What have I done!

UAS, get thee behind me!

So...I have a couple of beautiful ukes that I love dearly but would be crushed if anything happened to them. Our family is going camping next month and I realized there was no way I'd take either good one out in the woods, so I went on a quest for a camping uke - and found what I thought would be good. Solid maple, luthier's first attempt at building a uke. It has flaws, isn't beautiful, but plays well. Unfortunately, after acquiring and playing my THIRD maple uke, I think I'm realizing that I just don't care for the sound of maple ukes! So...I'll try to get rid of "Rover."

So now to the "what have I done part." After all this time of badmouthing fleas and flukes, I was concluding that the construction of a flea would probably make the best camping uke, even though I still really dislike the appearance.

Then I remembered Applause/ovation ukes. I've read a lot of reviews, pro and con, here but in the end last night I purchased an Applause UA10 (standard sound hole, not the weird ones...). I get my preferred form factor in a sturdy, plastic uke and get geared tuners to boot.

I hope I don't regret this one, too...the price was right...

I've taken a good long look at some applause ukes, I think they're pretty nice and have a decent sound. I had an ovation guitar that sounded great though I was not so crazy about the action on it. It sounds like you made a great choice for a camping uke! I agree about the fleas and flukes, there are some things I really like about them, but ultimately I can't get past the shape.