Is There as Doctor in the House?

As a relatively new UU member and a budding ukulele fanatic, I'm interested in the reality of UAS...ukulele acquisition syndrome. I note that many of you have multiple ukuleles and yet, for what purpose? How many can you play in the average day? Is it just a "collecting" mania or is it the pursuit of some sort of musical perfection? If the latter, why don't you just sell those that don't measure up to your expectations and move on?

Now, I'd be the first to admit that I'm a collector. When I first got into wine, I swear I was more intent on gathering interesting wines than in drinking them. It seemed really cool to have the "good stuff" stashed away as a conversational piece. Perhaps ukuleles are the same. They can be expensive but over time one can still put together a notable collection. Something to feel good about. Is that what UAS is all about?

Well for me it's about being prepared for the occasion.

Mostly I play the Grech soprano 'Frankengretch' at most gigs although on a nice day I might bring out the 'pretty gretch' but mostly that’s for home.

When playing outside I will use the royal as it tends not to change tone as much as the gretch does in the sun, cold, wind etc:

And I have the ashton or a mahalo hanging around at work so I can ‘stress bust’ when needed.

So you see, mine are all necessary

I bet you will get a dozen or more answers. It can be such a rush you know. The shopping, deciding, negotiating, waiting for the uke to arrive in the mail. That in itself can be a bit addicting. It is FUN. For me I think I am looking for the ONE. The one perfect uke for me. Since most of us don't have a good uke store with a wide variety of ukes we have to buy to try. I have bought and sold quiet a few ukes in the year I have been learning to play. I am learning what I like and what I don't like and settling down to what my favorites are. Also I like having a couple with different tones and different sizes. As a collection I think I will always keep my Mainlands. I think I am pretty close to done with my accelerated acquisition of ukuleles. And like potato chips and for me, dogs, one is never enough.

As someone with over 500 bottles of wine in my cellar (actually, the basement of the house), I have no idea what you are talking about.

But I can tell you that the ukes all sound different, and some songs sound better on the banjo ukes, some are better on the kala, some on the Cordoba, some one the Fluke - which is my main travel instrument.

Everything is different, akin to a Pinot Grigio vs a Dry Riesling - or a Columbia River Valley Riesling, vs a German Riesling. All good, but at different times.

-Kurt

arturo2 said:

How many can you play in the average day?

Click to expand...

Well... I just played three out of the four I own, and the night isn't over yet

Seriously though... generally I'm a diehard minimalist, but I can't seem to get by with fewer than four ukes at any time. In the couple of years that I've been playing, I've owned seven total. Three have been re-homed, mainly due to not enough frets, as I learned that 12 frets were not enough for what I wanted to play. I think this is pretty typical as players become more experienced - you come to realize how much you didn't know in the beginning, and you learn what you like/need in a uke. I do sell those that I no longer need, but the longer I play, the more my needs seem to change - so I've learned that when I say "I'm done with UAS!" I mean I'm done for now, not forever.

The different sizes play and sound so different that I feel it's almost unfair to count them as the same instrument. And you might also want to have a beater uke in case you're traveling and don't want your spendy stuff possibly damaged.

I'm currently on my fourth Ukulele. I started with a cheap soprano, advanced to a cheap concert. Then to a mid/low-range lanikai concert. And now a mid/low-range Kala Tenor. Though I'm buying a Kamaka HF-3 in three weeks time(!) And all the time I've been wanting a new one. Could be I just need a proper one to cure my personal version of the UAS

ksiegel said:

As someone with over 500 bottles of wine in my cellar (actually, the basement of the house), I have no idea what you are talking about.

But I can tell you that the ukes all sound different, and some songs sound better on the banjo ukes, some are better on the kala, some on the Cordoba, some one the Fluke - which is my main travel instrument.

Everything is different, akin to a Pinot Grigio vs a Dry Riesling - or a Columbia River Valley Riesling, vs a German Riesling. All good, but at different times.

-Kurt

Click to expand...

:agree: this is my answer!

It seems like I spend more time shopping for ukes than learning to play. Perhaps this is why I am not a better player. Real UAS involves some profound psychological principles such as obsession, denial, rationalization, justification, defensiveness, etc. etc. LOL
Sound familiar? One UU'er suggested a twelve step program for UAS. Buy 12 ukuleles, admit you are powerless over ukes, and start over.....LOL

I am going with the "Different sound types" Defense. I own 5, but I sell the ones that I feel are redundant. I am always looking for new sound types to use in different songs. My ultimate collection would be
standard koa soprano, Concert pineapple, nice banjo uke, tenor, solid body, 5 string, guitarlele, 8-string tenor, cigarbox uke, mahaogany tenor
beyond that I feel my collection would be a bunch of duplicates.

Gee I thought it was Ukulele Anonymous Syndrome <g>. At the very least we ought to agree on a diagnostic number of ukes - more than five of one size with no intent to sell and you've got UAS <g>. One factor involved in UAS, well actually two factors, is that as far as acquisitions of something esthetically pleasing and useful (i.e., you can play them) ukes are relatively affordable for middle class incomes (i.e., you can buy a nice new uke for between $200-350) and they're portable (you can't exactly lug a good painting or case of wine around) so they're more user friendly. In addition, there aren't many folks who live close to stores where they can try a lot of different ukes so from watching this board there seems to be a relatively constant stream of "I bought it but hadn't tried it and now I don't really like it so it's for sale" posts that mostly result from buying through the mail. Unfortunately there seems to be little solution to this problem unless uke stores start popping up like Burger Kings but that isn't very likely. So I think that UAS is a combination of the psychological problems mentioned above and the the relatively low cost yet great beauty, portability and utility of ukuleles, coupled with low local availability. Also right now there seem to be some really good deals out there for the patient shopper so I know that I've bought a few ukes recently that I can always sell later for a profit. And for you wine collectors out there I've got some old bottles of wine that have been well kept with little ullage, including a 78 Diamond Creek Cab, that I'd gladly trade for a good uke, seriously!

I really have no idea. -_^
I play alot of instruments and I buy a lot of them all so I guess I'm just a wee bit obsessed or something.
But it's all necessary, I swear!
I need one guitar for normal tuning one for drop tuning one for an open tuning, one for travelling...
This sort of applies to everything I play. Except drums. It would be kinda weird to have a house filled with drum kits I guess.

For us, the collection is about the history of the instrument and how the different scales and styles affect the different genres of music. We've been collecting for quite some time and the collection is nearing 100. Do we play them all? Not regularly. But I do cycle through and make sure that they do get strummed and dusted and kept properly humidified.

Although I perform with Pono Baritone Ukuleles exclusively, we also do quite a few educational/historical programs in libraries, etc. We usually bring along ten or twelve instruments and talk about them in a historical context.

Last week a friend of mine, who happens to be a stringed instrument aficionado, was visiting. We must have spent four or five hours going through out collection room. It was amazing...

For me a lot of it is not being able to try a variety of them before buying. If I want a nice uke I don't really have much of a choice but to just shell out a lot of cash and hope for the best. I currently have a custom uke on order for a brand I've never played.

I think the wine analogy works great for me. I used to live in San Francisco and get all my wine straight from the producers in up North in Napa, Sanoma, Russian River.... If I wanted a bottle of wine I rarely went to the market. I'd go talk to the people who make it, try a glass, then decide if I wanted to buy it or not. I didnt mind spending a lot more because I knew it would be good bottle ...as long as I bought early in the trip... . Ever since I moved away it's more of a crap shoot. I get recommendations from the starff at Total Wine, but I'm still working with about a 60% hit rate vs. 100%. Without the recommendations it would be even lower. Now I buy twice as many $10 - $12 bottles instead of $25 - $50 bottles. If I open up a bottle I don't like, I use it for cooking and I open up another. If I get a uke I don't like, I send it back and buy another. The custom uke I have on order right now feels just like dropping $75 on a bottle of wine I've never tried.

Buying stuff (any stuff) is addictive. There's nothing else quite like the rush of buying stuff. The limiting factors are money and buyer's remorse.

I play my Eleuke when I want privacy, and my KoAloha when I don't. For me, three 'ukes would be a crowd. I loathe buyer's remorse.

ukulelecowboy said:

Last week a friend of mine, who happens to be a stringed instrument aficionado, was visiting. We must have spent four or five hours going through out collection room. It was amazing...<snip>

Click to expand...

Holy moly, you've got a lot of ukes! How many altogether?

For me, it was high G, low G, pineapple, mahogany, cedar, spruce, thinline, baroqulele, fluke... they're all different in their own way. I'm up to six in various combinations of the above.

As someone mentioned, ukes are relatively inexpensive compared to other things, like classical guitars. I only have two "good" guitars, one's a pure classical, the other's a flamenco negra.

At this point and time I think the Black Bear pineapple cured mine.

For me it's purely emotional. It is indeed a major rush to hunt, play, connect and purchase the next one. Absolutely not justifiable in any rationale or intellectual sense. I know I can't play more than one at a time but it's nice to have alternatives. Most of my early UAS was related to the thinking that maybe a better uke will make me a better player. True to a point, but having tread into "K" territory I know it's me, not the uke. Heck, I knew it when I got my Fluke. As others have said, different ukes, different tunings, different songs. Each uke I own has a story behind the acquisition. The same is true for each uke I sell too. I need that story.

Obviously, sound and playability is very subjective, so I want to know about the builder, history, or feel good about the company and what they represent before I pull the trigger. Of my current ukuleles, some are definitely temporary to the stable. They'll fund the next "one" down the road. Lately, I've been playing the game, what one ukulele would I hold onto if I had to? No answer yet.

If it ever comes to that, at least I'll have the stories.

Thank you all for your insightful comments. I'm not sure I feel better but at least I feel loved and in good company. I've only been smitten for six months and I have three already, plus two in process. Cheers!

The hunt for "the One".
Looking for instant skills.
Appreciation of the appearance and sound.
A little OCD, or sometimes depression, as in "one uke makes me so happy, more should make me even happier".

I could get down to maybe three if necessary.