How do you rotate your Ukes?

[StumptownUke]

Hi All,

As my UAS runs wild I am wondering how everyone rotates playing and storing instruments? Just pick a new one each day or is there a method to this madness? Do you keep them cased and humidified when not playing or leave them lying around all over the house so you're never more than an arms reach away?

[merlin666]

I keep them all in cases or bags and solid wood ones get humidified in winter. They all have different uses and I don't have a system just use the one that is right for the song or circumstance.

[Arcy]

I mostly play 'em straight, though I'd love to get a ZZ Top strap....

leave them lying around all over the house so you're never more than an arms reach away?

This is my theory and excuse for buying too many. I have a couple by the bed, several in my studio / home office, a few in the living room, one in the garage, one in the car, one in my work office (the last three currently empty spots). In practice, I have a couple of favourites and go get the ones I want if I'm going to do more than twiddle. Right now I have more instruments than I have hooks, so several are in cases ready to go out to the next jam. They may be wondering if I've forgotten them!

I don't do anything extravagant humidity-wise. I have hygrometers by the most at-risk ones just in case, and they show moderate humidity year round. I have hard cases for the more interesting ones, but even so my collection isn't high end - my best ones are one solid wood, a couple of solid tops, and carbon fiber. They all have cases if needed, but I'd rather have them at hand to play.

[clear]

I have 1 uke that's on the wall hanger that I play. My others are cased and don't get much playing time. So, no rotation for me.

[mikelz777]

I have 6 ukes - 5 all-solid wood and 1 solid top with laminate back/sides. I keep them all in hard cases with humidifiers unless I'm playing them which is the only time they leave their cases. For a while I would play a uke for a week then switch it up with another with the new week. Now I don't have a specific structure. I'll play one for a couple of weeks then I'll switch it for one of the others I haven't played in a while. If I'm playing in my easy chair, I favor my thin-body uke and my long neck soprano because they are easier and more comfortable to play since they are thinner/smaller.

[Jan D]

I usually choose the uke that is best suited to the music I’m in the mood to play. Low G fingerstyle, re-entrant fingerstyle, strum and sing, etc.

[Kenn2018]

I have a number of tenors. Right now, they are almost all in their hard cases. I don't worry about keeping a couple out on floor stands or on a wall hanger. Because I use room evaporative humidifiers. Which keep the rooms at 45 percent RH. Plus or minus 3 percent.

Rotation. I try to play every uke regularly, but I have discovered there are 4 that I don't play much any more.

I have some favorites that I play more often than others. And there are a few that I only play if I want a certain sound or feeling. About half are re-entrant the other half are Low-G. So that influences what I'm going to choose from. Or I may be working on an exercise in a book or a song and grab one that suits. Quite often I say to myself, "I haven't played that one in a while." So I'll take it out and play it. Just because it's there.

No set routine. No spreadsheet rotation schedule. Just how I feel and what tickles my fancy that day

[kissing]

Rather than having multiple ukuleles (and guitars) that do the same thing and "rotating" between them, I ensure that each serves a particular purpose that another instrument can't.

I have one in low-G, another in high-G... one in baritone tuning and another that is a solid body electric, etc.

[UkingViking]

I dont rotate.
I pick the ukulele that I believe sound right for a particular song. That does mean that some ukes dont get as much playtime as others. I just sold one uke, I am down to 6 now. I could sell a few more if not for sentimental reasons, and still have ukes to cover the sound spectrum I need.

Edit:
I have two low G tenors, one with a piano like sustain to my ears, one with a sustain almost like a voice.
Usable for different songs.
I have a number of high G concert ukuleles, with varying degree of mellowness vs. bark. My go to uke is the loud one with both warmth and bark, my Cocobolo, but some songs call for a classic uke sound from my long neck soprano.

[ripock]

I let guilt be my guide. I normally play my favorite instrument. Every so often, I feel I have to play my re-entrant uke although it can only play half as many scales. So I play it for about a week until I feel I have justified having it and until I get sick of playing just three strings.