I'm the woman with the coffee can uke! A friend told me someone here was looking for me -- or rather my fabulous ukulele.
As I tell everyone who sees it, this ukulele is really a little ambassador. I meet everyone, because no one can resist this uke. If the looks don't get you the construction will: it's made by a master luthier from a vintage coffee can, has the fabulous cup of steaming hot joe inlay on the neck, can use a pickup, and no detail has been overlooked; including little eyelets where the strings go in the can so they don't get cut by the metal. If the looks don't get you -- although they will -- the sound will knock you out: it makes every song sound like a 78 record. It's almost always the ukulele I take places because a) I meet a lot of interesting people that way, and b) someone once knocked one of my Koalohas off a chair at a house party, and in the eternity it took to hit the floor I swore: never again. My coffee can isn't indestructible, but it's nowhere near as delicate as koa.
The guy who made it calls himself The Uker of Oz, and he works out of Milwaukee. If you visit his website you'll see that he uses the inlay from my uke as a frame for many of his pages. I don't see where or how I can post pictures of it here, so if anyone wants to see what we're sighing over just PM me and I'll be glad to show 'er off.
I am often asked how much my little musical jewel cost, and my answer is always the same: it's priceless. I was lucky to get it at the 2008 NY Uke Fest. The Uker/Wizard had been selling out of his traditional ukes, and while everyone who came to his table wanted his coffee can confection he wouldn't sell. I just happened to be the right person at the right time. The Wiz was sitting with his buddy Li'l Rev outside the concert hall, and just as my eye caught sight of that fantastic uke Li'l Rev turned to his buddy and said, "She's The One." I was made an offer, and without haggling I whipped out my checkbook. The amount is irrelevant. What is important to me is that Li'l Rev was oh-so-right -- we had never met before and he's never told me why I was the lucky one -- I was the right one to get it, and I get an incredible amount of pleasure from my one-of-a-kind treasure. I let everyone who wants to give it a spin because it's just too much fun not to share, but I always give props to the wizard who made it.
Thanks for being a member of the fan club. I get a lot of pleasure knowing that other people appreciate this quirky little ukulele.
And to the other question I get all the time: no, I'll never, ever sell. Really: never ever.
