Yoink! May have to sell my uke! What would be your hardest sacrifice?

buddhuu

Super Moderator (Retired)
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
3,611
Reaction score
53
Location
Herts, UK
I seem to spend my life buying and selling instruments. My role in bands and sessions changes, so my instrument requirements change. Due to my own monumental stupidity and irresponsibility years ago, I am still climbing out of debt, so I can't just buy stuff. If I want something, then something else has to go.

I quit my band a while ago as the vibe had changed so much since we started it that the fun was waning. In the band I was mainly bluegrass mandolin and uke.

I now lead a folk session, and a folk band seems to be emerging from that session in much the same way as The Ploughmen emerged from a previous jam I started at the same local pub a few years ago. My duties now are mostly Irish trad mandolin and tin whistle. When uke is appropriate I can use my wife's soprano.

My bluegrass mandolin is really not appropriate for the genre. I need to buy a folk mandolin. This means I have to sell my current mando, a good carbonfibre fiddle bow and (AAARGH!) maybe my Kala tenor uke. It seems like only 5 minutes ago I was selling a mandolin to afford the Kala! It's a bummer because I'm not giving up 'ukulele, and I love my Kala. But I love the music I make with other people even more.

Looks like I may be walking everywhere soon as my car died too!

Anyway, it sounds worse than it is. I'm still a lucky guy with a lucky and happy life, and I'm having a great time with the music. I just like complaining! LOLz.

So, here's the nosy bit: If you had to sell something to buy a new instrument (or a new car!), what would you find hardest to part with, and why?
 
Aw man, so sorry to hear about this all!

My uke would be the hardest, it is the only instrument I can play now. I have a keyboard that I never use (but hopefully that will change if I start song writing). Between my ukes, I think my Ohana would be the hardest to let go because it was my 1st one and it was a gift. If it wasn't for that uke, I'd never have bought my Mainland or received my Dawgnot as a gift (I love that little thing).
 
Sell your body instead, that's what I would do.
 
Don't sell your body...but blood etc? That's a renewable source of cashflow if you are really strapped...AND it will let you keep your Kala!
 
Don't sell your body...but blood etc? That's a renewable source of cashflow if you are really strapped...AND it will let you keep your Kala!

I sold plasma for a while in college. It's a nice little boost to the income, and the place I went generally had new release movies playing too, so it was almost like a free movie rental too.
 
I couldn't sell my Breedlove. It was a gift, is the best guitar I own, and the person who gave it to me is no longer with us.

So yeah, that guitar will be buried with me.
 
Don't sell your body...but blood etc? That's a renewable source of cashflow if you are really strapped...AND it will let you keep your Kala!

I hear you get more $ for your...uh...for other types of bodily fluids.
 
Ahem, guys, the question is "what would be the hardest thing for you to sell", not "what soggy contribution would you willingly hawk around the clinics if you could find a buyer"! LOLz...
 
Hey I'm just trying to help save another instrument from having to find a new home. I know a lot of people who really regret selling instruments.

:p
 
Ahem, guys, the question is "what would be the hardest thing for you to sell", not "what soggy contribution would you willingly hawk around the clinics if you could find a buyer"! LOLz...

The hardest thing would be my red 100 watt '69 Marshall head. Even though my current line up has only uke, steel drum, bass & percussion, I just can't bring myself to part with it. I've seen it described on line as the holy grail of Marshall heads, but it was my first "real" amp when I got it in high school over 30 years ago. I think I'm better off sitting on it and passing it down to one of my kids one day if one becomes a guitarist. They may not,, but by then the value will really be thru the roof.
 
Sorry to hear your troubles Budd. Hope things work out.
I shouldn't ask, but what Mando are you selling? Still have my Fullerton, but y'never know.
I don't suppose trading for a whistle would be of any help...

In response to your question, I guess as far as instruments go, that Fullerton mando would be my toughest one to sell. Items overall, I'd have to say my whistle making lathe.
 
The hardest thing for me to sell would be one of my yidaki even though I haven't been playing them a whole lot since I started up with the uke. Yidaki is the word used to describe a didgeridoo crafted in Northeastern Arnhemland. They are crafted in the traditional way by the Yolgnu people who lay claim as the custodians of the instrument, even though the "didgeridoo" has been adopted as a symbol of all Australian Aboriginals, most other tribes have only played it for 1 or 2 hundred years. They can trace the use of yidaki in ceremony for about 3000 years and it is believed to have been used longer than that. Yidaki are instruments, but can be considered artifacts as well.

My prized Yidaki has been on display in a museum in Melbourne and I have a Youtube clip of a player who passed away a couple years ago. He was considered to be one of the top players when he was alive, having recorded the best resource for learning traditional playing styles. He was also the yidaki player for the Yolgnu rock band Yothu Yindi. His passing was tragic like a lot of top players and crafters because he ended up taking his own life.

The Yidaki was cut and crafted by the brother of the official custodian and painted by a former Australian artist of the year. The drone is the note F and the overtone note is F#. I have recently been thinking about selling some of my yidaki because I have been experiencing strong UAS, but wouldn't know where to start. This one would be my most valuable and I have 8 others that don't get played much.

Here is a the quick video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afx8LUyR32s
 
I didn't even know there was a "folk mandolin". What's the difference? Can you get by on what you have by using different strings or something? As you can tell, I know nearly nothing about mandolins. Anyway I would like to learn something.

I guess my Kanile'a SuperConcert is the thing I would most regret losing. I got that one in Hawaii last October for my birthday. Such a lovely instrument, the grain, the gloss finish, the sound and the craftsmanship makes it a total pleasure to play.

–Lori
 
Due to my own monumental stupidity and irresponsibility years ago, I am still climbing out of debt, so I can't just buy stuff. If I want something, then something else has to go.

[...]

So, here's the nosy bit: If you had to sell something to buy a new instrument (or a new car!), what would you find hardest to part with, and why?

First of all, congrats on a wise and sensible attitude toward debt! You'll be out of it no time with that sort of outlook.

We tend to imbue a musical instrument with a lot more personality/emotion/connection/memories than, say, a foot stool. But really, it's all just "stuff". It's wood and metal and plastic. Your larger goal is more important (and will yield more long-term satisfaction) than the far less significant goal of maintaining an attachment to another piece of stuff.

You can always buy another uke some day down the road. And, as you said, you'll still have one in the house to play.

As for me? I would never get rid of my keyboard (except to buy a better one) unless I was is serious financial trouble. I would sell my TV and most of my furniture first. It actually makes me a bit of money now and again, so it would be short-sighted to get rid of it anyway.

I have more than one uke, so to get rid of any of them wouldn't be too bad. As long as I have one left, I'm fine.

So I'm going with my accordion. If money got tight, it's a definite candidate for the chopping block since I would earn more money by selling it than by gigging with it. But man, that would suck. I love playing the thing.

JJ
 
The hardest thing for me to sell would be one of my yidaki
Well, I would have to say, didgeri, don't! It sounds like priceless a one of a kind instrument you've got there and you're right to hang onto it. Good thing you have others to sacrifice if and when UAS becomes unbearable. Is there a "yidakiunderground?"
 
My firstborn son followed by my cat.
 
...If you had to sell something to buy a new instrument (or a new car!), what would you find hardest to part with, and why?

My wife, 'cause she's deceptively strong and has a really big brother.
 
We tend to imbue a musical instrument with a lot more personality/emotion/connection/memories than, say, a foot stool. But really, it's all just "stuff". It's wood and metal and plastic. Your larger goal is more important (and will yield more long-term satisfaction) than the far less significant goal of maintaining an attachment to another piece of stuff.
JJ

In 1988 I bought a '67 fender mustang for $200. It was never a very useful instrument. Horrible intonation. Anyway, despite that it was my first guitar and I loved it. Then Cobain started playing a Mustang and they became valuable. I traded it this Christmas for a very high tech musicman guitar for my son. I thought I would be heartbroken but it was liberating. He's such a better player than I will ever be. Let go of the stuff!
 
Top Bottom