Well, other than the obvious, they are both totally unnecessary, but can turn heads and ears quicker than most things on the planet.
This particular comparison occurred to me the other day in an entirely kinesthetic kind of way. I know how I respond to seeing a beautifully made uke that I don't own. It is almost a physical response; pretty moving. And that same reaction recently happened upon me as I pulled up to a stop light alongside an Abarth. I don't know if it was the body shape, the color, the exhaust note or what, but for about 30 seconds, I had to have one. Pretty much what I feel when I encounter just the right uke.
Fortunately for me, I am well versed in the dynamics of overcoming addictive impluses so, as in the case with any number of ukes that I have picked up, played and been able to move on, the lust for the Abarth lasted only through two more stop lights.
I have now returned to normalcy.
This is a great thread, and great analogy...
I used to experience that same kind of lust whenever I had seen certain cars.
First it was the Lamborghini Countach, next was the Bugatti Veyron, then later the Ferrari 308 & Testarossa, Aside from the obvious sticker shock, once I realized the investment in both time and cost for active maintenance to keep one of these cars alive as a daily driver, never mind the insurance payments, and the constant fear of it getting stolen or smashed by a shopping cart and ruining the beautiful paint job, I was quickly and easily weaned away from such lust.
After that I started looking into kit-cars that were look-alikes but built on either Chevy or Volkswagen chassis, and essentially something you could DIY any repairs since YOU in fact would BUILD the car.
When the Mini Cooper first came to the USA, I wanted one real bad, but like bborzell, learned somehow to overcome these impulses...
In the end, I ended up sticking with factory-made/retail Volkswagen for a while, and when my 12 yr old Jetta was about to crap out beyond the reasonable cost to repair vs resale value (3rd time clutch replacement & transmission problems), when my Grandparents finally decided they no longer needed a car (at 85 yrs old) I inherited a used 1999 Toyota Camry XLE (6-cyl) with every possible upgrade.
I am very happy with my now 15 yr old Toyota Camry, which I have now owned for 5 of it's 15 yrs, and it has had the lowest requirement for repairs of any car I have ever owned, and thus the least expensive to own, while also getting around 32 mpg.
The only time I needed the services of a mechanic was to get the water pump replaced, about 950 miles into a 1,300 mile trip, on it's MAIDEN voyage under my care, when it died just outside of Washington DC, just over the border into Maryland, when driving it home from Florida, north on I-95. That was in May 2009.
Since then, I've only had to put in a new battery, and new tires but that's it.
So
how does this all relate to the ukulele?
Well, while I might drool over the 'K' brands or a Moore Bettah, Pete Howlett or Mya Moe custom instrument, or even consider a vintage Martin or Gibson, I am actually very happy with KALA, Epiphone and Magic Fluke Company, which are kind of like the Volkswagen or Toyota level.
Were I to own one of these custom ukes, I'd be afraid to take it out of the house, afraid to play it too much for fear of scratching or dinging it up, and as such I would never be able to really appreciate it, much the same way with the fancy Italian race-come-street cars.
Some may consider this an artificial or self-imposed mental block, but...
Unfortunately, when you have nice things, and other folks around you are just careless, when those nice things inevitably and always get bashed up, they are expensive to repair or replace.
If my current stable of commodity-level instruments were damaged beyond a certain level, and I was unable to inexpensively hack my way with amateur attempts at lutherie to fix them, I'd just replace them with like and same, which can be done at reasonable cost.
I'd also really like to avoid the bother of building and maintaining a hermetically-sealed and humidified closet for a collection of all solid-bodied instruments, which is what I'd be compelled to do if I went that route...
Same applies if I were to somehow win a Bugatti Veyron (or similar) in a raffle, I'd sell it and then buy 2 identical Toyotas (one to drive, and one for parts (and learn to fix it myself) or to drive if ever the other was in the shop), and probably some kind of hybrid flavor too. I work with computers so I do not need a larger vehicle like a truck or van.
Were I to win a Lichty, Compass Rose, Mya Moe, or Kamaka, I'd probably sell it (after evaluating it for about a month or so) and then buy 3-4 Kala or Luna ukes in it's place, which I would play the shite out of for all they were worth...
But, I
do appreciate the fine curves of the Italian cars, and one day will evaluate maybe getting a Corvette (to buy American, of course, if in fact they are still even made in the USA), if the cost-of-ownership is not unreasonable to have it as a daily driver....(provided that also when the time comes I am not too fat to get in and out of the vehicle comfortably)
