Is the Baritone Market Depressed?

PTOEguy

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Or is it just slightly blue? Seems like there are some pretty sweet baritone ukes that stay on the marketplace a lot longer than a comparable tenor might - even at a lower price point than a comparable tenor. I see three possible options:

1. I'm wrong - my perceptions are skewed by a small sample size and the baritone market is just fine.

2. The supply of baritone ukes is appropriate - they just take longer to sell because the pool of baritone players is smaller.

3. There are more baritone ukes than baritone players.

Any thoughts?
 
Much like with basses, guitars, etc. I think it all goes in cycles. I had an old p-bass that I tried to sell for almost 3 months with no takers. All of the sudden everyone wanted a p-bass and I finally sold it.
 
Well...I can't speak for the entire market but yes, I am depressed because I cannot afford another baritone right now...
 
This is just my personal view, but fairly or not, I see the baritone as a sort of compromise between a guitar and a ukulele. I've played guitar for a lot longer than I've played uke, and in my experience I either want a uke or a guitar, but not really a cross between the two. When I think about the people I know who play both ukulele and guitar, I don't know too many who have a baritone. So maybe there's a subset of the ukulele/guitar playing population who feels the way that I do, plus any ukulele "traditionalists," and so you have a much smaller market than the larger one for ukuleles in general.
 
I see your point, PTOEguy. I find that most all sizes of ukuleles stay on the marketplace longer, especially higher end (priced over $1000).

Baritone's have always been the ugly stepchild of the ukulele world -- the large and ungainly Penn to a world full of Tellers. But like Penn, the baritone is loud and proud, and I'm just really appreciating them.

(I love Penn and Teller and that analogy is a product of a morning brain devoid of Mountain Dew. Sorry).
 
My guess is number 2; I didn't discover the baritone until this past winter, but man, what a discovery.

Whatever the reason, baritones deserve more love.

S, c'mon UU. Together, we can buy up all the baritones on the market. All of them, I tell you!
 
I'm going to sidestep the whole question of whether a baritone ukulele is really just some sort of hybrid guitar merely because it's generally tuned DGBE, like the top four strings of a guitar (would people say that about a baritone tuned GCEA? Why don't they say that about tenor (4 string) guitars that are tuned "Chicago" (DGBE) tuning?) because there are already lots of threads that incorporate that debate. The baritone was relatively popular when Arthur Godfrey played one on television, and if you can extrapolate by the increase in threads here about baritones over the past several months, it seems to have enjoyed an increase in interest in them recently. I don't know if the market for them is depressed or just hasn't been that strong, and it may depend on the particular instrument. There seems to have been a run on vintage baritones recently, but Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto appears to still have the same three baritones it had months ago. I've moved more toward baritones for their deeper voice combined with that characteristic ukulele percussive sound, and my personal market for them is depressed only because I have (or have ordered) all the baritones I want. To address the OP's question, my guess is that the OP's sample size IS too small but that it's probably true that baritones don't sell as quickly because there are fewer baritone players.
 
I actually started liking the baritone after I watched this Danielle Anderson video, and couldn't wrap my head around the sound, the tuning. Later: Dah...it's a baritone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67pbCPi8a8

I notice another trend about baritone ukes, in addition to those that PTOEguy writes about. Ever notice how uke players are all about spending beaucoup bucks on a tenor, a vintage soprano, etc. But the baritone? "Yeah, let me find the cheapest baritone I can possibly find, okay? I have a Martin soprano, a Mya Moe tenor, and I just scored a deal on a used Kala baritone. Woo hoo!"
 
I actually started liking the baritone after I watched this Danielle Anderson video, and couldn't wrap my head around the sound, the tuning. Later: Dah...it's a baritone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i67pbCPi8a8

I notice another trend about baritone ukes, in addition to those that PTOEguy writes about. Ever notice how uke players are all about spending beaucoup bucks on a tenor, a vintage soprano, etc. But the baritone? "Yeah, let me find the cheapest baritone I can possibly find, okay? I have a Martin soprano, a Mya Moe tenor, and I just scored a deal on a used Kala baritone. Woo hoo!"

Yeah, what's up with that mentality? It's pretty funny
 
Of course, I tell everyone to check out the $55 blemished Lanikai baritones that Butler Music has on eBay (if they are still there).
 
That's hilarious, Bill. A $2000 Gambler's Special. There might be some cosmetic blemishes, they say.

Isn't that a little like picking one's wife from a harem of women, each wearing full veils?

"I'll gamble and take the one on the far left because she breathes less frequently than the others."
 
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I have one of the Butler Gambler's specials LU-21Bs. There is absolutely no comparison to my Pono MB. But what do you expect for something that is 1/10th the cost. Also, the Lanikai still has the original strings and the Pono has Southcoasts.

This suggests another couple of questions:

- Is there a size of ukulele that is most forgiving for a less expensive uke?

- Is there a size of ukulele that is most sensitive to changes in strings?
 
Ever notice how uke players are all about spending beaucoup bucks on a tenor, a vintage soprano, etc. But the baritone? "Yeah, let me find the cheapest baritone I can possibly find, okay? I have a Martin soprano, a Mya Moe tenor, and I just scored a deal on a used Kala baritone. Woo hoo!"

Ha, I almost did the same thing. I prefer concert, so I went K-brand concert, but I still want a high-end soprano since I play it often enough and only own some cheap through midrange ones. Tenor I don't use often so I'll probably never buy another.

I'm one who said I'd never ever buy a baritone, that even tenors weren't uke enough, but enough youtube videos later and now I have a solid acacia Kala bari and I love it. Cheap enough that I won't feel bad if I lose interest in it (unlikely), but expensive enough that if I do like it, it'll stop my UAS from flaring up and making me buy a really nice one.
 
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