Bling

Ya know. I’m wondering why so many UUers look down their noses at bling. Especially right now.

Brass instruments are now being made in colored plastics, and woodwinds are being made in bright colors too. Glass flutes have been made for a long, long time. I’ve even seen some gussied up violins. And guitars in wild shapes and colors one sees everywhere. There are lotsa really fancy pianos shown on the internet.

So why do ukuleles have to be flat brown with absolutely no bling on ‘em? A lotta ukers don’t even seem to like glossy finishes.

I’m just curious. That’s all. Somethin’ ta think about. ld:

For the purposes of the discussion, how is "bling" being defined?

It is a personal thing. Certainly cheap woodwind instruments (often crappy instruments meant to appeal to the young student) are are sometimes made in flashy colors. This is not so much the case in high end pro instruments.

On a uke, I really don't like bling, (lots of abalone, mother of pearl) and I am one of those who does not even like a high gloss finish. On the other hand, I love woods where the color and lovely grain show through. A nice french polish finish is lovely and subtle. Some instruments look gaudy to my tastes. On the other hand, some with the beautiful wood designs and mix of woods, like some of the deco inlayed designs Barron River does are stunning to me.

To each his/her own. Often a simple lovely old vintage uke with lovely patina really does it for me.

mikelz777 said:

For the purposes of the discussion, how is "bling" being defined?

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By bling, I ment decoration. Something, mebbe, to add to it’s music and fun. ld:

EDW said:

It is a personal thing. Certainly cheap woodwind instruments (often crappy instruments meant to appeal to the young student) are are sometimes made in flashy colors. This is not so much the case in high end pro instruments.

On a uke, I really don't like bling, (lots of abalone, mother of pearl) and I am one of those who does not even like a high gloss finish. On the other hand, I love woods where the color and lovely grain show through. A nice french polish finish is lovely and subtle. Some instruments look gaudy to my tastes. On the other hand, some with the beautiful wood designs and mix of woods, like some of the deco inlayed designs Barron River does are stunning to me.

To each his/her own. Often a simple lovely old vintage uke with lovely patina really does it for me.

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You may be correct, but to me a ukulele is not a Stradivarious or Amati violin. I play and study music for fun and jus’ somethin’ ta do. And you are correct, the colored, plastic instruments are probably crappy, but some “young students” will never become professionals of the top water. They will just have fun, marching with a bright red tuba, or gittin’ down with a blinged out git-fiddle.

You are correct, however, in liking what you like, and more power to you. Thanks for your post. ld:

Yeah, Bill1, I couldn’t agree with you more. I very seldom sell my stuff, so, if it wears a little, I don’t care much. A few scratches and nicks and worn spots add character. And, God knows, I’ve plenty on me too.

Bling, to me, makes an instrument somethin’ to look at, somethin’ to admire. Maybe recalling memorys . . .

Lots of the UUers seem to buy ukes with selling them in mind, so it behooves them to take good care of them. They even resist putting strap buttons on them because it might hurt their resale value. I understand, but well . . .

Anyway, I guess we all do it our way. Thanks for the post.

I think that alot of folks are just traditionalists, and like em plain, as their uke heroes of old played. Not sure if blingy ukes were even readily available when Iz was with us, but it seems he played plain old Martin tenors. To me, there is a charm to a plain instrument, while others find happiness with the beauty of an ornate uke. Whatever floats your boat!

I have a very old Ka-Lai Pineapple soprano uke with a pineapple painted on it that my Hawaiian Godmother gave to me. It usta have real wooden, carved tone pegs in the headstock, but my kids took ‘em out and lost three of them.
It’s cracked and glued and rubbed and has violin pegs holding very, very, very old strings.

Anyway, it’s on a prominent bookcase shelf in my music room, and I just enjoy looking at it now. ld:

Down Up Dick said:

the colored, plastic instruments are probably crappy, but some “young students” will never become professionals of the top water. They will just have fun, marching with a bright red tuba, or gittin’ down with a blinged out git-fiddle.

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It is not the color of those instrument that bothers me, it is the quality. I could go on about it, but it is not uke related, so I'll save it.

Whatever people want to play is fine if they enjoy it.

Some even manage to do fairly well with some colored instruments.

EDW said:

It is not the color of those instrument that bothers me, it is the quality. I could go on about it, but it is not uke related, so I'll save it.

Whatever people want to play is fine if they enjoy it.

Some even manage to do fairly well with some colored instruments.

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I guess some of us don’t care so much about quality. I once bought a second hand Blessing Cornet for $35 and enjoyed playing it for years. I also bought a $105 flute from Sears years ago and taught myself how to play, and I enjoyed playing my flute (another, different one) today. I usta check-out trumpets from the USAF Service Clubs overseas and play them.

I guess if one is gonna be a famous musician though and not just enjoy music, he oughta have the very best ukulele. ld:

I know from personal experience that I'm not happy with a plain looking ukulele even if it sounds great. It was an expensive lesson to learn. I wanted a Pono ukulele because of their reputation for great sound at its price point but I was reluctant to buy one because I thought they looked so boring. Despite my reservations I bought one anyway thinking I would grow to like its look. It sounded beautiful but I couldn't get over its plain look and I never bonded with it. (That and because it was a tenor so the second lesson learned was that I'm strictly a concert guy) I ended up selling it at a significant loss.

I like my ukes to both look and sound pretty. All of my ukes have binding which is a bare minimum for me. My spruce top has an abalone rosette which is elegant rather than garish. The real eye-catcher is the spalted flame maple wood grain which is beautiful and the color of the wood and binding complement each other very well. My solid acacia has a beautiful curly grain pattern and wonderful color, comfort edge binding and a wood inlay rosette with a kind of antique looking finish on the tuners. My sinker redwood/rosewood has a special inlay down the center of the back and on the bottom seam plus a somewhat subtle rope purfling. I wouldn't call any of them "flashy" or over the top by any means but they are all pretty/handsome and interesting to look at and I think they all sound good/great. Sometimes I'll stop playing them just to turn them over in my hands and look at them. I can get pleasure from them without even playing them!

Yeah, mikelz777, I have a spalted flame maple baritone uke that I enjoy looking at too. I also have an “Exotic Mahogany” soprano that I seldom play but really enjoy lookin’ at. My Luna “Peace” concert has a bunch of foreign words for Peace carved in the top—always interesting.

I agree with you that it’s nice to take them in my hands and just look at ‘em when I get tired playing. :cheers: ld:

When I was a kid it was all show and no go. I'm not saying I don't like bling or an exquisite looking ukulele. If I were spending a substantial amount, I'd want all the bells and whistles. But for a uke to play out, I'd rather take a cool looking, but less bling, good sounding uke. I would probably never take a blinged out ukulele to a uke group unless I knew everyone really well and had the chops to match the bling.

John

For me personally, I like my Ukes to have character- and it's not like I'm going to sell mine, so scratches don't bother me. It's the memories you make learning to play that are the most important. But that said, I can't resist the thought of having a Luna Tattoo as they are so beautiful and the designs just take my breath away.:drool:

It's all in the eye of the beholder. Some people find beauty in inlays or binding/purfling or things like that. I personally love the beauty of wood itself. My all time favorite ukes in terms of looks are Kanile'a basic K-1 gloss instruments, which show off beautiful cuts of koa in with a simple build. Kala has done a lot of that with their Elite basic koa models- very simple design, very beautiful wood.

Just as a practical example I ordered a custom instrument recently and specifically asked that no rosette be added, since I know the builder does a great job of choosing nice cuts of wood for the top, back, and sides. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

I guess I'm the opposite of others in this thread- I find binding (especially plastic binding) to be ugly, and rosettes and inlays (unless they are wood inlays) are not my thing, either.

So it's all personal preference! To each their own.

I’ve been thinking about this subject alot. Many UUers talk about how beautiful the wood grains and the colors of the different woods are, but to me the woods are just woods. Nice woods mebbe, but still just blond or brown wood. I am by no means an outdoor, forest loving person or a wood worker, so mebbe that has somethin’ ta do with my view. I’m more into meaningful decoration, design and beautiful colors.

As far as the sound of the special woods some rave about, I’m wearing hearing aids now, and, though I can still hear okay, I probably don’t catch all the nuances that others do. I mostly enjoy studying and trying to improve.

So I guess that’s why I enjoy a more highly decorated, glossy, fun instrument with a little personality. ld:

mikelz777 said:

For the purposes of the discussion, how is "bling" being defined?

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Right! And then we need a definition of "pretty."

People buy what they like, but some people say they prefer extremely plain and simple, as if the only thing that matters is the music the uke produces. I'll admit that appearance has a lot to do with what I buy, but it's not the only thing that matters.

For me ‘Bling’ occupies a location on a subjective continuum. I have always set my mandatory selection criteria as sound and playability. My definition of bling has been focused on master grade woodsets, interesting rosettes and maybe a small inlay. When I was young I always wanted an intricate ‘tree of life’ inlay on a guitar or banjo fretboard but now a days that’s just not me.

hollisdwyer said:

For me ‘Bling’ occupies a location on a subjective continuum. I have always set my mandatory selection criteria as sound and playability. My definition of bling has been focused on master grade woodsets, interesting rosettes and maybe a small inlay. When I was young I always want an intricate ‘tree of life’ inlay on a guitar or banjo fretboard but now a days that’s just not me.

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Well, different strokes for different folks, I guess. I just wondered why so many UUers had negative views of bling. ld: