What is your traveler?

Well.......I'm taking a trip to Belize in a couple of weeks. Where I'm going the humidity is always 100%. The room de-humidifier gets it down to about 80%. Being reluctant to see glue melt, I just bought a concert size Waterman. Much maligned in these parts. I figure to use it about once or twice a year, so didn't want to spend a bunch of $$$ for it. $55 seems about right. It arrived yesterday. I'm a low g tenor kind of guy so my first impression was sort of - neutral - not tremendously impressed - not disgusted either. I had a set of Fremont Blackline non wound low g strings that I put on it and I must say it now sounds a lot better than I expected. It should work fine for travel to tough climate destinations and if it gets wrecked (which I doubt) it was only $55! Sorry but I don't understand why all the hate for the Waterman. Just my $.02.
 
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deadpool said:
Well.......I'm taking a trip to Belize in a couple of weeks. Where I'm going the humidity is always 100%. The room de-humidifier gets it down to about 80%. Being reluctant to see glue melt, I just bought a concert size Waterman. Much maligned in these parts. I figure to use it about once or twice a year, so didn't want to spend a bunch of $$$ for it. $55 seems about right. It arrived yesterday. I'm a low g tenor kind of guy so my first impression was sort of - neutral - not tremendously impressed - not disgusted either. I had a set of Fremont Blackline non wound low g strings that I put on it and I must say it now sounds a lot better than I expected. It should work fine for travel to tough climate destinations and if it gets wrecked (which I doubt) it was only $55! Sorry but I don't understand why all the hate for the Waterman. Just my $.02.
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I have a Waterman concert. I haven't put new strings on it, but it's my (leave in the) car uke. About the hate, I'll say this: I went through about three of them before I found one that sounded okay. Also, I think the sopranos are worse and probably what most people are complaining about.
 
I have the Hricane tenor spalted maple travel uke. Outside of some initial sharp fret ends and nut, I'm pleased with it and I can play it around camp fires etc.
 
I have several 1950s and 1960s Japanese sopranos that I bought from a cool dealer on Reverb. They were all well under 100 dollars, super playable (all but one has good action, and that one is just a strummer), and just funky and fun. There are my travel ukes, and given that some in some of my travel I do pro bono mental health work and other "stuff", there are often opportunities to give one away (as I just did at the other side of "the border". So, I view these as travel ukes and ones I use to spread the love. I might pick up a a couple of Kimise sopranos for under $40 at some point for the same thing--easier to part with!
 
It looks like I'm the only one. I am not a ukulele guy; I am a guy with a ukulele, and I am a guy with a lot of interests in addition to the ukulele. If I were going to Belize, like Deadpool up above, I wouldn't take a ukulele. I would live in the moment in Belize. Who knows? I may never get another such experience. So I would soak it up. I would spend all my time doing and seeing new things. Plenty of time to play my ukulele when I get home.
 
I just got back from northern Baja. Some of my best moments where playing ukulele on the beach during sunset. It did not detract from it, but made it more powerful and enjoyable. I gave been to 40 countries and enjoy travel and adventure is an attitude-not dependent on what you bring with you, at least that is my experience.
 
The Flight TUS-35 that was my traveling ukulele in May has evolved into a Pono MC. I guess I'm not as paranoid about the traveling environment as I used to be.
 
Ukecaster said:
While I always thought a soprano is the best uke for travel due to its small size (dont want even smaller sized ukes YMMV), I find that my concert Flea is best for that: big sound & volume, concert scale for easier fingering, and I find it fits in most all soprano gig bags, which I can easily stash in my REI backpack when traveling, along with lots of other stuff too. I was surprised when I discovered the concert Flea would easily fit in my nice Kaces soprano gig bag. Even more so when I found it would fit in the slimmer/smaller Flight gig bag, which I almost dumped, since it seemed so flimsy. Glad I kept it, see how small it is next to the Kaces bag. Yeah, less cushioning, but Fleas dont need much protection.
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It’s always interesting to go back to the original post.

“What is your traveler” doesn’t ask what’s the best traveler but rather simply what do you use? The OP goes on to make some points as to why his current traveler ended up as being so but doesn’t say it’s the best choice but rather this is what I use and here’s how it met my needs.

It’s interesting to read the thread and to see how really wide a variety of Ukes are used as travellers. Pretty much anything can be a traveler, one man’s treasured Uke might even be someone else’s traveler. People’s circumstances and attitudes vary a lot.

I just say: take whatever you enjoy playing that will fit the space available, that’s not obviously fragile so is unlikely to get broken (and so leave you without something to play) and that you won’t mind too much loosing or damaging.

What’s my own Traveler? YMMV is certainly true; a worn but well sorted out old Mahalo U30 meets my very simple needs and I feel very comfortable with that choice for Travel use, so that’s what I take and my ‘better’ Ukes - none of which are worth much to anyone else - stay out of (potential) harms way at home.
 
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koaloha KCM-25 packed in a reunion blues continental, protected with a boveda. E442F1D5-E894-4168-BD9D-A404D869902C.jpg
 
I try my hardest to stay off of airplanes. I hate them. But, I love car travel, and will take one or two Ukes with me whenever I go. Often I only take one, anticipating buying a new one somewhere along the way on the trip. So, any size or style would do. But, when I travel on my motorcycle, I only take a soprano. I recently returned from a one week trip to Galveston, where I picked up a Kala Soprano. I bought a tough looking supposedly water resistant gig bag for it. That will be my motorcycle traveler for the time being. It will be Bungeed onto Badonka's sizable rear end. :oops:
 
Interesting re-threading. Mine are either the soprano or concert sizes of the Kala SSTU-(S/C). Delightfully 'skinny' and both with an enormous sound. Really well made and comfortable to play. I acquired the concert a few weeks before breaking my right collarbone. The thin body fit nicely under the sling before and after surgery. A great recovery uke for me. Finally, I've found that the soprano was fun to pass around at our first big group camping trip this summer.
 
I have my thinbody EVER PLAY LA621 LA6 21 soprano in the car at all times.pol_pl_EVER-PLAY-LA6-21-ukulele-sopranowe-9760_1.jpg
 
Funny how this subject never comes up on the piano forums.
:):):)
 
Depends on the trip. A concert Flea lives in my car and has traveled on 3 continents. A Clara and a Tiny Tenor have also been in rotation depending on the circumstances.
 
My new travel uke is on the way. I just ordered an Enya Nova carbon fiber tenor.
 
My Pono guilele travels with me in our motorhome. I miss my guitars, so this does the trick for me.
 
Anuenue Hawaiian dream series concert, cedar top/lam acacia top & sides - great for the beach, sounds lovely, budget line so I don’t worry so much about dings from young kids & boisterous dogs. I’m partial to wood instruments and keep mine in humidified cases, so this one is also my wall hanger. My current take anywhere, on the go, in the woods, on my back, pass it around Uke.
 
I love taking my KALA SSTU-t travel tenor both traveling and to school. The thin body is so easy to carry as I play while I walk around campus or to the park. I can slide it under my arm and trap it against my body if I need both hands for something. The sound is as thin as the body, but the round back really projects it. If someone is looking for me as I walk around my school, they stop and listen: The sound carries every where! I'm NOT going to take it out when it's raining, obviously, and I'm sure I'll probably make a $200 mistake and leave it out in the back yard someday... but it's held up well for the last three years despite the many miles and the dozens of my students who have hammered on it over this time...
 
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