I love playing ukulele, but I hate...

modern day ukuleleist

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...purchasing them.

I live in area with virtually no ukulele dealers (out of the 3 local music stores, including a Guitar Center, there are probably 8-10 ukuleles total, and they're all base model lanikai's or something similar).

So purchasing a ukulele involves reading online reviews, watching youtube clips of the ukulele being played (half of which are made using terrible recording devices, and another quarter of which are made by someone who is playing for the first time and sounds pretty bad).

I've been burned by purchasing an applause ukulele, which has great reviews online, none that I read prior to purchasing mention that it should be exclusively electric because it sounds pretty bad acoustically. I wasted $160 on it and I can't even find someone to buy it for $100 (it has hardly been used).

Rule #1 of buying instruments is playing them in person before buying, but that's just not possible.

EDIT: Now I'm going to buy a Mainland Tenor.
 
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I have the simular problem. Two options, some on-line dealer have a 48 hr or other return policy, no questions asked. All you are out is shipping. The other is to see if you local dealers will special order and take it back for a restocking fee if you don't like it.

Final solution is ROAD TRIP -
 
I love playing the 'ukulele but hate that I never seem to have enough time to play one.
 
Two words: Mim's Ukes

If you want to order a ukulele, contact Mim and she will go out of her way to make sure you are happy as a clam with your purchase!
 
I love playing the 'ukulele but hate that I never seem to have enough time to play one.

Same goes here !

All my ukes and most of my musical instruments were purchased sight unseen via internet and I was never disapointed. Not much choice in my area and I'm a lefty to boot. To me, half the fun is doing research and I read, listen and look at tons of stuff before pulling the trigger. For the ukulele at the lower end, in my opinion, Kala and Lanikai are best, for intermidiate, Mainland, Pono, Ohana and Sailor. For high end the K brands or a luthier custom. This is a good basis to start with. An other important factor that is often forgotten is who you are buying from. Only buy from reputable sources and this must be researched as well. You want your instrument to be setup properly if buying new from a store....this makes all the difference in the world. Read customer satisfaction and return policies. Email back and forth a few times to get a feel of the seller. The same goes for used instruments even from ebay. Before bidding, email back and forth and get the feel of who you are dealing with. Ask for additionnal photos, pause specific question to test knowledge and honesty. If you have any doubts, just back off.

Hope this helps ! It is possible to purchase instruments without playing them and have a pleasant experience.
 
Another idea may be to go to try going to a ukulele festival. I was able to go to the Wine Country Uke Fest in Napa County where I was able to try alot of ukuleles that are not sold anywhere near where I live.
 
Here in the frozen tundra of Minnesota we are faced with much the same delemea. We do or did have a couple of people locally that made them, typcially saw them at a monthly meeting, but I do my purchases when on vacation. We travel to HI every other year and the last two trips, I've bought Mele's. They sound great and have great quality. I am sure they would take care of you on an on-line purchase...
 
I think the best bet is to talk to some quality uke stores. The staff plays the largest variety of instruments and deal with customers with all sorts of budgets on a daily basis. I've been very happy with my purchases where I've taken the advice from a good uke shop, but the uke I bought by doing my own online research I returned. Listening to ukes over the internet is a difficult way to determine an instruments sound since you can't get an accurate representation of what it sounds like and definitely not what sort of volume it puts out.

I've gotten ukes from Hawaii Music Supply and MusicGuyMic and have had exceptional experiences with customer service and have gotten ukes I'm very happy with. Most important, they have a good return policy in case you don't like it for some reason. My view on buying uke's without trying them is that if I can't return it simply because I'm not happy with the way it sounds, I won't buy it.
 
Aloha Modern Day Ukist,
Not sure where you live...Always good to buy in person and try them out..if buying sight unseen, purchase from a reputable dealer which does setps and has a return policy..... Mim's, Mainland Mike, Uke republic, MGM, Hawaii Music Supply..Not sure your budget too...and how long you've been playing...laminates are good starters and budget friendly...Makai, Vineyard, KPK(solid), Mainland(solid) etc..also our marketplace has some seconh hand deals as well as FMM...Stay away from the big box retailers...they may be cheaper, but they come without setups.Good luck and
Happy Strummings...
 
I love playing ukulele, but I hate... errrr... well... nothing really...



Oh and I totally second the ROADTRIP option.

I booked a weekend away in Bournemouth simply because Southern Uke Store was located there!!
 
I bought mine at a festival. If I hadn't played it at the festival, I wouldn't own one now. So I agree with jonesjimbo.

I've been to Hawaii, visited several stores, and was apalled at the quality of the instruments and the general attitude that ukulele's are for the tourist trade. I've visited many stores on the mainland and most of the employees treat it like it's a purchase for your child. If the guy at the music store wants to grab the uke off the wall and start strumming it for 5 minutes, RUN! One guy in Hawaii has a microphone set up and tortures you with his endless chord strumming before ever letting you touch one of the ukes behind the counter.

Everyone online says that their particular instrument is the best. Mostly because they don't want to feel bad about their purchase.

I even sat on a custom builder's waitlist for a year, foregoing buying from a builder near me at the time, only to be told after 12 months that, although my number was up, I just wasn't worthy of his craftmanship.

Go to a festival where there is no retailer to tell you that he carries a certain brand because it is the best. You can talk to the actual luthier, see what they make, not what a retailer wants you to see, and probably get something you wouldn't even find otherwise. Luthiers usually have a great selection at a festival and also have a book of other work they've done.

If I could buy from anyone, it would be Dave Means but, I don't think that wish will ever come true. You can at least visit the Glyph website to see what others are trying to live up to.
 
I love playing any instruments, but I really hate the way it fuels unnecessary consumerism in me. I just wish I could be content with what I have. I really think websites like this instigate that aspect of playing. Don't get me wrong, UU is a great site with many terrific resources. However seeing UAS in full effect in such great numbers has a terrible push on me. Obviously its a problem that stems within myself, but such beautiful instruments don't help me get over it.

Sorry for the rant, its a little off topic.
 
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I love playing any instruments, but I really hate the way it fuels unnecessary consumerism in me. I just wish I could be content with what I have. I really think websites like this instigate that aspect of playing. Don't get me wrong, UU is a great site with many terrific resources. However seeing UAS in full effect in such great numbers has a terrible push on me. Obviously its a problem that stems within myself, but such beautiful instruments don't help me get over it.

Sorry for the rant, its a little off topic.

I understand.

There are too many ukuleles to choose from. Many of which aren't any better or worse than others, just different in some way.

I was recently discussing the subject of the psychological impact of choices in consumerism in one of my classes. Having more choices actually makes people less happy because they begin to question their own choices and assume that every other choice would have been better.

That's why I'm trying to limit myself to two ukuleles, if I can ever sell my Applause. Then I'll have one serious ukulele and one for messing around.
 
AMC, I see it more as being vicarious. There is no way in hell I would spend $2000 for a uke but still enjoy their beauty.
 
...purchasing them.

I live in area with virtually no ukulele dealers (out of the 3 local music stores, including a Guitar Center, there are probably 8-10 ukuleles total, and they're all base model lanikai's or something similar).

So purchasing a ukulele involves reading online reviews, watching youtube clips of the ukulele being played (half of which are made using terrible recording devices, and another quarter of which are made by someone who is playing for the first time and sounds pretty bad).

I've been burned by purchasing an applause ukulele, which has great reviews online, none that I read prior to purchasing mention that it should be exclusively electric because it sounds pretty bad acoustically. I wasted $160 on it and I can't even find someone to buy it for $100 (it has hardly been used).

Rule #1 of buying instruments is playing them in person before buying, but that's just not possible.

Now I'm considering saving up for a pocket ukulele just for the novelty, but I'm sure I'll regret it when I find that I can't even play it with my long fingers.

My Online shopping rules are:
#1 Buy from a Uke Dealer, Not a "uke" dealer

#2 Buy from a Uke manufactuer (Like the K companies).

#3-IF their specialty is guitars (fender, epiphone, ibanez, oscar schmidt, applause, etc...) stay away from them.
 
...purchasing them.

I live in area with virtually no ukulele dealers (out of the 3 local music stores, including a Guitar Center, there are probably 8-10 ukuleles total, and they're all base model lanikai's or something similar).

So purchasing a ukulele involves reading online reviews, watching youtube clips of the ukulele being played (half of which are made using terrible recording devices, and another quarter of which are made by someone who is playing for the first time and sounds pretty bad).

I've been burned by purchasing an applause ukulele, which has great reviews online, none that I read prior to purchasing mention that it should be exclusively electric because it sounds pretty bad acoustically. I wasted $160 on it and I can't even find someone to buy it for $100 (it has hardly been used).

Rule #1 of buying instruments is playing them in person before buying, but that's just not possible.

Now I'm considering saving up for a pocket ukulele just for the novelty, but I'm sure I'll regret it when I find that I can't even play it with my long fingers.

Since you have to go online look no further than: UkeRepublic and Mim. Unless they don't ahve what you want.
 
One guy in Hawaii has a microphone set up and tortures you with his endless chord strumming before ever letting you touch one of the ukes behind the counter.

Larry's Music on Kauai has a mic set up in the store, but if it weren't for his playing I never would have known the full capabilities of the instrument. As a noobie, he played parts of the fret board that won't see my fingers for quite some time. He played a wide variety of songs and explained the differences in sound quality for each uke. He didn't try to "sell" me any one brand but really gave a lesson on what to look for in a quality ukulele. I appreciated the time he took to educate me on the instrument and I'm grateful that I wandered into his store.
 
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