UAS - Alive and well here!

VegasGeorge

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UAS is a progressive disease. I know. I've got it. I don't know how many times I've told myself, "I quit, that's it for me. No more Ukuleles". Then something happens. This time, I was looking at my lovely little Kala spruce and flamed Maple Soprano. Boy, is it ever pretty! I fondled it, gently strumed it, lavished in the rich sonority of that little gem. Then the dreaded thought crept into my head. This little Uke needs a big sister, wouldn't it look nice next to a Concert size in the same livery? I went online and soon discovered a couple of things. Yes, Kala still lists them, but the Sopranos are "sold out." Then I listened to a youtube video of Kala at last year's NAM show demonstrating that line. The fellow mentioned that they "still" had a Baritone. Hum .... There was no Baritone listed on the Kala site now. No Bari, Sop's out of stock, looks like maybe the line is being phased out. At least that's what my UAS brain told me. Quick like a bunny rabbit, I jumped over to Uke Republic where I had purchased my Soprano, and saw there were none there. A Google search revealed a few sellers with Concerts and Tenors, and only a couple of sellers with a Bari. Long story short, the Bari arrived today from an equipment seller who buys "distressed shipments," and resells to the public. Thankfully, it is in perfect condition, and sounds great! (I only paid $229.00 for it!!!) The Concert and Tenor, from Kala itself will arrive in a few days. The online sellers wanted almost as much as Kala, plus shipping, so buying direct was an easy choice. So now, my UAS is in remission. For how long? Who knows! Now, how to deal with the fact that I've run out of hanging space for Ukes. "Improvise" will be the word of the day!
 
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Sounds like a great score! How about some pictures...?


Scooter
 
I know from where you speak. In the last 5-6 weeks I bought 4 bass ukes/mini electric basses and a tenor uke. To me UAS is not an affliction, it's a romp.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 6 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 41)

• 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
 
So you started the family with a young soprano. Added the papa bearitone :p and the mother bear tenor and sister bear concert are enroute to complete the family. Brilliant, seems logical to me.

All kidding aside congratulations, you obviously loved the soprano in this model so adding the others is a no-brainer.
 
mjh42 - Loving Ukulele as I do, having a number of them is a real blessing. Basically, I try to play a different Uke each day. Sometimes, I switch mid-day, and get two in. I tend to play and sing the tunes that I think go with the particular Uke, rather than the other way around. Now, I have three Baritones. My new one will be kept strung and tuned like a normal Baritone. My Kamaka Bari is strung and tuned for C, regular Island Tuning. My Mainland Bari is strung and tuned in 8Vb Island Tuning. I've never played around with a normal Bari before. I'm finding it interesting. For example, tunes sound very different using Bari fingerings as opposed to putting the capo on the 5th fret, and using C tuning fingerings. The Bari fingerings keep the chords up in first positions on the fretboard, and, of course, the capoed fingerings have me playing much higher up. My new Kala Bari sounds SO sweet up there! The capoed Kala sounds better to me than the Kamaka with the C strings. Quite a surprise!
Dave - I really like the "family" concept. I already have the Kamaka Deluxe family, and the Mainland Red Cedar and Rosewood family. Now, I'll have the Kala Spruce and Flame Maple family too. What's next? I don't know yet, but I have been looking at Ohana. I know I'll be getting one of those Eucalyptus Concerts when next available. But an Ohana "family" would be a nice addition to my collection too.
 
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Wow, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone buying a whole fam of ukes all at once. Way to go!
 
OK, here is a shot of my Kala Family, and since my original post, I've also acquired a family of Ohana Spruce and Mahogany Pineapples.
Kala Family.jpg

Ohana Pineapple Family.jpg

Sorry about the orientation of the Kala pic. I couldn't figure out how to rotate it without it being cropped as a landscape photo, and losing the top and bottom of the picture. If anyone know how to rotate a portrait without that happening, please let me know.
 

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Quite the good-looking extended families. You seem to be having a lot of fun with them. All I can say is: enjoy!
 
OK, here is a shot of my Kala Family, and since my original post, I've also acquired a family of Ohana Spruce and Mahogany Pineapples.
View attachment 126042

View attachment 126043

Sorry about the orientation of the Kala pic. I couldn't figure out how to rotate it without it being cropped as a landscape photo, and losing the top and bottom of the picture. If anyone know how to rotate a portrait without that happening, please let me know.

That's a lot of kids you've got there! Hope they are all managing to get your attention!
 
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