how do you treat your decent priced ukes

keithy351

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im curious to know how everyone treats there ukes, the more expensive ones, are you a closet case where it only comes out of the case indoors, out of harms way for a few strums or are your more like FTW and take it everywhere cause thats why you paid so much for a decent uke for everyone to enjoy. Personally after my purchase of a kanilea (still waiting arrival) ive been umming and arring on what im gonna be like, but i didnt by a nice instrament for a it to be a case uke, so i personally will take it everywhere with me, i bought it to play not for show after all. what are use like?
 
I bring my Kanile'a everywhere I go, in a wood hard case, even at home she's always in her case, when I've finished to play, back in her case.

Wherever I am outside or inside this allows me to use it, without any damage :)
 
Never knowing which one I might want I keep them on wall hangers or floor stands close to me, ease to reach. I bought them to play, not to just look at. I'm with Deach play it don't baby it, if it gets a ding, scrach so what.
 
Since things cooled off here in Michigan, I've been keeping my KoAloha concert in a case with a humidifier, right next to my computer, where I play it every day.
 
they stay where i leave them, until i pick them back up
 
All 7 of my ukes hang in gigbags on a coatrack I installed just for hanging ukes. So they all get the same treatment. I don't even have to take them off the rack to play them, just unzip the gig bag, and away I go.

Kind of fun to walk over to the rack and think... Hm..... which one will I play, as they are all as easy to access as the next one.

I guess someday I may run out of room on my rack, but I can just get a wider rack.

I love this setup, and they all stay out of harms way on the wall!
And when it comes to taking them out into the world, I have 2 fleas that I use for that purpose. Although I recently took the KoAloha down to the beach to play with a group here in Santa Cruz... SO, I guess I play them all wherever, whenever. Meant to be used, but I take care of them all the same. (Fleas are a little more durable though).

Cheers,
Skottoman
 
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im curious to know how everyone treats there ukes, the more expensive ones, are you a closet case where it only comes out of the case indoors, out of harms way for a few strums or are your more like FTW and take it everywhere cause thats why you paid so much for a decent uke for everyone to enjoy. Personally after my purchase of a kanilea (still waiting arrival) ive been umming and arring on what im gonna be like, but i didnt by a nice instrament for a it to be a case uke, so i personally will take it everywhere with me, i bought it to play not for show after all. what are use like?

My Kamaka never leaves the case unless I want to play it!
 
I take reasonable caution. I don't baby them, but I don't fling them about recklessly either. I play them because that's why they exist.

They mostly stay in the cases when I'm not playing, but I do take the Koalohas out in the world and have gigged with them. I just make it a conscious habit of putting them back in the case whenever I set them down rather than on the table or wherever when we're out and about though. It's kind of the least amount of precaution you can take.

Your Kanile'a is made of sturdy stuff. I don't think you'll have too many worries.
 
My KoAloha Soprano lives in basement bar where it stays in it's case unless I am playing it. Once in a blue moon I'll let her go outside to play a couple songs then back downstairs she goes.
A couple weeks ago after a few to many Mai-Tai's I forgot to put her back in the case and she was left out overnight, I felt so bad I wiped her down told her how sorry I was and lovingly put her back in the case.

May sound strange to some but here in Denver we complain if the humidity reaches 30% in the summer, as your eating a sandwich the bread dries out and that's indoors!!!
I feel this is how I have to treat her.

My Pono's do get outside more often but this is why I have a couple Laminate Kala's and a Flea!!
 
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I treat them like all the others, poorly.

Search for deach's uke trough. He treats them like they're pig slops...

My Kanile'as live in their cases when I'm not playing them, but I don't exactly baby them. It's just a convenient, safe place to put them when they're not being played.
 
My ukes stay in their cases when not played. I do play my best ukes the most by far. During the summer I often play my William King concert on my front porch while waiting for my dog to do his "business" on my front yard. :p
 
I haven’t been playing long and I’ve owned a couple nice ukes for even less time. But so far, I keep the Kamaka and KoAloha in humidity controlled cases. I keep the Cordoba and Lanikai on stands. The Lanikai is the beater uke which gets to go to the beach and stuff. I once took the a Kala lacewood tenor (which I exchanged later) to the beach and that was a great hit – a couple of my surfing buddies from Hawaii play ukes and they loved it. The only other times the other ukes have left the bat cave is when I took the Kamaka to my parent’s house. I think I’ll take the Cordoba to a friend’s birthday party this weekend.

I’m obsessing less about proper cleaning materials and just wipe them down with a micro fiber at night before I go to bed.
 
Mine never see their cases unless I am traveling. We are lucky in the PNW with the whole humidity issue...no worries here. The fluke goes with me in the car, I need something to play during the commute....oh wait...did I say that out loud?

"...wipe them down with a micro fiber at night before I go to bed." ????

Dude, seriousy??? I thought my OCD was bad. ;)
 
A samurai never unsheathes his sword unless he is ready to use it. I keep all my 'ukuleles in at least soft cases (keeps the roaches out, and dust off) until I'm ready to use it. Respect the sword, respect the 'ukulele. ;)
 
As I write:

KoAloha soprano in case.
Two Pineapple Sundays in cases.
Kamaka on a stand near desk.
KoAloha hanging from desk clamp.
 
What would you consider "decent priced" for a Soprano and a Tenor?...and a Tahitian Banjo?...what if someone gave me their Uke cause it's broken and said if I can fix it, I can keep it...does that fit into this category? Haha.
 
I play them, of course!

The Flea stays on my desk/table/nightstand so I can grab it whenever. It's fallen off a few times, but nothing's broken. It's built like a tank. The pineapple pattern is wearing where I rest my hand when I play.

Took my Kamaka soprano to the beach the day I bought it, and up until I bought the Flea, it went everywhere with me in a gig bag! Now I have a nice case for it, so I keep it in the case next to my bed. The finish is thinning where I rest my hand too, so I go easy on it lately.

My KoAloha tenor came with a super sweet O'ahu case, but I usually just leave it on the couch (I don't use it for sitting) so I can look at it and play it when I'm in the mood. Got it used, so another ding or scratch won't make me cry.

We have a room humidifier so the instruments are happy. But I don't obsess over things too much. If I had a Moore Bettah, you bet I would keep it on the couch and play it.
 
I take very good care of all my ukes. When I am relaxing, I will lay out their cases on the bed, and open them as needed. The safest place for them is in a closed case. My go-to travel uke has been the Kala Kiwi. It's small, with it's gig bag, and since it is a laminate, no worries about drastic climate changes when I travel across town over the mountains (sometimes a good 20+ degree temperature swing). But, now that I am bonding with my new Kanile'a, who knows what I will end up doing? I just ordered a humidity gauge to keep in it's case so I can keep tabs on it.

–Lori
 
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