How was your Xmas uke-wise?

So, how was your Christmas? Did you get any new ukuleles or give them out as presents?

I don't want to be spoiling anything so I'll just say that with the assistance of my dear friend the Estonian uke elf Marihhen, I managed to send out two new Dolphins to a couple of beginners between ages 7 and 9. The seven-year-old has been too busy with all the electronic stuff he got this year to really get into ukeing but I did get to try out the new uke a couple of days ago when I visited and it was so fun to see literally everyone's faces light up when I strummed a little. The nine-year-old hasn't received Santa's delivery yet since she was away from home at grandma's this year but I'll report back to you what she thought of her present when she gets it.

No new ukes for me or hubby this Christmas. I've managed to drive my UAS away for a while after acquiring three ukes in six months but you never know... We've both been playing actively pretty much every day (not so many Xmas songs though) and I know next time it is husband's turn to get a new one.

Hope you've all had a great Christmas and wishing you all a Happy New Year 2012!!

I don't have my Christmas Uke yet (the Mainland) and I ordered my BIRTHDAY uke (January baby) --a Dolphin. I'm practicing listlessly on my guitar, an instrument I don't particularly like (an older Yamaha classical guitar) that was really my late husband's. I'm anxiously awaiting that Mainland.

Got my special uke back in September, but it still feels like a brand new gift, so I guess that counts as an xmas uke, no?

Other than that, I am giving a Tall Grass bamboo uke to my nephew when I get a chance to see him on Sunday. Hopefully he'll like it.

I didn't get one, but I did send my nephew an Ohana, and a Ukulele Mike DVD. He really liked it!

I got an Anuenue Koa Tenor, and I'm loving it! But I am going to have to send it in for repairs most likely as there is an awfully buzzing at the bridge when the third and fourth strings are plucked.

Got an Epiphone Les Paul concert uke, vintage burst.......amazed at the overall quality despite the low cost. A few small issues, but overall.....wow!

Got four tuners (1 Planet Waves/NS Design, 3 Snark) so all of my ukes have tuners in their cases, a Swirly Gig drink holder, some strings, a kazoo and a really cool book on ukulele chords and theory. It goes over chord shapes, and how to change it (i.e. the major chord and how to make a dominant 7, flat 5, etc..).

Showed my wife the tweed ukulele case I wanted from Uke Republic and it showed up yesterday. A fitting home for my Compass Rose. Seems like a well built case... And it's classy looking. I'm a Fender Telecaster fan so I have a soft spot for tweed cases.

Dean

I neither gave nor got a uke for Christmas, but I did spend a pleasant afternoon playing uke Christmas carols on the corner of Market and Castro in San Francisco with some friendly UU folks that I had never met face to face before - I think giving and getting ukulele camaraderie is almost as good as getting a uke. Maybe even better

So Itella found the ukes then!

I didn't expect this, but I got the Risa uke solid tenor, which is just amazing. I didn't ever really warm up to the concert, but this tenor is just awesome. The rest of the music-related haul was a Tascam iXZ (The usb stuff is only sporadically supported on iPad, and the Tascam really is pretty good, you can EQ the noise right on out, tons better than an iRig), a Vox Twin Amplug with its awesome little chorus effect, an Amplug Cabinet for those times when even a Mobile Cube is too big (now that really is like plugging into a radio, but in a good way.), and for my birthday, a cheapie Audio Technica instrument mic.



The camera doesn't do justice to the walnut grain on the uke, but that might be because I noticed someone got nose prints on the lens.

Not only did I buy myself a Favilla soprano but I also bought a sweet little concert Kohala uke (all koa) for my daughter. We found it in a shop on Molokai and picked it up on a whim. Which meant I got to play it on some amazingly awesome beaches before shipping it off to her yesterday. I had never played a concert uke before and I really liked the size. Two nights ago (our last night in Hawaii) we were watching the sunset on a little Maui beach and met a local uke player who played us Aloha Oe on it.

@one bad monkey what was the name of the book please? i am looking for a book like that, thanx,

for christmas i had 2 ukes an eleuke tenor in solid rosewood from Mim, well set up and excellent delivery times, loving the electro sound great fun, i also had a roland street cube to use with the eleuke and this is also fantastic, i thought i was getting the mobile cube but when i opened the amp i had a really pleasant surprise and i had a luna tattoo pineapple which has now been set up and is lovely to play, good take anywhere uke

I didn't get any Ukes, I got two sets of Martin strings for Christmas and another two for my birthday in 6 days! I also got some money from a friend for both, and that will go towards my custom Uke, I may be able to pay the deposit in a few weeks

Recent aquisition of KoAloha LN Soprano "kinda" took care of Christmas Uke. I did receive a Shubb "Lite" CAPO and a "Corky" tone bar/mute for the Banjolele. They are cool.

No new ukes for me this year for Christmas, but I did brighten some UU members Holiday Season by selling off three beautiful K brands from my collection. I also spread the uke love to one recently met aqaintance and one old friend who took the plunge and put Makala Dolphin's on their list to Santa. It is never too late to start something new.

Well being transitioned out of my 20 year IT Job, it has been a stressful year but I did get an offer for a new Job. So I was able to cash in a week's vacation, and use a bit of cash to splurge on a beautiful collection of ukes, with my wife's approval. (although she does not understand why I "need" so many and not just one). Giving myself my own reward for having been with that company for so long certainly did a lot for me during this stressful period.

And thanks to the folks here my prized ukes include a Mya Moe Traditional Tenor, a KoAloha Soprano Tenor neck, and from dkcrown, the much elusive KoAloha Pineapple Sunday! This one completes my collection and I hope, plan, vow not to purchase any more unless it is to find a good deal for my friends, or my kids,

I also spread the uke love, by giving my two sons two entry level kala ukes to see if they get into it, and finding a good deal for my buddy who wanted to get one for his 10 year old daughter and himself after they saw how much fun I have with mine.

Oh and one more highlight was to see Jake Shimabukuro up close and personal, at a local show with my wife, and my classical guitar teacher and his girlfriend. Then meeting Jake afterward for pictures, and having him sign my first uke a kala spruce top a week before Xmas.

Now don't let my avatar fool you that was taken when I was 14 before I walked away from music for 30 years.

I'm now 50 and finally got my priorities right. I lost 60 pounds and am no longer diabetic, I enjoy each and every day playing music (classical guitar and ukulele) and barefoot running. For my birthday I ran a Marathon in October, yes all barefoot and it was great!

I finally learned that work is... Well just work, and Life is everything else.

So for me "The Journey is the Reward!"

kaizersoza said:

@one bad monkey what was the name of the book please? i am looking for a book like that, thanx,

Click to expand...

No problem! It's "Understanding Ukulele Chords" by Robbert van Renesse, published by Mel Bay.

these are great stories

I got bought 2 vintage ukes the pinapple which is unplayable but a hopeful project, and gifted the Lyra in display case to my daughter which she liked also gave her a lovely suveneer uke with a photo of a surfer on it since that is one of her passions and a wall hanger for it that i made. (more to be made as prizes for up comign contest, stay tuned!) I got a hello kitty uke which is just adorable and a first act uke which i made more playable than i tought was possible haha , also downloaded a ukulele christmas songbook off of scribd.com and played a few songs. Also i have corrupted my bassist and he got a baritone uke for himself and we played dueling ukuleles! haha

I handed out 3 Dolphins on Christmas. My 10 yr. old niece was attentive and quickly learned how to tune and read the chord diagrams. My two nephews (12 & 8 yr. old) gleefully strummed away and generally messed around making noise. I've since heard they'll pick up the uke throughout the day and spend some time trying different things. My sister also seems to have taken a liking to it and is learning basic chords along with her daughter.

I did not bring my Kanile'a to the gathering on Christmas (too much stuff to lug around that day, including my big old arthritic dog), but I did bring it over to my sister's home a few days later. My niece promptly "borrowed" it for the duration. Smart cookie. However, her chorus director at school sometimes uses an acoustic guitar for their classes. My niece said she kinda likes the lower sound of that. And one of her friends is playing the guitar, so we'll see how that plays out.

One surprise on Christmas Day was that our 80 yr. old dad told us (for the first time) that he used to play a uke as a teen. He found the Dolphin fret board a bit cramped. So I decided to trade up my shipping-damaged Islander MT-4 for the solid mahogany Islander Concert and will give it to him for a New Year's gift.

Ummm... I was pretty naughty for Christmas and bought myself a 1930-ish Martin Style 3M AND a 1930-ish Gibson Uke 3 (the top of the line Gibson model). I am sure I am going to be paying for that in more ways than one...