UAS is in our DNA!! And skills has nothing to do with UAS!!

40+ club...wow! I move em in and out, comparing different ukes is alot of fun. Eventually would like to settle with 2 sops, 1 concert and both low amd high G tenors.

I've got my concert and my low g tenor, and those will likely stay the same. But I currently have five sopranos, and I like them all. Three seems like more than enough, so two may go. Two are definite keepers, but the other three are different enough from each other and the top two that it's really hard to want to part with them.
 
While I am sure females are not immune, there seems to be something about guys and acquiring stuff. You hear of people doing the same with saxophones, guitars, bikes, cars, etc, etc. I remember back in the day I noticed that often women would buy an album of a particular artist or perhaps a classical symphony and be happy to listen to it. Many guys seemed to not be satisfied until they had the complete collection of that artist, full set of symphonies or the full boxed sets. Maybe it is some kind of weird competitive game mentality that he who has the most stuff wins.

I often think that it is better to aim to buy with purpose, to have instruments that you will use regularly and not just collect things to have. After all, it is just stuff.

hmm I at least know one lady who has UAS.. and another who has a whole bunch of varying instruments.. so no I do not agree.
If we are catering to stereotypes, there are other women oriented stereotypes around shoes, jewelry etc that falls in the same bucket as UAS

To me, shoes, jewelry or clothes are a bit different. I am not saying that it only afflicts guys, but that in my experience I have known more guys who have this issue.

New shoes......now you're talkin' :D

Start taking tap dance classes or cake decorating classes. You will see women who are afflicted. I've taken both and I've seen it. By the way, I've been doing tap dance for four weeks now. It is not going very well. Maybe I need to see if some new tap shoes would help.;)
 
Last edited:
I'm on my 15th ukulele (+1 banjouke). Only two of them helped me improve my playing, and they're the ones I've kept. Improving my playing/sound is the only reason I'd buy another, unless mine got smashed or stolen (heaven forbid). I don't believe in collecting anything, except friends and a few nice plants.
 
Well I have only one UKE......but I do dream of having more.....I look at the market place every time I come here.....I read reviews of ukes'''''I watch video reviews.....I squirrel away money......check my paypal account balance......yes I will, maybe, not. of course buy another uke......it'll happen....maybe a resonator?????

Now my brother.....he has over 25 guitars now.....last 5 were a bit of a surprise dropping in his lap but he has them....and he is single no kids disposable income.....he plays pretty much weekly if not daily.......has a 3 bedroom town home with one bedroom for studio, one for storage, one for sleeping....some are older vintage guitars he bought years ago in pawn shops that now fetch a pretty good price.....a couple he put together from parts.....and everything in between......hey he seems pretty happy.....
 
"Play as many guitars as possible before you make your purchase" is good advice, but many of us don't have access to a decent selection of ukuleles, (or even any), & have to purchase them to try them. That's one of the things that fuels UAS.

Very true. I'd have gone through fewer instruments if I had been able to try them out before purchasing them. Watching videos helps, but it's not a substitute for playing an instrument. Even strictly buying used, which I think is the best approach from a financial perspective, is not easy to do if you're outside of North America and are looking for something a bit more specific (or even if you are not specific). I returned an instrument to a dealer, because it just wasn't sure about it and it had been too expensive to keep, but that's not an option that I would be comfortable overusing (and it's still hassle).

What I do think is a better approach is to stick to a small number of fundamentally decent (good intonation, suitable action) ukuleles and learning to play (on) them well before going on a shopping spree. I didn't follow that advice myself and I paid for it by taking losses on every instrument I sold. In retrospect, I think I tried to "get it right" at a point in my ukulele journey where I wasn't skilled enough to really be able to know what I wanted. I knew I wanted something and was willing to pay for it, but I didn't know what it was that I wanted. The exposure to, and experience with, various ukuleles did help me refine my preferences, but it was all a little uncoordinated and aimless, fueled by this forum and the hype that surrounds some brands/etc. Being able to play well also helps with comparing instruments and pinpointing more accurately what the new ukulele should have that the present one doesn't offer.

Controversially, I feel that UAS is sometimes compensation for impatience and still developing skill. (It was for me, at least.)
 
Last edited:
Very true. I'd have gone through fewer instruments if I had been able to try them out before purchasing them. Watching videos helps, but it's not a substitute for playing an instrument. Even strictly buying used, which I think is the best approach from a financial perspective, is not easy to do if you're outside of North America and are looking for something a bit more specific (or even if you are not specific). I returned an instrument to a dealer, because it just wasn't sure about it and it had been too expensive to keep, but that's not an option that I would be comfortable overusing (and it's still hassle).

What I do think is a better approach is to stick to a small number of fundamentally decent (good intonation, suitable action) ukuleles and learning to play (on) them well before going on a shopping spree. I didn't follow that advice myself and I paid for it by taking losses on every instrument I sold. In retrospect, I think I tried to "get it right" at a point in my ukulele journey where I wasn't skilled enough to really be able to know what I wanted. I knew I wanted something and was willing to pay for it, but I didn't know what it was that I wanted. The exposure to, and experience with, various ukuleles did help me refine my preferences, but it was all a little uncoordinated and aimless, fueled by this forum and the hype that surrounds some brands/etc. Being able to play well also helps with comparing instruments and pinpointing more accurately what the new ukulele should have that the present one doesn't offer.

Controversially, I feel that UAS is sometimes compensation for impatience and still developing skill.

So what is your current set composed of?
 
So what is your current set composed of?

Still more than I think I need! Three sopranos (1920s Washburn, Famous/Kiwaya FS-5G, koa Black Bear), a Stagg concert (my first proper ukulele), a ukuMele/KPK tenor, a Deering banjolele, and a Pono Pro Classic baritone (sold it, then bought it back from the buyer two years later, really regretted selling it). I had a custom tenor, a couple KoAlohas, a Kanile'a GL6, a lovely Moonbird and some others that I sold or gave away. A Blackbird Farallon that I returned, too.

Looking back, I should probably have stopped buying stuff for a year or two after I got the Stagg concert, ukuMele tenor and a ukuMele soprano (that got irreparably damaged when I sat down on it). And I should have bought a baritone sooner than I did, but I felt it wasn't really a ukulele. It turned out to be a great fit.
 
Top Bottom