House Ukuleles

Jerryc41

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Do you have any "House Ukuleles"? I mean ukes that you wouldn't want to bring to a jam or a uke fest for fear of getting them damaged. Every time I go to a uke fest, I hear a uke fall and hit the floor.

I have several pricey ukes in beautiful condition, and I have no fear playing them at home, but bringing them somewhere to play with a group is not on my list of things to do. I've never had any uke get damaged, inside or outside of the house, and I'd like to keep it that way.
 
Do you have any "House Ukuleles"? I mean ukes that you wouldn't want to bring to a jam or a uke fest for fear of getting them damaged. Every time I go to a uke fest, I hear a uke fall and hit the floor.

I have several pricey ukes in beautiful condition, and I have no fear playing them at home, but bringing them somewhere to play with a group is not on my list of things to do. I've never had any uke get damaged, inside or outside of the house, and I'd like to keep it that way.

No, but at the Antelope Valley Uke Fest last weekend I popped into a Uke Fun workshop for a peek and everyone was standing in a circle and Daniel Ward and
Heidi Swedberg were telling everyone to remove their straps and rotate their ukes around the circle on cue so that everyone got a chance to play everyone else's and I wondered about dropped ukes.
 
Er, all of them!
 
My only expensive one is carbon fiber, so I don’t have many worries on its account.

The only uke that hasn’t left the house since it’s arrival is the solid-body electric, just because it requires an amp and I haven’t gone anywhere it’d be appropriate. Everything else has been out visiting, and I’ve never had an issue. I do tend towards hard cases and stands so I always have somewhere safe when it’s not being actively played.

The only issue I’ve had with somebody else playing mine was dispelling my UAS by proving the weak spot was in my fingers and not in the uke. I knew this, but it wasn’t nice to prove it ;)
 
I have one that definitely won't be leaving the house, it's my 'best' & most expensive, has a great tone, & I really would not like anything to happen to it - my KoAloha Opio solid acacia long neck concert - but I'd be happy to take my Ohana solid mahogany long neck concert, if I knew it would be safe. ;)

Actually, I'd probably just take one of my concert ukes, truth be known - possibly my solid acacia Kala, if I wanted good tone. :)
 
Er, all of them!

Ditto!

I can't even imagine rotating ukes around a circle so that everyone gets to play everyone else's. Even if I had a dirt-cheap one, I'd be mighty pi**ed to get it back with somebody's careless fingernail scratches on it, let alone having dropped it.

bratsche
 
Yes, I have several.

The main one is my Kamaka HF-2 anniversary edition. I just can't bring myself to take it anywhere, even though I love playing it.
 
I rarely remove my autographed wall hanger, unless I expect to see a famous/semi famous uker who has a marker.
 
Right now I have a few that may leave the house but only to a private music lesson:
Graziano Selmer Concert
Koaloha KTM
Martin Style 2 Soprano
And probably a National Resonator Mahogany which I'm hoping to sell.
 
I believe that ukes are meant to play. The most expensive one I have is a custom made gypsy jazz that cost $780, I bring it to a park on Sundays to play with an acoustic group. I also have a strap on everyone of them. I actually dropped my Kala cedar top about a week after I got it, it hit the terrazzo floor on the edge of the upper bout and top of the head stock causing the glossy finish to crack a little, but I took it in stride and just say that makes it unique.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 11 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 35)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Ditto!

I can't even imagine rotating ukes around a circle so that everyone gets to play everyone else's. Even if I had a dirt-cheap one, I'd be mighty pi**ed to get it back with somebody's careless fingernail scratches on it, let alone having dropped it.

bratsche

I have on occasion allowed other people to play my instruments. Sometimes, they are extremely advanced and excellent players. Also, sometimes, I hear their fingernails scratching against or dragging across the soundboard when they strum or fingerpick. Makes me cringe every time.
 
I too have not taken my Kamaka Centennial anywhere, but I have happily taken each of the other ukuleles out many times, generally to be played by me or by my wife.

It’s one thing to let my kids play one of my instruments (they are all grown in their late 20’s and up), but the idea of passing any one of my ukes around in a circle to standing players of varying abilities does not sound like anything I’d be happy doing. Glad I wasn't at that uke festival.

The ukuleles I've purchased were bought to be played -- consequently scratches, dings, fret wear, an occasional bang or bump, etc. are signs of honest use that I don't mind. I didn't buy the instruments as investments (so they don't need to be kept in near-pristine condition), I bought them for the musical joy of playing them.
 
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One of the reasons that I started playing the ukulele was to share my music, so I take every opportunity to do that. I play a lot away from the safety of my home. I also like to put my best foot forward, so I quite often take my most expensive and what I consider my most beautiful and best sounding ukulele to do so. But also I don't have a lot of other options when it comes to what I take. I wouldn't have a problem letting someone else try it out if they asked, but I don't offer it up and I would draw the line at just passing it around a group to let everyone get an opportunity to play it.
 
I have bought one, the Donner, to be my take out ukuleles. The others are home bodies.
 
Nah. It’s al about context. I played bassoon for years. The priciest Moore Bettah is on par with a run of the mill “good” bassoon, so I’ve built up an ambivalence to how much an instrument costs.

That said, I still might leave my fictional Moore Bettah home just to keep it nice and shiny. But that’s more for a “cause it’s mine, MINE!!!” sort or reason. 😜
 
I would probably meet up with someone from UU to try one of my ukuleles but I draw the line on passing it around a circle, especially standing up.
 
I always bring my best instruments to a performance or session. Otherwise why bother to own something so good? Now for teaching I bust out the second or third string of instruments since students are often clumsy. Almost daily I see students banging instruments into music stands and one another. Even worse, between classes, they leave their instruments stored in their cars in the hot Hawaiian sun! They constantly drop their $1000 iPhones so material goods must come easy for them compared to when I was in college. I baby my gear since it takes so long to save the money to buy something good.
 
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I have a few tenors that are homebodies. I am willing to take most to my uke club meetings. For gigs and festivals I have a couple of ukes that are already nicked and dinged but play just fine and sound very nice.
 
I’m really surprised at all the replies, my most expensive ukuleles (Kinnard, Kamaka, etc) go with me to lessons, jams and festivals! I like sharing their wonderful sounds and playability with others. You can’t buy these things in local shops so how are folks ever supposed to get a chance to try them out. I had a wonderful experience at the Reno uke fest last year, I complimented a fellow uke player on her Moore Bettah uke. She left her friends, walked over, handed me the uke and walked back to her friends!! So for ten minutes I got to enjoy one of the best. To me they should be out for all to enjoy, even if your not that good like me.

,
 
So far, I haven't been brave enough to take my aNueNue Moonbird Tenor out of the house. I probably eventually will, because all of my instruments are meant to be played (and played hard), but for now it's like that new car of your dreams that you're terrified to get a scratch on it. It's going to happen and I'll get over it, but for now it's just for ME! :cool:

(Now that I think about it, there's probably a few micro scratches on it already, so I really should get it out and share it.)
 
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