trippntx
Well-known member
Hello,
My name is trippntx, and I am a uke-aholic. Or am I?
I'll let you decide. Then, please feel free to commiserate, commend, or chastise as you see fit.
Here is my story...
It all started about two weeks ago. A pilot where I work walked in to my work area to show me something new he'd picked up - a new Kala KA-SEM he'd bought a few days earlier. It did indeed look impressive, and I liked the wood grain a good bit. He strummed out a few chords, and then I asked him: "Why the hell did you buy that thing?"
Why did I ask the question? Well, the guy seems to hop from hobby to hobby, has a garage full of crap he doesn't use anymore (or very often at the most) and has too many musical instruments to really get serious on any one of them.
He answered: "Because it's small, and I can take it on the plane with me to fool around with on layovers. It's also pretty cheap, so I won't care too much if I scratch it up." His answers made even better sense when he zipped it up into it's gig bag (complete with pocket holding a small songbook and an electric tuner). I thought to myself what a cool little uke it was.
I've long been interested in learning to play a stringed instrument and always thought the ukulele was rather cool, so over the next day or two, the idea of buying a uke grew on me until I decided I'd do exactly what he did.
On Saturday morning I called Sam Ash, who let me know they were fresh out of Kala Soprano Exquisite Mohoganys and had no idea when they were likely to get more in. The salesman did say they had a Kala "Concert" exquisite mohagany, but I figured that "concert" had to mean it was way over my head. Little did I know the moniker was only in reference to size.
I then decided to visit my local Guitar Center, which I KNOW carries every musical instrument on the planet (with the possible exception of hammer dulcimers and digiridoos) to score the KA-SEM. Much to my surprise they had a piss poor ukulele selection and carried nothing in the Kala line.
Determined to find my uke, I headed home and hopped online where I promptly found the little buggers for sale at austinbazaar.com, complete with gig bag and electronic tuner for only $95 with the (ever-present) "today only" 10 discount promotional code staring me in the face. Of course, I ordered immediately.
Two days later (I live in San Antonio, a mere 90 miles south), the cheerful Fed-Ex Ground man plopped the new prize on my desk at work. I quickly opened the box to find a nice gouge in the ukes top. Too bad, because it looked really nice with a sweet wood pattern and top halves that matched nicely. Plus it sounded really nice as I cluelessly strummed it a few times in the office.
Back in the box it went. As I had a trip planned to Austin the next Friday evening, I decided I'd take it back, exchange it in person, and get a chance to visit Austin Bazaar's brick and mortar store.
What a mistake that was.
So I wander in at precisely 10:00 AM that Saturday morning (opening time) to learn they are out of KA-SEMs and my gouged one (not a really big gouge, but not a welcome flaw on my first ukulele and new little friend) was now the only one in the store. Making up my mind on what to do, I wandered over to the ukulele section (second mistake) to see what all they had to trade or trade up for.
Wow. All sorts of cool ukes!
Well, it only took about 2 minutes of gawking and strumming to know I was definitely trading up. After another hour of "trying out" and hemming and hawing, I walked out with a BEAUTIFUL Kala Golden Acacia Limited Edition Concert uke. (Yes, I had learned what concert referred to by this time).
Once home I strummed the bejesus out of the beauty, doing the best I could following Youtube videos and a few chord charts I found online. I was happy as a clam. I had a new beautiful uke, I was impressed with its quality, it sounded absolutely wonderful and I had actually learned two or three chords!
The Addiction begins.
That Monday I decided it was time to buy an instruction/song book and headed to Sam Ash after work. I walked over to the uke section (had never been there before) and milled about a few minutes until WHAMMO! Like a ray of light from Heaven, it struck me... The vision of a solid acacia Kala tenor sitting a mere 10 feet away on a counter top. I picked it up. It felt good. Real Good. Too good. It sounded even better. Wow.
It was marked $329. I quickly pulled out my smart phone and Googled other sellers. The best price I could find was $349. I really wanted the thing but thought what an idiot I would be to buy uke number two before even knowing four chords on uke number one.
So I asked the guy behind the counter to tell me about this beauty. He said, "Oh, some guy special ordered that ukulele and then decided he didn't want it. Which is a shame, considering we don't normally carry this model and it will take us a while to sell it. Plus, it's the best looking ukulele in the store."
I had to agree, and in a moment of spontaneity (or stupidity, depending on your point of view), I said: "I'll give you $279 for the thing - cash. He replied there was no way the manager would go for that, so of course I asked him to go get the manager. Which he did, and of course the manager said: "No way, $329 is the lowest I'll go, considering it was already lowered from $349)."
As I reminded him it was a special ordered uke they would probably end up sending back, I pulled out my wallet and reminded him it was a cash offer. He then pulled up some mumbo jumbo on a computer screen, looked at my money and said, "Okay."
Yay. I bought the beauty, took it home and strummed the hell out of it (applying my three best, and only, chords to it) for a good thirty minutes. I now had two ukuleles, couldn't play worth a crap, and was for some reason still real happy about the whole situation. The Kala Tenor (KA-ASAC-T) sounded even sweeter than the golden acacia concert and I am extremely happy with that uke as well.
The next Saturday (today), I was back up to Austin to meet a friend for lunch and on the way stopped into Austin Bazaar to buy a hard case for the new tenor. (Next mistake.) After finding out they were out of tenor hard cases, the idea struck me that I now own two pretty nice ukes and I really do need to practice a good deal now, and wouldn't it be nice to have a uke to take with me pretty much everywhere I go, and wouldn't it be nice to keep those really nice ukes in good condition and wouldn't a smaller uke be much more convenient for this and blah blah blah...
Long story short, I had spotted a Kala KA-S on the wall with a surprisingly nice wood grain/pattern, asked the salesman how much it would be with a gig bag and tuner, he replied "$71," I replied "sold" and I promptly walked out with my third ukulele in two weeks.
So there you have it. I have mastered no more than five chords, haven't yet conquered a single song, but now own three ukes. Trust me, I'm going to do my best to avoid uke shops (brick and mortar AND online) and buy nothing more until I'm way into this new pursuit and can at least call myself a decent uker.
So...
Is this a normal case of uke fever? Am I a blithering idiot for owning three ukuleles before I can even play one? Do I need medication? Or, is this a quasi-normal dive into uke-dom that many of you have experienced previously?
Pull out your accolades, criticism, or tomatoes if need be. I'm curious to know what you all think.
I'm now going to practice my uke. Albeit I'm not sure which one.
My name is trippntx, and I am a uke-aholic. Or am I?
I'll let you decide. Then, please feel free to commiserate, commend, or chastise as you see fit.
Here is my story...
It all started about two weeks ago. A pilot where I work walked in to my work area to show me something new he'd picked up - a new Kala KA-SEM he'd bought a few days earlier. It did indeed look impressive, and I liked the wood grain a good bit. He strummed out a few chords, and then I asked him: "Why the hell did you buy that thing?"
Why did I ask the question? Well, the guy seems to hop from hobby to hobby, has a garage full of crap he doesn't use anymore (or very often at the most) and has too many musical instruments to really get serious on any one of them.
He answered: "Because it's small, and I can take it on the plane with me to fool around with on layovers. It's also pretty cheap, so I won't care too much if I scratch it up." His answers made even better sense when he zipped it up into it's gig bag (complete with pocket holding a small songbook and an electric tuner). I thought to myself what a cool little uke it was.
I've long been interested in learning to play a stringed instrument and always thought the ukulele was rather cool, so over the next day or two, the idea of buying a uke grew on me until I decided I'd do exactly what he did.
On Saturday morning I called Sam Ash, who let me know they were fresh out of Kala Soprano Exquisite Mohoganys and had no idea when they were likely to get more in. The salesman did say they had a Kala "Concert" exquisite mohagany, but I figured that "concert" had to mean it was way over my head. Little did I know the moniker was only in reference to size.
I then decided to visit my local Guitar Center, which I KNOW carries every musical instrument on the planet (with the possible exception of hammer dulcimers and digiridoos) to score the KA-SEM. Much to my surprise they had a piss poor ukulele selection and carried nothing in the Kala line.
Determined to find my uke, I headed home and hopped online where I promptly found the little buggers for sale at austinbazaar.com, complete with gig bag and electronic tuner for only $95 with the (ever-present) "today only" 10 discount promotional code staring me in the face. Of course, I ordered immediately.
Two days later (I live in San Antonio, a mere 90 miles south), the cheerful Fed-Ex Ground man plopped the new prize on my desk at work. I quickly opened the box to find a nice gouge in the ukes top. Too bad, because it looked really nice with a sweet wood pattern and top halves that matched nicely. Plus it sounded really nice as I cluelessly strummed it a few times in the office.
Back in the box it went. As I had a trip planned to Austin the next Friday evening, I decided I'd take it back, exchange it in person, and get a chance to visit Austin Bazaar's brick and mortar store.
What a mistake that was.
So I wander in at precisely 10:00 AM that Saturday morning (opening time) to learn they are out of KA-SEMs and my gouged one (not a really big gouge, but not a welcome flaw on my first ukulele and new little friend) was now the only one in the store. Making up my mind on what to do, I wandered over to the ukulele section (second mistake) to see what all they had to trade or trade up for.
Wow. All sorts of cool ukes!
Well, it only took about 2 minutes of gawking and strumming to know I was definitely trading up. After another hour of "trying out" and hemming and hawing, I walked out with a BEAUTIFUL Kala Golden Acacia Limited Edition Concert uke. (Yes, I had learned what concert referred to by this time).
Once home I strummed the bejesus out of the beauty, doing the best I could following Youtube videos and a few chord charts I found online. I was happy as a clam. I had a new beautiful uke, I was impressed with its quality, it sounded absolutely wonderful and I had actually learned two or three chords!
The Addiction begins.
That Monday I decided it was time to buy an instruction/song book and headed to Sam Ash after work. I walked over to the uke section (had never been there before) and milled about a few minutes until WHAMMO! Like a ray of light from Heaven, it struck me... The vision of a solid acacia Kala tenor sitting a mere 10 feet away on a counter top. I picked it up. It felt good. Real Good. Too good. It sounded even better. Wow.
It was marked $329. I quickly pulled out my smart phone and Googled other sellers. The best price I could find was $349. I really wanted the thing but thought what an idiot I would be to buy uke number two before even knowing four chords on uke number one.
So I asked the guy behind the counter to tell me about this beauty. He said, "Oh, some guy special ordered that ukulele and then decided he didn't want it. Which is a shame, considering we don't normally carry this model and it will take us a while to sell it. Plus, it's the best looking ukulele in the store."
I had to agree, and in a moment of spontaneity (or stupidity, depending on your point of view), I said: "I'll give you $279 for the thing - cash. He replied there was no way the manager would go for that, so of course I asked him to go get the manager. Which he did, and of course the manager said: "No way, $329 is the lowest I'll go, considering it was already lowered from $349)."
As I reminded him it was a special ordered uke they would probably end up sending back, I pulled out my wallet and reminded him it was a cash offer. He then pulled up some mumbo jumbo on a computer screen, looked at my money and said, "Okay."
Yay. I bought the beauty, took it home and strummed the hell out of it (applying my three best, and only, chords to it) for a good thirty minutes. I now had two ukuleles, couldn't play worth a crap, and was for some reason still real happy about the whole situation. The Kala Tenor (KA-ASAC-T) sounded even sweeter than the golden acacia concert and I am extremely happy with that uke as well.
The next Saturday (today), I was back up to Austin to meet a friend for lunch and on the way stopped into Austin Bazaar to buy a hard case for the new tenor. (Next mistake.) After finding out they were out of tenor hard cases, the idea struck me that I now own two pretty nice ukes and I really do need to practice a good deal now, and wouldn't it be nice to have a uke to take with me pretty much everywhere I go, and wouldn't it be nice to keep those really nice ukes in good condition and wouldn't a smaller uke be much more convenient for this and blah blah blah...
Long story short, I had spotted a Kala KA-S on the wall with a surprisingly nice wood grain/pattern, asked the salesman how much it would be with a gig bag and tuner, he replied "$71," I replied "sold" and I promptly walked out with my third ukulele in two weeks.
So there you have it. I have mastered no more than five chords, haven't yet conquered a single song, but now own three ukes. Trust me, I'm going to do my best to avoid uke shops (brick and mortar AND online) and buy nothing more until I'm way into this new pursuit and can at least call myself a decent uker.
So...
Is this a normal case of uke fever? Am I a blithering idiot for owning three ukuleles before I can even play one? Do I need medication? Or, is this a quasi-normal dive into uke-dom that many of you have experienced previously?
Pull out your accolades, criticism, or tomatoes if need be. I'm curious to know what you all think.
I'm now going to practice my uke. Albeit I'm not sure which one.
Last edited:
