I am pretty much a nooooob but this year I purchased and sold a lot of ukulele's in the pursuit of the right one. In just the course of a few months, I went from $200 ukulele's to $500 ukulele's and now $1200. ukulele's. Crazy- right? Well, yes and no. As my skill level increased, I wanted better and each time I stepped up, I found that not only was the sound better, but it was easier to play. The better ukulele actually helped me to be a better player. Granted, a great player can make any instrument sound good, the reverse is also true, a better uke can help to make it easier for a mid-ranged player to play. But even with the mid-range ukes, when I got my hands on the K brands, a whole new world opened up. I loved the sound of the ukuleles. There was a world of difference and the biggest selling point, to me (and this goes back to your original statement about just playing for yourself) is that I LOVE playing my K brands. The sound great, look great, and feel great in my hands. Hours can pass by without me noticing, whereas with the lesser brands, there was more frustration. And if I miss a day of playing, I find myself making statements like< "I didn't play the ukulele today- I really want to make some time for that."
In the end, it cost me a good bit of money to try so many brands, and then sell them when I found they were not right- but where I live, there is no other way to try them except to buy them. The owner of the music store in my neighborhood announced to me that he was getting a better brand of ukulele in. He said he was getting Kala in. I told him that there are many other brands he should be looking at also. He said there was no market for them. I then presented a challenge to him. I bet him a set a strings that that I, personally sold more ukuleles between September and now than he did, because I was selling quality instruments. And I was right. Between that time, I purchased 11 ukuleles and sold 7 (2 ponos, 3 Islanders, 1 Kamaka, 1 KoAloha). I now own only the ukes in my signature below. I love these ukes. I love playing them. These are my keepers.