My thoughts on UAS

bazmaz

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You mean like a taropatch? ;D
 
Nice thought-provoking blog post. I have a handful (figuratively, not literally) of ukuleles -- an Ohana mahogany baritone, a Honu koa tenor and a Kala acacia tenor (one reentrant, the other low G) a Kala solid mahogany concert (more plinky than a tenor, but more comfortable for me to play than a soprano) a makala dolphin (my keep-in-the-car ukulele), a tenor flea (my office ukulele) and a Kala thinline uke (for travel) -- and I justify each by telling myself that each serves a different purpose. I do play some more than others, but I also play them all. My dilemma is that I want to someday get a K brand tenor, but I can only justify an additional ukulele by either giving it a purpose different than the purposes of all my other ukuleles or getting rid of the ukulele whose purpose the K brand would assume. Anyway, I was wondering about your herd. It seems that like me, you have ukes that are sufficiently different from each other to justify having them all, and the ones you want - the banjolele with resonator or the u-bass, for example, would serve different purposes than the ukes you already have. But, out of curiosity, why two, and soon to be three, dolphins?
 
Dolphins rock! They are so inexpensive and great quality for a cheap uke, and the colors are intoxicating. You can have one in every room and car too.

Loving the blog by the way. :)
 
This is a great post... my instrument acquisition syndrome started last Hanukkah... Both of my boys started asking for electric guitars and lessons. So last December we bought not one but two electric guitars with small practice amps etc. . books, gig bags, tuners... you name it...
Since then I have purchased one flute for my daughter, a lovely flute also for said daughter (see renting isn't a reasonable financially ;) Then I started getting jealous of my kids and all their music playing, and I convinced my hubby to buy me a ukulele (which I have wanted for about 5 yrs) well that was 2 months ago, and I am now the proud owner of 3 ukuleles. Well I hope I don't need to put a new roof on the house anytime soon...cause there is at least a few other ukues I would like to get my hands on!

Love your post...I have UAS and I am not considering recovery!
 
Every hobby I've had I pretty much ended up with a big collection of similar objects. Ukuleles are no different. I think the "U" in UAS can be replaced with pretty much anything for people like me. When I started buying ukes I started from the Asian imports and progressed up to the Hawaiian K's and finally custom built instruments. I used to give myself justifications for buying the next uke, but after a while, I just accepted that I was just accumulating a lot of ukes and if it got to be too many, I sell off a few. I haven't felt much urge to buy ukes for a while now, as I have a collection I'm more than happy with, but I'm sure there's always something out there than might pique my interest.

I think as long as we're not going outside our means to buy ukes (or anything else), there's no problem and just enjoy the heck out of them.
 
Why 3 dolphins? Why not??? That's UAS!

Seriously, one is mine, one kinda my daughters and I just want another!
 
Try to find a big scrap of curly koa, and some tape. This works well.
No NO NO...You get some very thin Koa veneer, apply it to your arm with veneer glue and clamp in place for 24 hours until it sets up...This allows the maximum amout of KOA to enter your bloodstream! ( Isn't it SAD that I've thought this through!? )
:wtf:
 
No NO NO...You get some very thin Koa veneer, apply it to your arm with veneer glue and clamp in place for 24 hours until it sets up...This allows the maximum amout of KOA to enter your bloodstream! ( Isn't it SAD that I've thought this through!? )
:wtf:

Is it wrong I've actually considered this?! :wtf:
 
Interesting to hear Jake Shimabukuro talking about his uke and the connection you can get by solely playing the one uke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQZLX2c-E20

Do we lose the connection by playing with so many different ukes?
 
Do we lose the connection by playing with so many different ukes?

AH. Just the post I needed to convince me not to contemplate a certain black Brucko listed on ebay UK (mr paul j m!!) I'm a loving the new zebrawood I got recently.
 
Someone posted this sometime back, and it really stuck with me, 'cause it's sooo true:
How many ukuleles do you need? Just one more!

–Lori

:agree: Sooo true Lori! That's great!

Paul. That's it! I'm booking us both in for therapy!

I started out collecting old folk instruments...I've got a couple of guitars, a mandolin, banjo, appalachian dulcimer, african thumb piano etc

But since I took up the ukulele things have got seriously out of hand.

I've had nearly 30 ukes, recently sold 8...kidding myself the funds would go back into my sadly depleted bank account, but look out, I've just bought 4 more: a Bruko #6, a Kamaka soprano, a Mya Moe Mango tenor resonator, and an Emil bader concert pineapple, plus a pre-order on a LoProinzi bambino...Phew!!!! Oops, I think I've misplaced my medication again...

But hey Paul, I'm glad I'm addicted to uke buying and not drugs anymore. That was a hard road getting rid of those.

Cheers mate. Awesome thread. Your blog is a great read, by the way :)
 
I totally agree with Jake, and feel that's part of what really puts a lot of mojo into a uke or any other instrument, or anything really someone has loved and spent a lot of time using. IIRC love is what made the skin horse real!

I think for me a lot of the ukes I have are on loan for now and will move on, the search has been for that one special uke. I believe I have it and a close second to it, but the keeper was made for me and that clinches the deal. Like Jake notes the bond between the luthier and the person who gets that uke made to their specifications is special or should be. When it is a joint process with ideas and feedback exchanged so the instrument reflects both the maker and the person for whom it is made, it can be magical.

The second keeper is another concert that is my re-entrant tuned uke (the vintage Kamaka). There are two more I am very fond of. The rest are just for a fun sound like on the vintage plastics, which will also be wall art when I have a chance to pound some nails into this old rental where I am not supposed to hang a thing. :rolleyes:
 
30 ukes.. I obviously don't have UAS as bad as i thought!
 
TBH I've lost my UAS after buying my Mainland. I now only have 3 ukes - my Sammick for sentimental reasons (first "proper" uke bought by my parents), a cheap Les Paul-style Mahalo which sits in the car for when I'm out and about, and then the Mainland.

If I was going to buy another uke, it would one from Mya-Moe, but since they cost upwards of a grand, it won't be for a long time.
 
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