Am I the only one that doesn't like all the ukulele "spin offs"?

BIGDB

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Hello everyone, just wondering if Im the only one who doesn't like the spin offs of the ukulele. I personally think the ukulele has a hard enough time of being taken seriously and I think the ukulele basses, guitars, etc make it worse. Does anyone else think that? I just think the ukulele is already unique enough that it doesn't need all these things. I don't mean this to be offensive to the company's or people that own them just saying what I think and wondering if anyone agrees
 
I don't agree. I think having more variety brings in more people. I bought my first ukulele five months ago, a Mahalo UT-30, because it was designed like my Fender Telecaster. That along with a summer LA Music Center ukulele play-along got me into ukulele after almost 50 years of playing guitar.

I'm having more fun and applying myself more to the ukulele than I have for the last 15 years to guitar. I've become a member of two uke groups, the CC Strummers in Culver City, CA, and the Westside Ukulele Ensemble. We're doing gigs, and just tonight I was asked to be the uke player on a recording for a singing quartet.

I also now have 6 ukes, with one more on the way designed like a jazz arch-top, steel strings. Looking forward to getting still another sound.

uke archtop style.jpg
 
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You probably are NOT the only one. But I'm in the "flexibility" camp too. In fact, I'd probably make a lousy purist at anything ;). I am all in favour of cultural mixes, hybrid instruments, world music, etc. Long live diversity!
 
Nope, don't agree either. Perhaps it's time we start calling the kind of uke you prefer as a "classic" or "traditional" style uke. I like to avoid anything resembling "snobbery" in the uke world. Very few instruments have stayed the same since they were originally designed. No reason it shouldn't apply to ukes. I like them all, but I do have preferences. That being said, I suspect my vintage Martin and Kamaka will always sit at the top of my list.
 
Perhaps it's time we start calling the kind of uke you prefer as a "classic" or "traditional" style uke.

That's not a bad idea, Phil. My guess is that people will start doing that on their own as things evolve. None of us are old enough to remember, but the same thing occurred with the guitar varieties, and there wasn't a whole lot of gnashing of teeth over that. (Or perhaps there was, but without the interenet to broadcast it.)
 
I don't mind them. I prefer the traditional style, but I find the different ones interesting. On the other hand, I couldn't see myself playing a "spin-off" type.
 
You could even argue that classic or traditional would be a reentrant soprano....

I agree with everyone, other types of ukes are still ukes, and only bring more color, options and playing experience to our music.

Ukuleles do not have a hard time at all. In fact they are becoming as popular as guitar.

You want to find an instrument that has a hard time staying alive, try classical guitar...

I for one enjoy the various experiences with my ukes from a sopranino, through standard sopranos, tenors, baritone, bass and yes even electric steel string.... It's a whole rainbow of possibilities and experiences...

By the same token I also play from classical, 1920's, jazz, instrumentals, current songs... Not just traditional ukulele music....
 
The Ubass has been a great addition to our jams. And it doesn't matter what type of uke people bring (travel ukes, resonators, dolphins, even baritones, ha, ha) as long as they join in and enjoy our great ukulele community. All are welcome.

BTW, I'm playing a Canadian-made, non-koa, tenor, ukaferri. Very non-traditional but just a wonderful instrument by Luis Feu de Mesquita (a very talented Spanish luthier).
 
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In Australia, atleast in my region, a lot of people won't even know that there's a bigger size than soprano ukuleles. Many people thought I was playing a guitar when I brought out my tenor ukulele to perform with.

Anyway, enough with my random story: I personally think that these spin offs don't really do any harm, if anything, it's a good thing since, like the Ubass, it helps people with a disability relating to having to extend their fingers or something for example. Besides, if you mention a guitarlele to most people, they will question what that is.
 
Actually, a ubass is no more a ukulele than a guitalele is a ukulele. One is a uke size bass, the other a uke size guitar, etc.
 
I'm all for the different varieties of ukes. And if uke purists want to call them something other than a uke, that's ok too. I'm still gonna get the ones I like and play them. :)
 
I am all for the unusual, different, etc. ukes. I've even built a couple different varieties. From a small travel uke I keep in my motorcycle saddlebag to Brad Donaldson's Youthalele to a uke I made out of crap I had laying around the house to teach kids they can build instruments out of household materials. I say, Bring 'em on!

Dan
 
It seems anything with 4 strings is u-something.

Were tenor guitars around before ukes? I'd guess so.
 
The ukulele was a spinoff from a Machete.

I don't think the UBass is truly a ukulele, but it makes a big difference in ukulele jams to have a bass. Since the jams often have a (in my opinion) silly rule that only ukes can participate, if the fiction that a UBass is a ukulele allows a bass then its great. The UBass is a genuine innovation to the Bass family of instruments and is popular beyond ukulele players for good reason.

The history of musical instruments is the history of all kinds of spinoffs and modifications.
 
I don't want people to take the uke more seriously...
...If they did, I'd have to play the damn thing much better than I do! :eek:
 
It doesn't bother me either, and I like the differences and adaptations. That's how we progress and grow, trying different things. I don't think I would pay to see a band play where the drummer was playing a log with a leg bone...well, maybe I would at that.
 
Doesn't bother me, but personally I have no interest in playing anything other than my soprano and concert ukes. Although as a one-time long-ago failed bass player wannabe, I've been somewhat intrigued by the U-bass... but I'm not going to let myself go there! I'd rather just get as proficient as I can on the ukes I already own. Hopefully some day my playing will be enough on its own to convince people that the ukulele is a serious instrument.
 
Hello everyone, just wondering if Im the only one who doesn't like the spin offs of the ukulele. I personally think the ukulele has a hard enough time of being taken seriously and I think the ukulele basses, guitars, etc make it worse. Does anyone else think that? I just think the ukulele is already unique enough that it doesn't need all these things. I don't mean this to be offensive to the company's or people that own them just saying what I think and wondering if anyone agrees

Play what you like, let other people play what they like. Why do you care if the ukulele is taken seriously? And how do ukulele-style basses, guitars, etc. affect how seriously it is taken, anyway?

Music should be enjoyed, whether you play a uke, a uke-shaped object, or bang on pots and pans. If it's so important to you that the uke be taken seriously, make great music on it and stop worrying about what other people are doing.
 
I love the traditional ukulele ... but then I enjoy all the rest too. When I'm looking for a new instrument (guitar or ukulele) I usually have a tonality or size/wood combo in mind to diversify my collection. I'm not hardover on it having to be a vintage or traditional or classic or ... "old" design.
 
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