anti-UAS; your recent sales

I just sold off the last of my "extra" ukuleles today, i.e. ukuleles that I just don't play. Hopefully these ukes will find better use than sitting inside their boxes at my house.

In total, I got rid of:

D'Angelico Bayside Spalted Mango Concert: This was my first ukulele and the reason I joined this forum (had some issue with the uke). This one was sold to a dad who wants to learn how to play; he came with his 7yr son.

Kala KA-S: This was my second ukulele because I had own this ukulele 5 years ago (and I bought it while sorting out the issues with the D'Angelico). This sold to an early teen girl who's paying with her own money; she came with her mom and younger brother.

Kala KA-ACP-CTG: This was my third ukulele. I was looking for something nicer, mainly a solid-top; and I came across this ukulele (And this review https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?105526 ) I thought I could live with this ukulele forever; but guess not. This one sold to a guitar player in his 20s who lives near a shooting range.

Kala KA-FMCG: This was my 5th ukulele. I didn't really cared to buy it except that I saw the KALAMAY 20% off coupon here... and just had to buy something. This one sold to a 20-something women who wants to learn how to play. She works at, of all places, Intel. She doesn't know who Mr. Clean is; things sure have changed. Do you know "back to basics"?

Kala KA-ASCP-C. This was my 6th ukulele. Again, no reason to buy it except I thought it was such a good deal and might help me get used to taking care of an all-solid instrument. This was sold to an older man who used to play guitar but gave up; and now he wants something easier to learn with his wife.

I must say, the market for cheaper ukuleles is hot right now. 2 of the ukuleles sold within the same day; the longest was the Kala KA-S, which took a week to sell.

Now, I'm down to just 2 ukuleles.

Am I happy with 2? Yes, but I should buy more so I can post in this awesome thread https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?77092, just kidding.

But I am planning to buy more; I just haven't decided which one to buy (I have 2 picked out, now sure which one... maybe both?)


There are so many NUD threads the past few days.
This is my anti-UAS contribution to bring balance to the force.

What's your contribution? : )

Sold
Kanilea Pineapple Tenor
Ken Timms 12 fret cuban
vintage Martin 3m 1920s
Waldman Cello Banjo

Upcoming
Hive Redwood
Cocobolo tenor
Tinguitar super tenor
Martin Centennial 1M
Les Stansell Baritone

Nah! All mine are keepers.... :music::cheers:

I haven’t sold anything recently but over the years I’ve sold a Brunswick Soprano, a Kala long neck Soprano, a Kala Exotic Mahogany Soprano, a Bruko Soprano, a Lanikai Pineapple and a Makala Concert. More on the Bruko below but otherwise all the rest were good Ukes (after a good set-up and suitable strings) that I could have happily played for many more years. I’ve also gifted a Makala Soprano, several Makala Dolphins and a Mahalo Soprano, all played well enough after some tlc. The Bruko was sold too soon after purchase, I didn’t immediately take to its characteristic sound and should have been both more patient and more open to trying alternative strings on it. If another Bruko crosses my path at the right time and for the right money then I will buy it and make a fresh judgement. Somewhere in that mix there was an Ashbury Tenor too, I found it to be too big for my hands. I lent it to someone who trashed the case and disappeared to another part of the country, before they went it was handed over to a music shop who sold it on commission and never paid me ... it’s sometimes quite surprising how unreliable people are.

As for keepers, well perhaps strangely I’ve retained two basic Kala Sopranos (KA-S and KA-P). I might have struck real lucky but after a good set-up, bone saddle and nut, and Martin M600 Strings they sound and play better than anything else that I own or have owned (the dearest Uke I own is at least three times the cost of one of those Kalas, solid wood and looks real nice too but it don’t play as good).

Is that UDS ( ukulele disposession syndrome)? In the past month or 3 I've sold a kala SSTU and HPL enya, and given away a cheap kmise. Before that a waterman, flea and outdoor.

I plan to sell some - someday. It's either that or add a Ukulele Room to the house. I'm trying to decide which ones I can bear to part with. I bought four in the past ten days. I've lost control again.

Over the years I've sold:

Islander concert, MC-4 (returned to seller)
Mainland concert, CMM-C
Ohana tenor, TK-38
Martin soprano, OXK
Eastman concert, EU3C

Can I remember them all? Somewhat sequentially:

Kala KA-8 tenor
Ohana Vita (wish I had it back)
G-String soprano (ditto)
Ohana TK-70
Eddy Finn concert
Magic Flea soprano flea
Magic Flea Concert Fluke (both with plastic fretboards; own two MFCs with wood fretboards that are going nowhere!)
Pete Howlett tenor (argh)
Lanakai baritone
Enya Nova U (sold very cheaply to a niece who’s learning)

Maybe others.

I can’t play tenor or bari scales. Nerve damage and scar tissue in ring and pinky fingers, left hand. Lord knows I tried. And paid.

Can’t rule out selling some in the stable, but I like ‘em all and each one serves a slightly different purpose.

(also, the forum again is truncating my signature and I don’t care anymore)

Aided by a distinct lack of cash I've tried to always buy ukuleles which only really fill a need, so I've not sold many. The Kala Pocket Uke I bought was in a sale, so after deciding that it wasn't for me I didn't lose too much when it went to someone who was, it turned out, absolutely thrilled to find one. Can't ask for much more than to find an appreciative new owner for a neglected instrument. Likewise, the Moselele "Bambookulele" I sold was a budget instrument bought specifically so I could take the time to try a tenor at my leisure (which showed me that I find tenors uncomfortable and hard to play): that one went to a buyer who had joined the Moselele group that had initially commissioned and sold the instruments, and he was over the moon to be able to take it home, as it were.

The only difficult sale for me was a Mele mahogany concert uke, originally bought for me as a gift. I don't like selling gifts on, and it was a hugely generous gift at that, but eventually I had to conclude that the extremely narrow nut made it very difficult for me to play it. Lovely sound, slightly shabby build quality, but in all a delightful instrument that I couldn't get on with.

I loaned my Ohana spruce top soprano to a lady back in January and just never caught up with her to get it back. Last month she asked me if I might sell it to her. We settled on a price and she sent me a check. That gets me down to one really nice uke, a broken and repaired uke, and a cheapie that was my first.

Over the years I've sold:

-Lanikai LU-21C I regret selling this one. The set-up guy at a local music store cast some sort of magic over it and it played like the breeze and may have had the best feel of any uke I've owned. I sold it out of a sense of guilt over a growing collection of ukes which was stupid. I own more now than I did then and I didn't get much for it.

- Pono acacia tenor I never bonded with it. It was an expensive lesson to learn that I was a concert guy.

- Kala ziricote It was no fault of the uke, I was dazzled by the awesome wood grain but I didn't bond with it enough and it didn't distinguish itself enough from my others to want to keep it.

- Romero Creations I may have kept this one but for where the head met the top of the neck. The tuning heads were very close to the nut so my thumb would hit them with my normal style of play. I could have adapted to that but what really bugged me was a "knob" on the back of the neck where the head met the neck. It was right where I would put my thumb in the first position and I hated it.

Oddly, right now my UAS is itching for a cheapie uke, one that is even cheaper than my starter uke was! Despite being cheap it's kind of a looker. I think I'm willing to take a gamble on it because if it turns out to be a bust, it wasn't much of an investment. It's cheap enough that if it needed modifications, I'd be willing to take a stab at them myself rather than taking it to a tech to be fixed.

I just looked, and I've sold 36 in the past two years.

Jerryc41 said:

I just looked, and I've sold 36 n the past two years.

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That's more than some luthiers!

Jerryc41 said:

I just looked, and I've sold 36 n the past two years.

Click to expand...

Just curious, with the new influx, what is the current collection?

badhabits said:

Is that UDS ( ukulele disposession syndrome)? In the past month or 3 I've sold a kala SSTU and HPL enya, and given away a cheap kmise. Before that a waterman, flea and outdoor.

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Ah, UDS. When you have too many unwanted ukuleles that they become an annoyance. Hopefully, I'll be more careful with my UAS so that I don't develop UDS too frequently.

Jerryc41 said:

I just looked, and I've sold 36 n the past two years.

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I'm impressed with your record keeping !

So, which database are you using to track your ukuleles? Oracle or DB2? I just don't think other DBs are up to the challenge

EDW said:

Just curious, with the new influx, what is the current collection?

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It looks like it's 82.

Ah! I noticed something from spending on this forum than playing my ukulele.

"Recent" seems to have different meanings when used to describe selling and buying for many here: "recent" is measured in "years" when used in a selling context and "days" when used in the buying context.

As in, I recently sold a ukulele just 2 years ago. vs
I just recently bought a ukulele 3 days ago.

Anyway, I'd better get back to my ukulele shopping like the rest of you : )

hendulele said:

(also, the forum again is truncating my signature and I don

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I'm starting to think that the forum software has developed a sense of humour.