I can see the desire for more than one

[tluxtele]

I’m like everyone else… the eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear enough of hearing… but I try to live simply. That doesn’t mean I don’t like nice things, I just try to be wise and have few of them. I see the thread of “How many ukuleles do you have?” and most of the time I just don’t understand. I’m not someone who judges others and says you should only have what you need. Bless you for having the funds and enjoying yourself. But personally I’m thinking, I could never play them all. It would feel like a waste.

A few weeks ago I was able to pick up a Kala KA-SMHT-SC for a great price (to me). Plays great… sounds great… I’m good… don’t need anymore.

Except… I don’t know… maybe… I would like to have a low G uke. I like the Tenor size and I saw on here where someone took the middle four stings of a classical set of strings and turned their tenor into a baritone. That could be fun. And even though I think they’re goofy, a guilele could be fun. Could a guilele scratch both the guilele and low G string itches?

But then I took some college students on a retreat this weekend. I took my uke. It was great. But there were so many times I could see it getting ruined… dropped on the concrete, etc. Well, I guess I need a travel uke as well.

I’m going to fight the urge for a second one for a while (my wallet will help me out quite a bit with this) but I can see how it’s so easy to have more than one. I’ve already talked myself into three to four more.

 

[UkerDanno]

Just put a low G string on it! Fremont soloist is an easy option (it's a wound string) or, just get a set of Living Water low G strings. Enjoy!

 

[wqking]

Ask yourself, can you split your time on several Ukulele?
For me, the answer is no. A single Low G Ukulele already makes me practicing endless and still need much more time to be good enough. I can't share my love/time on another Ukulele.
Also since you talked about Low G. Though the Low G string is only one octave lower than High G, the music style can be quite different, and it will cost you much time to practice. Just FYI.

 

[tluxtele]

Just put a low G string on it! Fremont soloist is an easy option (it's a wound string) or, just get a set of Living Water low G strings. Enjoy!

Ask yourself, can you split your time on several Ukulele?
For me, the answer is no. A single Low G Ukulele already makes me practicing endless and still need much more time to be good enough. I can't share my love/time on another Ukulele.
Also since you talked about Low G. Though the Low G string is only one octave lower than High G, the music style can be quite different, and it will cost you much time to practice. Just FYI.

Yeah, I want the low G, but I'm not focused on it right now. The main reason I want one is I've played guitar for over 30 years and sometimes I just want to throw the uke against the wall with the high G. It would be so much easier to transfer my skills over if it were set up correctly (sarcasm if you can't tell). I'm forcing myself not to so that I have to learn new things and not just overlay guitar on a uke. But someday I will have one

 

[wqking]

Yeah, I want the low G, but I'm not focused on it right now. The main reason I want one is I've played guitar for over 30 years and sometimes I just want to throw the uke against the wall with the high G. It would be so much easier to transfer my skills over if it were set up correctly (sarcasm if you can't tell). I'm forcing myself not to so that I have to learn new things and not just overlay guitar on a uke. But someday I will have one

Nothing wrong to stick with Low G and transfer your Guitar skills there. There are many people do so -- they play Guitar before, then they play Low G, and arrange Guitar music for Ukulele.
If you only want to experiment Low G, just replace the 4th string on your current Ukulele and try. Strings are much cheaper than Ukulele.

 

[mikelz777]

I'm currently at 6 ukes, down from my high of 7 which is still a fairly modest number compared to many people here. Early on, even after gaining playing experience I never thought I'd ever get to this point. I do play all 6 but it does take a bit of concerted effort to get around to them all. I could be perfectly happy playing a certain uke for months on end but then I have to tell myself that I should switch to one of my other ukes to spread the play time out a bit. After switching, it's almost like getting a new uke as I "rediscover" what I like/love about that uke. At one point I had multiple ukes so I decided to try a low G on one of them. I found that the low G uke rarely got played and was going to waste. I was a high G guy so I switched it back and it got more play. Even though I have 6 I'm still seriously tempted to get more. In the last 6 months alone I've nearly rationalized myself into getting 4 different ukes. I've had to employ the opposite strategy of the original poster. Instead of finding reasons why I could get another uke, I find reasons why I don't need another uke. Time is a good strategy too. I force myself to wait at least a month before making a buying decision. In most cases, the thrill of the hunt dissipates and I find I can't really justify getting it. I won't say I'll never buy another uke but I'm getting better at resisting the temptation.

 

[rustydusty]

I have only one uke that I regularly play, (Clearwater roundback baritone) that was an upgrade from my Caramel baritone, plus a vintage baritone that my sister gave me. I occasionally pick up my sons Aklot concert uke to play around with re-entrant tuning but find it difficult to get my fat fingers around. Now I am seriously looking at tenor ukuleles. I will probably ask Santa (my wife) for one for Christmas. I've narrowed it down to 4 in about the same price range, so I totally see the desire to get more. The only reason I keep the other two baritones around is in hopes that one of my boys might get interested in playing them...

 

[clear]

Having only 1 uke is convenient: when you want to play, you just pick it up. No wasting time deciding

I have a few ukes, but I only play 1 and only keep that 1 uke out.

Coming from a guitar background, I find that it's too easy to buy too many ukes. They are so small and cute and much cheaper compared to a guitar. Before I knew it, I was knee-deep in ukes. It's fun, but it also a distraction.

 

[Rllink]

Two his enough for me. One as my regular player and a spare just in case. I have three though. I loaned one out earlier this summer and I haven't heard from it or seen it since. It's okay, I still have two.

I can not fathom being so into ukes that I would have fifty or sixty of them, or even more, but if others want that many that's great for them. But I would think there comes a point where it isn't about playing them all, it is about having them all. I really don't have room for more than what I have.

 

[necessaryrooster]

I'm currently at 6 ukes, down from my high of 7 which is still a fairly modest number compared to many people here. Early on, even after gaining playing experience I never thought I'd ever get to this point. I do play all 6 but it does take a bit of concerted effort to get around to them all. I could be perfectly happy playing a certain uke for months on end but then I have to tell myself that I should switch to one of my other ukes to spread the play time out a bit. After switching, it's almost like getting a new uke as I "rediscover" what I like/love about that uke. At one point I had multiple ukes so I decided to try a low G on one of them. I found that the low G uke rarely got played and was going to waste. I was a high G guy so I switched it back and it got more play. Even though I have 6 I'm still seriously tempted to get more. In the last 6 months alone I've nearly rationalized myself into getting 4 different ukes. I've had to employ the opposite strategy of the original poster. Instead of finding reasons why I could get another uke, I find reasons why I don't need another uke. Time is a good strategy too. I force myself to wait at least a month before making a buying decision. In most cases, the thrill of the hunt dissipates and I find I can't really justify getting it. I won't say I'll never buy another uke but I'm getting better at resisting the temptation.

Another method for resisting UAS I've found -- when I hear a demo that I really really like the sound of, I have to ask myself. Do I really like the uke, or do I just like that song/riff? So I make myself learn the song first, so I can hear "oh, this song sounds just as good on the uke I currently own." It also helps when it takes me months to learn how to play something; like you were saying the thrill has dissipated by then.

 

[Nickie]

I only want 2 perfect ukes! One high g and one low G, that's all!

 

[kerneltime]

Every time I see a thread like this.. I think of a hypothetical situation where someone for the first time tastes ice cream and decides that one should be happy with just vanilla after all it is the most popular and is made of milk like most others and is frozen and sweet.. then tastes another and says that’s it I am all set, never need to taste another.. ears are sense organs just like the tastebuds.

 

[Arik]

Every time I see a thread like this.. I think of a hypothetical situation where someone for the first time tastes ice cream and decides that one should be happy with just vanilla after all it is the most popular and is made of milk like most others and is frozen and sweet.. then tastes another and says that’s it I am all set, never need to taste another.. ears are sense organs just like the tastebuds.

Love the analogy. The challenge is ending up with 21 flavors at home...

 

[kerneltime]

Love the analogy. The challenge is ending up with 21 flavors at home...

Same say challenge, some say privilege.. there are others who will relieve a person of such challenges ;-)

 

[mjh42]

4's the magic number for me. Any more and it would be hard to get around to playing them all. I get the one for low and one for high G and that's enough. If I were to buy another uke I might have to get rid of one that I already have and I'm not ready to let anyone of them go right now. I suppose if I found an old relic in a second hand/antique shop for the right price it might get rescued. I have other hobbies with equipment and space needs to clutter up the household and garage. I'm happy to play music when and where I can but I'll keep my uke collection modest.

 

[Joyful Uke]

To see if this analogy works, could you please tell us how many different types of ice cream you have in your refrigerator right now?

None for me, but back when I ate ice cream, we’d go to a ice cream shop, try various samples, & then try various kinds when we made our choices. I love vanilla ice cream, but enjoyed trying others.

And, yes, I have more than one ukulele.

 

[kerneltime]

To see if this analogy works, could you please tell us how many different types of ice cream you have in your refrigerator right now?

I have gained 20 pounds during covid..

 

[emba]

Before you buy a second uke, it would probably be good to do as others have suggested and just try stringing the one you have low G. You may or may not like it as much as you think. I thought I’d like low G better, but it turns out I prefer high G. I still own a second uke that I keep tuned too low G because for the things I want to do, I need it once in awhile, but if I had to choose and only have one, I’d choose high G hands down.

 

[emba]

For myself, i think hanging out on the boards stokes the fire of UAS. If I just sat at home and played what I’ve got and used books and not the Internet, I wouldn’t see nearly so many ukes I want to try. but on the other hand, I’ve learned a lot here. Just once in awhile I have to step back and be content with what I have.

 

[rafter]

I have gained 20 pounds during covid..

This is hilarious. But ice cream collecting is definitely an easier hobby than uke collecting. And ice cream tasting is easier still. I wish I could subscribe to some sort of uke library or uke of the month club where we get to try/sample ukes and then buy what we like. Like Netflix back in medieval times when they were just a dvd by mail service.