Saving up for new uke, important question

upskydowncloud · Sep 15, 2008

Hi everyone,

I'm saving up for a Kamaka HF-3 tenor like Aldrines. Through selling various things etc I've almost got enough. My question is is it worth spending an extra $360 to get one with curly koa wood? I really like the look but am not sure if I should spend the extra?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

John

P.S oohh 200th post!

haole · Sep 15, 2008

I'd say it's not worth it to pay extra for fancier wood. With that $360 you can buy a whole 'nother uke! And even within the same model designation, there are differences between each individual uke even if the price is the same. On a wall full of Kamakas, you might see a few rather plain-looking tenors and an absolutely gorgeous one and they'll all be the same price. Shop around and I'm sure you can find one without a premium price that still looks exceptionally sharp.

rayan · Sep 15, 2008

haole said:
I'd say it's not worth it to pay extra for fancier wood. With that $360 you can buy a whole 'nother uke! And even within the same model designation, there are differences between each individual uke even if the price is the same. On a wall full of Kamakas, you might see a few rather plain-looking tenors and an absolutely gorgeous one and they'll all be the same price. Shop around and I'm sure you can find one without a premium price that still looks exceptionally sharp.

I have to agree, that's the one advantage buying ukes in person as opposed to buying them online will get you. You get to choose your wood grain and find one that you really like.

upskydowncloud · Sep 15, 2008

Hey thanks for the reply guys. The problem I have is that I have to buy online 'cos I won't get a chance to look in a shop that sells Kamakas. I'm coming to Hawaii in 2010 but am not sure I can wait that long!

haole · Sep 15, 2008

If you can't wait that long, I'll let you in on a little secret. On Saturday I was at Mandolin Bros. in Staten Island, NY to look at ukes. One of the Kamaka tenors was absolutely gorgeous. It's not listed on their site right now, but if you email them at mandolin@mandoweb.com I'm sure the nice folks over there will hook you up with a picture.

GX9901 · Sep 15, 2008

How much curl does $360 buy in this case? If it's like AAAA or AAAAA koa, then I'd say go for it. If it's some slight curl, then you'll have to see it and decide if it's enough for you. I love curly koa so I think if you can afford it, go for it. But it's ultimately up to you to decide how much premium that curly koa is worth to you and how much eye candy you'd like to treat yourself to.

wearymicrobe · Sep 15, 2008

I love curly Koas, so to me its a no brainer to spend the extra money. But if it impacts your savings or the rest of your life then not so much.

upskydowncloud · Sep 16, 2008

haole said:
If you can't wait that long, I'll let you in on a little secret. On Saturday I was at Mandolin Bros. in Staten Island, NY to look at ukes. One of the Kamaka tenors was absolutely gorgeous. It's not listed on their site right now, but if you email them at mandolin@mandoweb.com I'm sure the nice folks over there will hook you up with a picture.

Thanks for that, I'll shoot them an e-mail and see what it looks like!

GX9901 said:
How much curl does $360 buy in this case? If it's like AAAA or AAAAA koa, then I'd say go for it. If it's some slight curl, then you'll have to see it and decide if it's enough for you. I love curly koa so I think if you can afford it, go for it. But it's ultimately up to you to decide how much premium that curly koa is worth to you and how much eye candy you'd like to treat yourself to.

The $360 gets you AAA wood, for $450 you get AAAA. I am tempted to get it as I love curly koa too. I suppose if this is my number one uke and I don't get any more it's probably worth waiting longer to get it.

wearymicrobe said:
I love curly Koas, so to me its a no brainer to spend the extra money. But if it impacts your savings or the rest of your life then not so much.

You may have persuaded me! It still seems like a lot of money but it may be worth the wait.

UkuLeLesReggAe · Sep 16, 2008

awww ur buying aldrines uke!!
seriously... when i get a job... a real one.. ill save up and get same customs as aldrine and pay 2k for it. so aldrine if u wanna make like $800 or whatever, hit us up..

prob not for another 4 years though

Saving up for new uke, important question

upskydowncloud

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haole

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rayan

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upskydowncloud

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haole

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GX9901

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wearymicrobe

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upskydowncloud

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UkuLeLesReggAe

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