$4k for a locally handmade uke is too high? Try pricing a new bicycle made anywhere in America.
Now if we could only guarantee a $4,000 ukulele sounded like one, I'd be tempted to spend the money.
Maybe try before you buy? That's the best guarantee of the sound you want.
You end up having to be a ukulele globe trotter in order to try a meaningful sample of the best instruments out there.. I wish there was a traveling show of customs that would come around occasionally !
You end up having to be a ukulele globe trotter in order to try a meaningful sample of the best instruments out there.. I wish there was a traveling show of customs that would come around occasionally !
You end up having to be a ukulele globe trotter in order to try a meaningful sample of the best instruments out there.. I wish there was a traveling show of customs that would come around occasionally !
It’s obviously not common, but I went to a Luthier expo in North Carolina earlier this year, and they had all of the ukes from Luthiers for a Cause on display. Visitors were able to handle the ukes and test them out for a while when it wasn’t too busy. I can tell you that there is definitely something different about those ukes. They just ooze elegance and perfection. I can honestly say that if I had the means, I wouldn’t hesitate for a second to pay $4,000 for any of them, and I would challenge anyone to say they were overpriced while holding one of those works of art in their hands. (Technically they aren’t for sale, but you get what I mean.) Not to hijack the thread, but if you’re not familiar with Luthiers for a Cause, look it up. It’s a really neat concept that I really buy into. Thankfully, these amazing Luthiers do as well.
I have a very simplistic way of looking at the value (that I put on an item) of anything....how long does it take me to earn the asking price?
I don't think this is an argument about whether or not they are affordable but whether or not they are really worth that much. And to take the discussion away from this maker who really doesn't seem to sell very much given all his whining and need for love - there are a couple of Kanile'a Platinum Pineapples on sale in the UK at the moment - utterly gorgeous instruments but £3,499! Really? What is that based on other than there will always be a few people dumb/lucky enough to buy one. The materials are not that expensive, they don't take particularly longer to make and they don't have solid gold tuners. Where does £3,499 come from? Or £4,000 in this case where the timber used is really not special and the inlay was all done by computer in a few minutes. Sure, ask that much if you can get away with it but don't pretend you are getting value for money or something extra special because you are not.
I don't think this is an argument about whether or not they are affordable but whether or not they are really worth that much. And to take the discussion away from this maker who really doesn't seem to sell very much given all his whining and need for love - there are a couple of Kanile'a Platinum Pineapples on sale in the UK at the moment - utterly gorgeous instruments but £3,499! Really? What is that based on other than there will always be a few people dumb/lucky enough to buy one. The materials are not that expensive, they don't take particularly longer to make and they don't have solid gold tuners. Where does £3,499 come from? Or £4,000 in this case where the timber used is really not special and the inlay was all done by computer in a few minutes. Sure, ask that much if you can get away with it but don't pretend you are getting value for money or something extra special because you are not.
Talking of value, is there value in prestige? Just throwing that out there. I prefer to go to a coffee shop down the street rather than the coffee nook in the corner of the convenience store up the street. The coffee costs a little more, but the place has character and the cliental seems a bit more refined. Some of my friends could care less and would just as soon save the quarter. There is a bit of prestige in owning a hand built ukulele. To the more pragmatic that might not be worth anything, but to some it is.