A good gift for a Uke player?

Howdy,

I'm looking for a cool and unique gift for my future father-in-law... he happens to play the ukulele and harmonica in an old time band (applachian music) and has for over 20 years. He's serious with it and plays contra dances and goes on tour a few times a year.

He loves to play and I'd like to get him something different, that he might not get himself, one of those things like every uke player wants, but they never get around to buying themselves, know what I mean? What would any of you suggest? I'd probably be willing spend up to $1-200, but less than that is good too if it's a cool present.

Thanks for any help you could provide!

maybe a custom flea or fluke ukulele with a design of your choice. (that you know he would like.) the cheapest ones are around 200 dollars though.

I always wanted that shirt with the strum pattern on it...

I think these rings are pretty cool:


http://www.ukes.com/ring-ukulele.html

Although, It has a more Hawaiian feel to it than Appalachian.

dethkultur said:

I'm looking for a cool and unique gift for my future father-in-law... he happens to play the ukulele and harmonica in an old time band (applachian music) and has for over 20 years. He's serious with it and plays contra dances and goes on tour a few times a year.

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I just gotta ask a question here. Don't take offense or anything. But...

Are you sure he plays the ukulele?

I ask only because it's pretty unusual (as far as I know) to find a ukulele in an old-time, Appalachian band. Or anywhere near a contra dance.

Mandolin or banjo would be far more common.

JJ

how about an ukulele underground tshirt. i see people here in hawaii selling koa ukulele charms (for necklaces) or a ohta-san cd (he plays a lot of old songs).

Well, what does he already have? How many ukes and what sizes? One in a size he doesn't already have might be nice. Or if he has a cheapie gig bag, maybe a nice hard shelled case? A clip-on electronic tuner is always nice. If he plays with a strap, there are some nice ones available.

This place has a lot of uke gifts.

http://www.zazzle.com/ukulele+gifts

deg said:

i think these rings are pretty cool:

http://www.ukes.com/ring-ukulele.html

although, it has a more hawaiian feel to it than appalachian.

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want one arrrrrgh!!!

Well, this is cheap, but I would want one. In fact, I do want one.

mic stand uke hanger

Captain_Lovehandles said:

Well, this is cheap, but I would want one. In fact, I do want one.

mic stand uke hanger

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have one, love it. And yes, I used to contra dance and never saw a uke in a band. Perhaps he only plays harmonica in the band? Or are you sure his uke isn't a mandolin?

itsme said:

Well, what does he already have? How many ukes and what sizes? One in a size he doesn't already have might be nice. Or if he has a cheapie gig bag, maybe a nice hard shelled case? A clip-on electronic tuner is always nice. If he plays with a strap, there are some nice ones available.

This place has a lot of uke gifts.

http://www.zazzle.com/ukulele+gifts

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cool stuff!

Guy after my own heart. Harps (harmonicas) also known as Mississippi Saxophones. He most likely plays diatonic harps as opposed to a chromatic. Difference between the two is a chromatic has a button on the end. Reason I bring this up. If he plays diatonic harp then he probably has several maybe as many as 13 different ones. One for each musical key. Lots of performers use harp cases. Others throw them in a duffel bag. Does he have a harmonica case? If not you may want to consider one of those. That is if he has a bunch of harmonicas.

I did a quick look around the net. Fender makes one for around $110 bucks or so. But it I also checked out some of the ratings on it and it didn't do so good. Saw a Hohner hard case advertised in about the $35.00 range, not enough ratings to get a feel for it. Then there are also soft cases as well.

There are some cool diatonic harps out there as well. If you father in law blows out it harps quite frequently (but probably not much if he is not playing blues). Seydel has put out a model known as the 1847. It has stainless steel reeds. I think those would last longer then brass reeds although they are probably 2 to 3 times more expensive then standard diatonic harps. http://www.seydel1847.de/epages/Seydel.sf/en_GB/?ObjectID=185326&Locale=en_GB

If he only has one harmonica and it has a button on the side. It's a chromatic and much larger then a diatonic. It's also a possibility that he plays both styles.

Here is a link to a vendor I've used for harmonicas since my favorite decided to retire a bunch of years back. I've purchased from them and they did Ok. http://www.coast2coastmusic.com/ On their front page slide down a bit. You will find a cool looking albeit expensive reissue of a harmonica called the "Trumpet Call."

Otherwise he might enjoy a banjo ukulele.

Warning. Don't know how long you have been married. But is your father-in-law the type that would rather have you spending your money on your wife or putting it in savings?

Finally the last idea. There is the Society for the Preservation of Harmonicas. No kidding! He might enjoy a membership to that http://www.spah.org/

Jim X-S said:

Don't know how long you have been married.

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He was referred to as his "future father-in-law" if that gives you a clue.

itsme said:

He was referred to as his "future father-in-law" if that gives you a clue.

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OOOOOOpppppppps :wallbash:

To the OP, I'd say get him a clip-on tuner (I have one like the UU store sells and it's great; even if he has one already, an extra can't hurt) and either a t-shirt or bbq apron (if he's into grilling) with a uke theme. That should keep you ~$50 and would show that you actually thought about his interests.

As someone who is starting playing the Uke and plays the harmonica. I'd really like one of these...

http://www.hohnerusa.com/index.php?344

MELODICA!

http://www.zazzle.com/ukulele+gifts

What a great site-thanks for the link! Back to the original poster-what about a hardshell uke case? There are a lot of goods ones for under $100.00.

itsme said:

To the OP, I'd say get him a clip-on tuner (I have one like the UU store sells and it's great; even if he has one already, an extra can't hurt) and either a t-shirt or bbq apron (if he's into grilling) with a uke theme. That should keep you ~$50 and would show that you actually thought about his interests.

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+1 on the tuner; my wife got me one of these as a present from the UU store and it's great. Good quality, way better than how I was tuning it before (using some freeware online). Especially since you said he does touring and plays gigs, since it's a clip-on it should work in a noisy environment while everyone else is tuning and it's tiny. It should fit in any of his cases very easily.

Jim Beloff's book. "The Ukulele, a visual history" is fantastic!

Good suggestions given by all but I would like to say that why don't you taken him with you so that he can be able to choose the best model he likes. I might be good way so that he can got his favorite model. I hope this will help you.