pohsuwed
New member
I am yet another "lurker" who is now ready to come to the forefront and tell how I have come to enjoy UU.
It really all started back in 1996 when I married a beautiful girl from Hawaii . . . At least that is how my wife wants me to start this thread.
I picked up my first ukulele from the Swap Meet in Honolulu this last November, 2009. With my wife's family in Hawaii on both Oahu and the Big Island (and maybe others including cousins) we have gone to the Swap Meet many times, only to walk away with nothing of interest. And I don't find a sunburn and headache from being baked on the asphalt interesting. While it is a fun activity with the kids, it seems as though it is always the same old stuff.
Except this time. As we were walking my wife and I decided to stop by a ukulele booth that we found along the way. My first thought was that the little $40 ukuleles looked kind of cute and that the kids might enjoy playing it. As we discussed it further we determined that we never really bring home souvenirs from Hawaii and that a ukulele might be fun. Frankly, I had a hard time understanding the shop owner, and being new to ukulele lingo I paused to wait for my father-in-law to make it around the circle. When he finally arrived he picked up a uke and gave it a few strums. I guess his father's ukulele lessons were still in his head. There were a few that we liked, but we decided to check out prices at another stand that he described to me.
So we went down to the other stall and met the very friendly and helpful Nandy from Honolulu Nut and Ukulele Company. He was very patient explaining to me the differences in ukuleles and helping me find a good one in my price range. I ended up walking away with a Kala Tenor Exotic Mahogany (KA-TEM) for what I felt was a good price with a case added on for another good price. (After the fact I am very happy with the total price.)
We took the ukulele to a family birthday party the next day and my wife's cousin gave my 10 year old son a good lesson, getting my son completely thrilled about the idea of playing the ukulele. It turned out that most of our relatives could at least play something on the ukulele.
A few days later we went to the Big Island to visit my grand-mother-in-law and plenty of other relatives in Kona. My uncle broke out his ukulele and continued to excite us with his playing and impromptu accompaniment of Tutu's 87th birthday celebration.
So the next day when we went to Hilo to visit the old homestead, Veteran's Day celebration, and the awesome farmer's market we stopped by Hilo Guitars and Ukuleles to check it out. There we met the absolute stud of the shop, Brian, and after some great discussion and instruction decided to pick up a matching concert ukulele (KA-CEM) for my wife. Later, while walking through the Veteran's cemetery looking for my grandfather-in-law my wife and I decided that we simply needed to make the set complete with a soprano for our son (KA-SEM). Brian was great to work with and gave us a more than fair deal.
As you could imagine, our hands were full going through check-in at the airport.
Interestingly, about that same time I was talking with my brother back home who out of the blue mentioned that he was going to sell his guitar to get something easier to play. Needless to say, he eventually picked up a Kala Koa cedar top electric (KA-KTE-CT-C) from Music Guy Mike.
Most recently I decided to pick up a Makala Dolphin (MK-S) in pink for my two young daughters for Christmas who have been feeling left out of the party. I won't say where I got this one as I'm not so pleased with where I purchased this as it hasn't even been shipped to me after ordering it two weeks ago. I'm hoping that I don't need to just cancel the order and order another one to only come after Christmas.
So what have I gotten out of this so far? Loads of fun at home, and tonight we took our ukuleles caroling to the local nursing home with some friends. We had a great time.
And I'm already looking for my next ukulele. I have been torn between getting a nice solid tenor (Kala KA-ACAT T), or getting a lower model with a pickup. MGM has already taken a couple of my calls as I try to figure this out. I'm thinking I will probably end up with the nice tenor and deal with an electric for Christmas next year!
Thanks for the great forum. I have enjoyed lurking, learning, and feeling the great sense of community. I'll probably remain more of a lurker than poster, but where I can provide some value I will try. I live in a rural area so I won't be able to access any of the groups I have seen on in the forum, so I'll just consider UU as my "group".
Thanks!
It really all started back in 1996 when I married a beautiful girl from Hawaii . . . At least that is how my wife wants me to start this thread.
I picked up my first ukulele from the Swap Meet in Honolulu this last November, 2009. With my wife's family in Hawaii on both Oahu and the Big Island (and maybe others including cousins) we have gone to the Swap Meet many times, only to walk away with nothing of interest. And I don't find a sunburn and headache from being baked on the asphalt interesting. While it is a fun activity with the kids, it seems as though it is always the same old stuff.
Except this time. As we were walking my wife and I decided to stop by a ukulele booth that we found along the way. My first thought was that the little $40 ukuleles looked kind of cute and that the kids might enjoy playing it. As we discussed it further we determined that we never really bring home souvenirs from Hawaii and that a ukulele might be fun. Frankly, I had a hard time understanding the shop owner, and being new to ukulele lingo I paused to wait for my father-in-law to make it around the circle. When he finally arrived he picked up a uke and gave it a few strums. I guess his father's ukulele lessons were still in his head. There were a few that we liked, but we decided to check out prices at another stand that he described to me.
So we went down to the other stall and met the very friendly and helpful Nandy from Honolulu Nut and Ukulele Company. He was very patient explaining to me the differences in ukuleles and helping me find a good one in my price range. I ended up walking away with a Kala Tenor Exotic Mahogany (KA-TEM) for what I felt was a good price with a case added on for another good price. (After the fact I am very happy with the total price.)
We took the ukulele to a family birthday party the next day and my wife's cousin gave my 10 year old son a good lesson, getting my son completely thrilled about the idea of playing the ukulele. It turned out that most of our relatives could at least play something on the ukulele.
A few days later we went to the Big Island to visit my grand-mother-in-law and plenty of other relatives in Kona. My uncle broke out his ukulele and continued to excite us with his playing and impromptu accompaniment of Tutu's 87th birthday celebration.
So the next day when we went to Hilo to visit the old homestead, Veteran's Day celebration, and the awesome farmer's market we stopped by Hilo Guitars and Ukuleles to check it out. There we met the absolute stud of the shop, Brian, and after some great discussion and instruction decided to pick up a matching concert ukulele (KA-CEM) for my wife. Later, while walking through the Veteran's cemetery looking for my grandfather-in-law my wife and I decided that we simply needed to make the set complete with a soprano for our son (KA-SEM). Brian was great to work with and gave us a more than fair deal.
As you could imagine, our hands were full going through check-in at the airport.
Interestingly, about that same time I was talking with my brother back home who out of the blue mentioned that he was going to sell his guitar to get something easier to play. Needless to say, he eventually picked up a Kala Koa cedar top electric (KA-KTE-CT-C) from Music Guy Mike.
Most recently I decided to pick up a Makala Dolphin (MK-S) in pink for my two young daughters for Christmas who have been feeling left out of the party. I won't say where I got this one as I'm not so pleased with where I purchased this as it hasn't even been shipped to me after ordering it two weeks ago. I'm hoping that I don't need to just cancel the order and order another one to only come after Christmas.
So what have I gotten out of this so far? Loads of fun at home, and tonight we took our ukuleles caroling to the local nursing home with some friends. We had a great time.
And I'm already looking for my next ukulele. I have been torn between getting a nice solid tenor (Kala KA-ACAT T), or getting a lower model with a pickup. MGM has already taken a couple of my calls as I try to figure this out. I'm thinking I will probably end up with the nice tenor and deal with an electric for Christmas next year!
Thanks for the great forum. I have enjoyed lurking, learning, and feeling the great sense of community. I'll probably remain more of a lurker than poster, but where I can provide some value I will try. I live in a rural area so I won't be able to access any of the groups I have seen on in the forum, so I'll just consider UU as my "group".
Thanks!
