Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

I've been posting ukes to sell online, and it's been very difficult. I wouldn't say I've been reduced to tears, but I don't like getting rid of these old friends. I bought each one because I saw (or heard) something in it that I liked.

Unfortunately, I find it easy to like things, and I've accumulated too many ukuleles, so it's time to let someone else enjoy them. I'm sure I'm not the only one to have difficulty letting go of something.

I feel you. I need to rehome my Mele tenor, but can’t bring myself to make the listing just yet. It was the ukulele I learned to love ukulele on, and holds a special place in my collection even though I haven’t touched it in months.

Perhaps there is some comfort to be found knowing that those who acquire your ukuleles will (hopefully) treasure them as you have, or at least get joy from them. Maybe try Marie Kondo’s thing: think about the joy and memories that each uke has given you as you say farewell to them. Something weirdly (only weird in our culture, perhaps) comforting about acknowledging an inanimate object like that, but it works well in our home when it’s time to “declutter”.

Best of luck with the farewells to your old friends.

YogiTom said:

I feel you. I need to rehome my Mele tenor, but can’t bring myself to make the listing just yet. It was the ukulele I learned to love ukulele on, and holds a special place in my collection even though I haven’t touched it in months.

Perhaps there is some comfort to be found knowing that those who acquire your ukuleles will (hopefully) treasure them as you have, or at least get joy from them. Maybe try Marie Kondo’s thing: think about the joy and memories that each uke has given you as you say farewell to them. Something weirdly (only weird in our culture, perhaps) comforting about acknowledging an inanimate object like that, but it works well in our home when it’s time to “declutter”.

Best of luck with the farewells to your old friends.

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Definitely! Knowing that someone else is enjoying it helps to ease the pain.

My problem is that they still "bring joy," to me, but how much joy is one man entitled to? I need the joy of an empty closet and an uncluttered bedroom.

Selling something you have collected can be tough. I have a ton of bike parts that I will never use up and we have a bunch of surfboards in the garage, some mine which I use, but most are our boys or old boards I will never use. Since both our boys ended up in Arizona, they don’t get much use. One of these days I will need to clean “garage” and get rid of them.

I’ve never had so many ukuleles that I needed to get rid of them, although I have re-purposed a couple. There are a couple ways to approach this... get rid of what will easily sell for the biggest bang, or select particular ukuleles that you really want to keep. These could be highly collectible and difficult to replace, they are an exceptional instrument, or they have a real sentimental value. After all a “K” brand is pretty generic and can be found anywhere, but a specific model that is no longer available might factor into your decision. I would think that ultimately you would want a collection that fills different niches and not a bunch of similar ukuleles.

John

70sSanO said:

I would think that ultimately you would want a collection that fills different niches and not a bunch of similar ukuleles.

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That's my problem. I want different types - banjo uke, resonator, all sizes -and I want different good brands and ukes that are unusual, like my Dewdrop, Fantail, camp uke, etc. It's gotten to the point where I often have trouble finding the one I want, although I do store them by size.

I know how you feel, Jerry, I had a Tenth Anniversay Model Kala Tenor. It was beautiful and sounded so sweet. But I was not playing it very often and someone contacted me about buying it. It hurt to part with it but it was such a nice ukulele it deserved to be played often. So I sold it. I still have pangs of regreat, but you have to move on. I am down to 3 and a half playable ukuleles, two Baritones, one Tenor and a Kala Waterman (that’s the half). Now my problem is I only want ukuleles now that I can’t afford.

Osprey said:

I know how you feel, Jerry, I had a Tenth Anniversay Model Kala Tenor. It was beautiful and sounded so sweet. But I was not playing it very often and someone contacted me about buying it. It hurt to part with it but it was such a nice ukulele it deserved to be played often. So I sold it. I still have pangs of regreat, but you have to move on. I am down to 3 and a half playable ukuleles, two Baritones, one Tenor and a Kala Waterman (that’s the half). Now my problem is I only want ukuleles now that I can’t afford.

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I'm hoping I can get down to four dozen.

You obviously haven't found the one that 'spoke to you' - I eventually did, & my UAS stopped.

I managed to give away about six, of my lesser ukes, but the rest remain, (total 17), though I only really play less than a third of them now, but I might still want to dig out one of the others for a tune now & then. :music: