours just noodling and enjoying it. It sounded great to me, and I must admit I enjoyed the concert size too (determining that was actually why I got it out).

I think I wish I had stuck with that concert a bit longer, back when I started, before deciding that I needed something better or different! It's not such a bad little uke after all. I just didn't know. :)

Do you still have and play your first ukulele?
 
My first uke was a gorgeous Kala KA-ST. I played it for about six months, heard that setup was important, took it in to get set up and found that the neck profile was such that it would never play well up the neck. It was rehomed and UAS was off to the races...
 
Mine is a Lanikai LU-21C which had horrible, carpal tunnel inducing action on it when I got it. I took it to a guitar shop to have the action lowered and now it plays like a breeze. It also has some kind of "X" factor which I can't explain. My other ukes aren't any more difficult to play but my Lanikai is almost more pleasurable to play. Maybe it's because it was my first uke and it's a sentimental factor. I think it sounds pretty good too, not at the same level as my other ukes, but it doesn't sound cheap or lame like some starter ukes do. I was going to try and sell it at one point when I got my other two ukes but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I think it's a keeper and I probably play it about 40% of my uking time.
 
My first was a Kala KA-TEM. After playing for a few years, I gravitated to concerts and kept the tenor as a travel uke. I re-homed the tenor a couple years ago; the buyer is still playing it.
 
I took my first ukulele back to the store. It was a Martin C1K and had terrible intonation problems. So while the Martin was technically my first ukulele, I didn't spend much time with it. I then bought a Teton solid wood concert which was the only uke in the store that had good intonation. I later gave the Teton to my son I after I eventually purchased another Martin C1K, as I couldn't get that lively resonant sound out of my head, and this one has pretty good intonation. So I'll classify the Teton as my first ukulele and, no, I don't play it anymore.
 
My first ukulele was a KoAloha soprano that I eventually ended up selling. But shortly after getting that first ukulele, I picked up a Keith Ogata tenor that is still my go to uke... so almost a yes since I've been playing that one for 10 years.

John
 
No, it was a bari, and I quickly realized I wasn't ready to play an instrument that felt like a small guitar, so I gave it to a friend who couldn't afford to buy a uke. I haven't seen it since.
 
Yep, it's sitting right next to me in its case, and I've played it every day since I got it a couple months ago. It's a Pono deluxe mahogany baritone, and the only uke I own.

bratsche
 
Yes, I turned into my beater. It is a Makala concert. It is still a good uke and it is still going strong. The longer I have it, the more I appreciate just what a good deal it was. It goes to the beach a lot. Also my wife plays it once in a while.
 
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No. It was a Harmony bari, from Harmony's Chicago days. Unique. It was scarred by fire--scorch marks and everything--in a music store fire. Sounded GREAT! And...I sold it when I got divorced because I needed the money. Still kicking myself...for selling the uke, that is.
 
Yeah, maybe even more than my other ukes. My first (Mahalo soprano) goes along on camping trips and gets pulled off of it's stand* for a few quick licks before bedtime.

The others are nice enough to keep in cases and DO NOT leave the yard (I like to play 'em on the porch in the summer), so they only get played when I intend to do any "serious" playing.


* The stand was actually a fun little woodworking project that I did with some leftover oak. It has better craftsmanship than the uke it holds.
 
No, I don't play my first uke anymore. It is an Ovation Applause soprano, and it truly is the worst sounding ukuele that I have ever owned. I still have it though, I made it into a clock. Now it is the ultimate definition of a wall hanger. :)


 
I gave my first uke to a friend of mine, and it became his first uke. He still plays it!
 
Yes, I've still got it, a Makala MK-T.

This was my first tenor, which I thought was too big a stretch for my fingers at the time - it now sits with the rest of my ukes as my beater, just ready to be grabbed up to try out any new tune that I think I might want to play.
 
Bunch of whippersnappers around here. My first uke was a mystery no-name I bought for 20 bucks in a resale shop 30+ years ago. The bridge popped off after a few years and I left it in a closet, meaning to repair it someday. It is still there, and I still mean to fix it. It was a decent little soprano and it looks like somebody who knows what glue to use and has the right clamps (in other words, not me) should have no problem fixing it.

The replacement was a piece of absolute garbage laminate from a guitar store -- the only uke they had in those benighted days before the revival. My son claimed it around age 9. It might be in his closet, I don't know.

My third uke was a Fluke, back at the turn of the century when there was only one size (concert) and one type of fretboard (plastic). It changed my life, partly because it sounded so much better and mainly because the Flea Market website got me connected to the online uke-playing community. It is still an everyday player and hangs on the wall in the living room. His name is Carl. Two weeks ago I installed a set of Oasis Warms and I am very pleased.

I should add that back in the last century we played uke uphill. Both ways. :rotfl:
 
Yes. A friend gave me her Mahalo pineapple soprano just before she died. I had no intentions of playing the ukulele but I learned two songs to sing her the following week and then sang them at her memorial. I didn't touch the uke for another year.

Then I started playing and everyone who picked up this old ukulele would say"I like it." It has character and has definitely been played. My friend never played it much but she got it from someone else. It wasn't an unloved uke. I have kept that uke next to my bed for three years and played it before I got up in the morning. Mostly I use it to work out theory. I've realized I need a better uke to keep next to my bed.

The Mahalo is set up great, Frets are smooth, action just right, friction tuners hold. They don't make em like this anymore. But you can only get so much tone from laminate, and playing up the neck is unsatisfying. So it will be moved to sit next to the computer, or used as a beater. I have too many ukuleles now but I can't get rid of this one. I'm glad I have this opportunity to pay homage to the one that started it all. Mahalo!
 
My first uke was a great Flea soprano and I still play it everyday. It is a wonderful uke. I do not really buy other ukes for myself now. I try to find inexpensive ukes, set them up and give them to kids or new players.
 
Nice post Mivo!!!! My first uke was a Gretsch mahogany laminate tenor, cost $135.00. I enjoyed that uke and I still would but I lent it to a neighbor some time ago. As long as he is playing and enjoying it I am glad it found a new home. I always said I would never sell my first uke so I am happy it is just up the street.
 
my first uke was a $7, orange-colored, no name uke from Japan, purchased from Long's Drugs at
the Ala Moana Shopping Center, circa 1960. My grandmother got it for me because my 6th grade
teacher, Mrs Wong, would be teaching her class to play the uke and sing for other classes :)

I had to visit a classmate up the street to get a handle on G7 and other chords!!

Anyway, that was, what?, almost 60 years ago! when I graduated High School and wanted to buy a
uke to take to College in Chicago, I had to choose between a Martin and a Kamaka. I decided on the
Kamaka because it was 'cheaper', you know $28 instead of $35! :) Oh Well....

anyway, by the time I finished college and returned to HNL the little orange uke was gone. so, long story short, unfortunately, NO I no longer play my first uke. Many, many fond memories however, since I learned practically everything musical (uke-related) on that $7 investment!

keep uke'in', everyone!
 
I do.
While I've only been playing ukulele for a couple years, I've been a musician for a few decades. Experience has taught me that if I want to learn something new, I'm better off spending a bit more on a quality instrument that excites me when I think about it, rather than something that is "good enough to learn on." So I spent a bit more out of the gate and bought a Kala Archtop (KA-JTE/2TS) with with a pickup.
While I have come to find that, as my playing progressed I was drawn to different features, this one still has its place in my life. On stage.
These days, if acoustic, I don't even want to pick up an instrument that's not of solid wood construction for my personal playing pleasure. But plugged into my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, that Archtop still carries its weight.
 
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