Kem
Well-known member
I have had this with almost every new ukulele I have ever encountered. Is it just me, or do others share this little piece of weirdness?
It goes something like this:
1) I buy a uke, either from a store or online. If it's from a store, I probably haven't played it for long; I get flustered when store owners hang over me and ask me how I'm doing. If it's from online, of course, I haven't played it at all, though I may have heard sound samples.
2) The uke arrives. I eagerly remove it from its packaging, tune it, and start to play.
3) I hate it. It doesn't sound anything like my other ukes. It's too soft/loud/harsh/tinkly/plunky. The intonation seems off at the first fret/second fret/all over. The action is too high. The action is too low; there's a buzz on the second string. The friction tuners are too fiddly. The uke sounds like my old doorbell. The uke sounds like a 100-year-old piano. The uke won't stay in tune. I have made a terrible, terrible mistake. Argh argh argh.
4) Over the course of the next few days, I get used to the uke, and it turns out that most of my problems with it were illusory; the others I can live with or fix. By Day 3 or so, I have fallen in love with the instrument and think it is awesome.
This has happened most recently with my Ohana SK-38. Considering the number of times this instrument has been rejected (I am its fifth owner), I really wanted to make it work, but I couldn't get used to how it sounded. Now, however, I have, and I am finding it hard to put down. I've noticed myself doing this with other musical instruments as well; I have the diametrical opposite of a honeymoon period with them. I start off by noticing all their little flaws, then eventually come to accept those flaws as quirks.
Is there something wrong with me?
It goes something like this:
1) I buy a uke, either from a store or online. If it's from a store, I probably haven't played it for long; I get flustered when store owners hang over me and ask me how I'm doing. If it's from online, of course, I haven't played it at all, though I may have heard sound samples.
2) The uke arrives. I eagerly remove it from its packaging, tune it, and start to play.
3) I hate it. It doesn't sound anything like my other ukes. It's too soft/loud/harsh/tinkly/plunky. The intonation seems off at the first fret/second fret/all over. The action is too high. The action is too low; there's a buzz on the second string. The friction tuners are too fiddly. The uke sounds like my old doorbell. The uke sounds like a 100-year-old piano. The uke won't stay in tune. I have made a terrible, terrible mistake. Argh argh argh.
4) Over the course of the next few days, I get used to the uke, and it turns out that most of my problems with it were illusory; the others I can live with or fix. By Day 3 or so, I have fallen in love with the instrument and think it is awesome.
This has happened most recently with my Ohana SK-38. Considering the number of times this instrument has been rejected (I am its fifth owner), I really wanted to make it work, but I couldn't get used to how it sounded. Now, however, I have, and I am finding it hard to put down. I've noticed myself doing this with other musical instruments as well; I have the diametrical opposite of a honeymoon period with them. I start off by noticing all their little flaws, then eventually come to accept those flaws as quirks.
Is there something wrong with me?
