Goats,
I agree with you completely, it's all relative. For those of you who gasp at the mention of a $2000 uke, I invite you to come on over to the vintage guitar section of the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum where 2 grand might represent only the repairs on a $20,000 or $30,000 instrument. As well, I tend to balk at the frequently offered assumption that only rich folks can and do purchase higher end custom ukes. Speaking personally, I do not drink, smoke, eat out at expensive restaurants, like to wear jewelry of any kind, drive an expensive car or live in a luxury gated community, and I work hard to take care of my God given body through daily exercise and a healthy diet, which translates into medical maintenance costs that are next to nil - meaning when you add up all the potential savings there, I don't see spending $1500 on a ukulele to be an extravagant purchase in the least. For example, I have a friend - who is also not wealthy - who happens to like to hang out once a week with some of his buddies at a particular local establishment and in the process drops $40 or $50 on drinks and food. Now, I certainly don't begrudge him his choice of entertainment, but you take $50 a week over the 28 weeks or so I am going to have to wait on my Mya-Moe build, and you've got $1400 socked away, which is most of the cost of the uke I'm ordering. Yet, if I were to simply mention I was ordering a custom Mya-Moe uke without providing any other background info, some would automatically lump me into the rich capitalist snob category without blinking an eye. Not that I have any problem with capitalism per se, but that's a whole 'nuther conversation.