Hi from Washington state

Aloha! After 12 years of waiting, I have finally purchased a real ukulele!

I had a $5 flea market Lancer uke (made in Japan) from my childhood. I didn't play it much at all.

I went to Oahu 12 years ago and wanted to buy a uke but didn't due to luggage constraints (I was getting married so had all this other stuff to pack). I kind of regretted not buying one had been waiting until the next time I went to Hawaii to get a ukulele and that time has happened!

Went to Oahu again last week for vacation and one of my main purchases was going to be a koa (preferably Hawaiian made) ukulele.

I didn't know about the various brands, except for a tiny bit of research. My price range was $200-300. I ended up with an all koa Gold Kelii long neck soprano. It was $499.

I've been practicing every day since I got back and I love it!

Side note: I took out my Lancer uke to see how it's been doing and I noticed that the neck is separating from the side andwhere the neck attaches to the body is cracked (part of the same separation). Can that easily be repaired? I haven't looked up how much this Lancer is worth. I don't think too much, even though it's made in Japan, but it's worth asking you knowledgeable folks.

Welcome aboard.

Great choice, a long neck soprano became my go to uke when I was learning.
(Re the Lancer, not heard of that make.)

Aloha and welcome to UU. Glad you joined us

Thanks! Playing the ukulele has been a blast so far in the 6 days I've had this real uke. I'm not new to fingering...I played the violin for about 14 years, the piano for a few and self taught the acoustic guitar a little bit...but I don't play any of those instruments anymore. This ukulele has reignited the desire to practice LOL. I have practiced anywhere from 30min to 2 hours a day since I got my Kelii uke on July 5th.

Still trying to learn the notes/chording differences between what I'm used to, and playing around with different songs/videos, but I'm loving it!

I'm also not new to forums, but I'll need to learn the acronyms of this UU forum: PO and NUD are two that I haven't figured out yet.

Purpleorchid said:

I'm also not new to forums, but I'll need to learn the acronyms of this UU forum: PO and NUD are two that I haven't figured out yet.

Click to expand...

LOL, I figured out the PO from another post...it's a shortform of my username!

Now to see if I can figure out NUD...I've seen it on the title of a couple threads, but I can't figure it out yet...."new ukulele d-something"? "new used d-something"?
UAS I already know from photography: Ukulele acquisition syndrome...but NUD is something I don't know yet. On to learning more from this forum!

Purpleorchid said:

LOL, I figured out the PO from another post...it's a shortform of my username!

Now to see if I can figure out NUD...I've seen it on the title of a couple threads, but I can't figure it out yet...."new ukulele d-something"? "new used d-something"?
UAS I already know from photography: Ukulele acquisition syndrome...but NUD is something I don't know yet. On to learning more from this forum!

Click to expand...

NUD = New Uke Day. PO can also mean "previous owner"; as in "PO changed the strings to fishing line and put stickers all over this beautiful Koa Uke!"

Someone else had the same 'problem'.

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?124801-acronyms-like-NUD&highlight=acronyms
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com...e-letters-mean-MGM-UAS-NUD&highlight=acronyms

And you may also find this useful.

https://www.internetslang.com/

Welcome to the UU Family!

if you're in Seattle, STRUM (Seattle's Totally-Relaxed Ukulele Musicians) meets at the Ballard Locks every Wed
from 6-8p, during the bright summer days through August. Then we generally return to the Kona Kitchen Restaurant
in the Maple Leaf area, about a mile south of Ngate Mall on the intersection of 85th and 5th NE.

please come and join us when you can.

also, please click on my Ukulele Boot Camp link in my signature for some free instructional info.

keep uke'in',

Wow, thanks Uncle Rod Higuchi! Unfortunately, getting over to Ballard from the eastside in time for 6pm on summer Wednesdays is not doable for me, but it sounds like fun!

I took a peek at your boot camp pdfs and they look awesome! I'll be trying them out tonight! Thanks!!!