Hawaii Vacation - Uke Carry on

Davoravo said:

Hi merlin66

When you say “old beat up” at bob’s does that mean secondhand? I also have a trip to Hawaii in my five year plan but I was planning by on buying from hms and have them set up and ship; I just wanna strum before I buy to make the optimal choice. But if the stores have second hand that opens up way more choices

Click to expand...

Yes it was a used uke, that was hanging in the corner of the store. It's about 40 years old, and the fretboard indicates some very serious playing, and it had some (well done) repairs. The mojo is appealing to me. Bob said that a young person brought it in a few days earlier, but he didn't say who the original owner was. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but may post it and see if anyone can recognize who played this. I assume it was some kind of Hula music master.

The Beachwalk store has a few very unique instruments that were custom made for the owner (Tyler Gilman) and may be for sale. This kind of stuff can not be ordered online. HMS seems to be great for ordering new models of the main brands, but if you want old ukes or Hawaiian luthier made ones, you have to hit the local stores ...

When I flight two months ago with a US flight, they allowed me in the carry-on bag the uke. So, you have to know each airline's policy rules. But, it's much better to buy a uke at the destination or travel by train. When I visited Germany, I traveled from the UK to Germany, and took my uke, because I intended to sell it to one of my friends. I was impressed by how easy it is to buy cheap train tickets and travel anywhere in Europe. No extra taxes for your bag. Thinking of moving there one day.

I want to reiterate that you don’t take sand to the beach. Buy something fun and enjoy it there and later at home. Have a great trip.

Old thread, but yeah, you can carry on depending on your airline’s rules.

For buying there, if you are going to Oahu where stores/stock are plentiful and you want something more high end, sure, don’t bring and buy there. But if you are going to another island the selection may not be that great. For example, Mele is on Maui, and IIRC those are start about 500 and up. There are just a few other shops on the island, I can think of 4 with a half decent selection not including the 3 Mele shops that basically only carry Mele and their lower end house brands (new shop in Paia is nice!). 3 of the other shops carry K brands, but stock was on the slim side- one, two or just a few of one brand. some shops don’t carry Ks at all, instead have house brands and other common brands found on the mainland (but not Mainland). In fact I think Islander and Kala (gasp!) were the most common brands among all shops I visited on Maui a couple of months back (not including Mele). I found one Pono, that is, one Pono ukulele!

On this last trip I took my outdoor, intending to buy something there, stuffing the outdoor in my suitcase for the return trip and carrying on the new one like I did once before... but never found anything. And I was still able to enjoy playing in the evenings and at the beach.

I've flown multiple times to Hawai'i from west coast (typically Sacramento to Kona or HNL or Hilo). I've flown Hawaiian Air and Alaska (no experience with SWA heading there--yet!). My personal item is always a backpack that stows under the seat in front of me; my ukulele have been tenors in both hardshell and Reunion Blues gig bags. I have not only been able to bring the cases/ukes on board on both airlines but, prior to boarding, I've requested to be allowed to board early (no disability) because I told them I needed to be certain my ukulele could be stowed away safely overhead before the full boarding began (I carry a Moore Bettah and explained to them it was a valuable instrument). Every time I've been allowed to board before the crowd. Every time. Additionally, here's a tip: Don't put the case over your own seat--put it in the overhead *across* from you. This allows you to keep an eye on it more easily as other folks board--and as soon as the compartment is "filled" (and you've watched it to make sure nothing is crushing it), close the compartment door!