Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome (UAS) - Is it real ?

Uh oh. Went to our uke group today and one of our members has a tenor Opio. I asked if I could try it, wandered into the other room and played it a bit. I've played lots of mid-range ukes and own one of the more expensive Pono offerings. This Opio reached right down into my soul and spoke to me. Beautifully voiced, clear resonant sound and plenty of volume. Sounds great picked and strummed. I really shouldn't do this right now, I really shouldn't...
 
robedney said:
Uh oh. Went to our uke group today and one of our members has a tenor Opio. I asked if I could try it, wandered into the other room and played it a bit. I've played lots of mid-range ukes and own one of the more expensive Pono offerings. This Opio reached right down into my soul and spoke to me. Beautifully voiced, clear resonant sound and plenty of volume. Sounds great picked and strummed. I really shouldn't do this right now, I really shouldn't...
Click to expand...

oh Rob if you can bond with a concert size I have an Opio that can sooth your craving and I'm local.
Gorgeous specimen with all the attributes you describe above and it's brand new. No shipping hassles for me = $100 off list price and it's brand new. Let me lead you into temptation. UAS is real. I have my eye on another.
 
ahoy

yes yes yes

started about six months ago
now have nine ukes

may sell my only concert
have become a hard core
soprano kind of guy

yours truly
mac
 
UAS is not real. I can quit any time I want too. In fact, I've already quit several times.
 
It's all too real.
Browsing the Marketplace is dangerous.
But I'm looking forward to the incoming ukulele. :)
 
Just got back from Kauai. Saw a ukulele from a local luthier (not Raymond Rapozo) at Scotty's. It played so nice and was really tempting and my wife gave me the okay. I decided to think about it. In the end I had to pass on it since I have a few nice ukuleles that I probably won't get rid of so it really wouldn't fill a need... just a want.

One thing I have found is that each uke has a little quirk that is not obvious when your brain is shouting buy, buy. Sometimes the weather/humidity is just right and the sounds are heavenly, but at other times it doesn't seem quite as magical. So, unless it is just so unique to what I already have, it will probably end up being just another variation.

John
 
I think I might be catching UAS.

I only have two at the moment - an entry level soprano and an very lovely super-soprano cocobolo that I got a few months ago. However, I'm now finding myself looking at banjo ukuleles... :D
 
I'm not sure what's wrong with UAS in any proportion. It's widely hailed that the ukulele is a happy instrument. UAS at its most innocent is just an attempt to increase that happiness!
 
I keep telling myself that ukuleles are a lot less expensive than my other hobbies. Whitewater rafts & gear, and sea kayaks & gear cost considerably more, and they sit in my garage all winter waiting for warmer weather to get used. My lovely little ukulele family warms my heart every day :D
 
Last edited:
Yes. UAS is real.

There is only one ukulele in my house so far, but I have already managed to get myself into a luthier's custom build queue. It is only natural to want a really nice instrument since I spend so much time playing with it. Right?? Now, will I be able to wait the long months required for my build to be finished before acquiring another? Only time will tell...
 
Buying a second uke after a longer period of playing the first one isn't really UAS. :) That's just a healthy form of upgrading! I think when you end up with five, ten or even more, bought within just a year or three, and you're still unfulfilled feeling and still looking for "the one", that is where things get a little challenging. Perhaps that is really what it comes down to: the level of satisfaction and happiness, and the reason why one looks for more ukes. When UAS plagued me, buying more ukes didn't make me happier, or play better, just more swamped and torn feeling.

If I could go back in time, I would skip the mid-tier upgrades and go straight for an expensive instrument, but financial limitations aside, preferences are shaped by experiences, so getting it right early on is difficult. It seems to work for me with banjos now (I only have one), but that is largely because of the lessons I learned from "collecting" ukuleles. I feel that the real cure for UAS, at least for some of us, is to become better players.

Matt did a UU Webcam Session on the topic recently. I don't agree with all of his points, but I do feel that focusing on one (ideally good) instrument helps with improving and, perhaps, happiness and satisfaction from making music.

 
FYI - UAS is alive and well in Texas! I recently posted a review on how nice the Alvarez Grateful Dead 50th anniversary Ukes are for the price. Then, I ordered another one to be delivered to the hotel at Disney World so I'd have a new Uke to play while on vacation, and to bring home as a souvenir, so to speak. (It turned out that Disney doesn't sell any Ukes in the park, despite what the online ads say.) Then I realized that I had two of the five commemorative models. "So," says my UAS infected brain, "why not go ahead and complete the collection?" Yesterday that nice brown truck arrived with the additional three Ukes. Boy do they look handsome all lined up on the music room table!

Now, what to do with five, almost identical, Concert Ukes? Lets see: Low G, High G, D tuning, Slack Key, and ......? What would you suggest for the fifth one? Gotta have something different!
 
itsmemattchung said:
A few other members who had visited (or reside in) Seattle suggested stopping by Dusty Strings, a local music shop that not only offers lessons but also specializes in selling (since 1982) string instruments: violins, harps, guitars, and ukuleles. So I decided, this past Saturday, to pay a visit since for the past 2 years I've been playing on my Kala 15-S, my first and only ukulele. Up until two days ago, I've never even fiddled with a different model—let alone touched another ukulele.

When I stepped foot into the shop—the top of entrance door has a faced-down acoustic guitar mounted at the top, the strings sing a beautiful chord as the door swings open–I turned right and walked towards over to the 40 (or so) ukuleles neatly mounted on the 10 foot wall.

As I approached the ukulele section of the store, I was immediately greeted by a friendly employee, who I explained to that I was searching for a second ukulele—nothing too fancy—that falls within my budget: $200.00 and $300.00. He then suggested that I simply just try a few out, handing me a Shark tuner to clip on to the end of whatever ukulele I planned on test driving.

I grabbed a tenor ukulele from off the shelf, sat myself down on a leather stool, and cradled the ukulele in my arms. I then coiled the fingers on my left hand, positioning them across all four strings and forming a C chord in it's first inversion. With the strings pressed against the fret, I strummed all four strings.

And now ... I understand ...

I get.

I spent the next 45 minutes playing around with all sorts of ukuleles. Some concert sized. Some tenor sized. Some laminate. Some all wood.

There's a massive difference (in feeling ... in sound) between a $50 ukulele and a $150. I understand the bigger difference between a $50 and a $300. Because in the end, I walked out with a $400 ukulele, my second ukulele that I've been unable to put down since Saturday.

It's real people. I caught it—ukulele acquisition syndrome—it's no joke.

And here it is, my very first (and only, so far) Pono AT[1] with a artful strap installed:

View attachment 103130

[1] https://www.theukulelesite.com/pono-at-acacia-tenor.html
Click to expand...

Might not be UAS. Could just be a hunger for a better sounding uke in a size that suits you better combined with a deep appreciation of the nuances of sound. If you truly had UAS, you could easily have walked out with 2 $200 ukes, which many with UAS would have done.
 
I entirely agree with his two main points: (1) That broadening one's experience by playing a variety of instruments is beneficial, and; (2) That for a beginner, it's very important to learn on a good instrument. Because, a poor instrument will hold you back. It's tricky, because a good player can make a crappy Uke sound pretty darn good, especially to a beginner. But, a poor instrument is harder to play, and can even lead a beginner to eventually give up.
 
Remember guys and girls all acquisition "syndroms" are basically bad.

I only spent about a total of 400 euros for the safety razors/soaps/brushes, but what I now use are just 2 ones. And I don't like the others being unused.

It was years ago and not as harmful as UAS you guys have at all though. Musical instruments can be so costly. And when you feel guilty, it must feel more bad too, not playing them I mean and them being just junk you don't need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

ailevin
Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome (UAS): The Course of the Disease
Replies
13
Views
500
efiscella
efiscella
E
Ukulele acquisition syndrome
Replies
15
Views
1K
Ed1
E
G
Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome - how many do you own?
2 3
Replies
49
Views
4K
UkingViking
UkingViking
vcs700s
Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome (U.A.S.)
Replies
1
Views
287
Croaky Keith
Croaky Keith
manfrog
Ukulele Acquisition Syndrome Visualized - Happy Holidays!
2
Replies
20
Views
1K
Maiden Uke
M
Top Bottom