UAS: What's wrong With Me?

I thought that UAS was something people tried to avoid to a certain extent. Me, I've been trying to catch that "dreadful disease". I have a Mainland concert and tenor in mahogany gloss w\MiSi pickups that I love. I found a Kamaka tenor, actually two of them, with beautiful woodgrain that I thought I had to have, only one of them of course. Anyway, I sold a mandolin and have the money and have had it for sometime now, but after that, the higher end ukes just don't have the same pizazz as they did. I look at and play my Mainlands and think, "I would have to go a long way to beat these babies." What am I missing here? It's not that I don't want to spend the money as that was the reason for selling the mandolin. I'm a bachelor so it's not the wife. I don't know. Any ideas?

couldnt say for sure about how significant the difference is between you top imports (mainland, kala, lanikai) and your Hawaiian K's...

you could in all fairness spend all kinds of money collecting Mainlands and such, embracing your UAS and loving every minute of it.

Or you could buy like 7 cigar box ukes from me...not that I would make such a shameless plug, I'm just saying...buahahaaa

Maybe the lust for the high end will hit me one day... I REALLY like nice instruments and spent WAY too much on my guitars for my ability back in the day when I could...

...that being said, I am so in love with my Spalted Maple Kala Concert, I can not imagine wanting anything else. Maybe it is because I personally am not that great of a player yet... I just love to strum and sing with a little finger picking now and then and I like my instrument nice and loud! Or maybe I just have not played anything nicer to know the difference. I find myself maybe wanting a different style, like a tenor or electric (which I am looking into an electric) but nothing on the high end. Maybe one day it will hit me.

I envy you! I am going to delete the wish-list because I am not on uke acquisition probation until Christmas...

Cure for UAS- where are you?!

Maybe you're just satisfied with the ukuleles you have. My UAS mostly stems from the fact that I don't own a solid wood ukulele, I think once I get one it will subside. If I were you, I would keep that money aside for a while, until you see an ukulele and just feel like you HAVE to have it.
I'm sure it'll happen some time

Nothing wrong with you - and you're not missing anything dramatic.

I went through an ugly bout of UAS and one day I just realized that the differences in the ukes was simply not as substantial as I had expected or hoped them to be.

For me half of UAS was just curiosity about the different woods and sizes. And because of where I lived the only way to satisfy this curiosity was to actually buy various instruments.

I do greatly enjoy the great range of makers and woods and styles and so on - but as much as I love ukulele, the fire to keep purchasing additional instruments is a symptom of a certain malaise.

IMHO the desire to acquire more ukes has less to do with making music and more to do with good old fashion American consumerism. Nowadays purchasing something has become a proxy experience for creating something. This doesn't mean that great musicians never get UAS - it's just that I don't necessarily think UAS and music making are related at all.

I think UAS is the quest for a better sound, a better feel. Sounds like the Mainlands are your perfect fit - UAS abated. Congratulations! I don't have it anymore either - found the ukes perfect for me and just don't have a desire. Well...if a Moore Bettah NSB came my way...

GreyPoupon said:

This doesn't mean that great musicians never get UAS - it's just that I don't necessarily think UAS and music making are related at all.

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Great musicians are sponsored, so they are given free ukes!

mangorockfish said:

I thought that UAS was something people tried to avoid to a certain extent. Me, I've been trying to catch that "dreadful disease". I have a Mainland concert and tenor in mahogany gloss w\MiSi pickups that I love. I found a Kamaka tenor, actually two of them, with beautiful woodgrain that I thought I had to have, only one of them of course. Anyway, I sold a mandolin and have the money and have had it for sometime now, but after that, the higher end ukes just don't have the same pizazz as they did. I look at and play my Mainlands and think, "I would have to go a long way to beat these babies." What am I missing here? It's not that I don't want to spend the money as that was the reason for selling the mandolin. I'm a bachelor so it's not the wife. I don't know. Any ideas?

Click to expand...

I have been in your shoes before, except I didn't have a mainland, I had a Mele. I went as far as taking my Mele to music stores to compare against "K" brands. I will say that once I was blessed with my first KoAloha it is hard to buy other ukes. I am currently wanting to get a Mele mahaghany but I told my wife no ukes for awhile. I spent my uke money on a down payment for my street bob. There is a step up from the imports to the "K" brands. Is it an enormous jump? I don't think so.

GreyPoupon said:

For me half of UAS was just curiosity about the different woods and sizes. And because of where I lived the only way to satisfy this curiosity was to actually buy various instruments.

l.

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That's my situation. It is part of my enjoyment of my hobby. Since I have a hobby budget and stick to it, there's no guilt or spouse problem associated with my UAS. I buy and try. Hey, that's kind of snappy: BUY AND TRY.

It's fun. And I am learning a lot about what I like, and someday I imagine I'll be happy with a few ukes and UAS will have run its course. I already have a few "keepers." The urge for a Big K hit, but then subsided. I like the price point I buy in, and there's lots of really good ukuleles to choose from.

Good luck!

GreyPoupon said:

IMHO the desire to acquire more ukes has less to do with making music and more to do with good old fashion American consumerism. Nowadays purchasing something has become a proxy experience for creating something. This doesn't mean that great musicians never get UAS - it's just that I don't necessarily think UAS and music making are related at all.

Click to expand...

I think this pretty much hits the nail on the head.

AverseBliss said:

Maybe you're just satisfied with the ukuleles you have. My UAS mostly stems from the fact that I don't own a solid wood ukulele, I think once I get one it will subside. If I were you, I would keep that money aside for a while, until you see an ukulele and just feel like you HAVE to have it.
I'm sure it'll happen some time

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Thats what I thought too! But I got a solid mohogany concert for my birthday a few weeks ago, and now I really want a solid tenor. IS THERE NO CURE!!!

Take it from a guy who has had over 60 ukes this year and is thinning the herd to 27 at the moment (well for this week)......... There is no cure.....you just progress to more expensive ones

uas,uas,UAS, UAS, UAS, UAS

I do agree about the malaise aspect and the consumerism aspect of UAS, and I know I have some of that but also have more of the wanting to find the "fit" as far as size and sound. I can't play well at all but I do mess around enough that I CAN feel and hear the difference in the instrument. I was one of those who picked out the Kanile'a from MGM's blind sound comparison as the uke I wanted no matter what it was. I have a Kanile'a tenor now and a vintage Kamaka concert, and those are the keepers. They are widely different in tone, but both have that feel I wanted. I've bonded with both. It's an elusive thing- the Kamaka has a mojo and I can't define it except that it partly plays itself, it has an energy of its own and wants to sing. The Kanile'a has a willing, blank slate feel to it as a new instrument (my first that wasn't used) and it's lovely to handle, it's "playability" is wonderful. The sound and feel are awesome to my senses. I come from a family of musicians and car nuts, and had classical guitars that I tried teaching myself to play years ago. I learned to read the music and taped lessons off tv. Over several years I busted up my hands and couldn't handle the neck width anymore, and had too many jobs to pay bills and little down time that I wanted to spend doing homework. So I sold them and missed them, but it was what it was. When I stumbled across ukes and realized they could work for me, I was ecstatic!

Build specifics of ukes are one of the things that really interests me. I had been a fine artist for a long time, and a frustrated musician as no one ever thought to teach me anything, but as a sculptor I am sensitive to how things feel in my hands, and as a painter I'm sensitive to line and color. So those things are important to my experience. For me at first a lot of it was the oooo, shiney factor but more was finding that fit of sound and feel that was right for me. I didn't have enough experience to get size or fit and finish down without trying it all on. Buy and try works for me. I have moved ukes on down the road and have some sopranos that I got cheap that will move down eventually too but there is no rush. I may buy more at some point and there is a custom in the planning stages, but right now I'm really tickled with the two keepers, they are my go to ukes.

We all have different reasons for UAS or being free of it. I prefer not to be obsessive about anything, but I think it's part of human nature, even if it's not expressed as buying stuff.

as seen on the previous post....I thought I was on remission but I succumbed again