I couldn't wait any longer so I bought a . .

Gramalele

Gramalele

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. . .Hilo soprano at Guitar Center. It was the only soprano they had and I know it's not the best quality but I couldn't wait any longer to get something! There's a limit to how many times I can watch Aldrine's lessons without having a ukulele in hand.

It took me a while to figure out the tuning but after I stole Guitar Player Son's electronic tuner it was a breeze. But the dang thing won't stay in tune so it's strum-strum-tune-strum-tune-strum-strum-strum-tune. LOL!

Now trying to learn chords. Figured out pretty quick the half inch finger nails had to go. Broke my heart to cut them all off. . .ah, the sacrifices we make for greatness. . .

I'm still thinking I want the Mainland Red Cedar soprano, or maybe the concert. Hoosierhiver is only four hours from us so we're considering a roadtrip.

MOOD: excited
 
Congrats! I did the exact same thing in May. I even bought a Hilo too. Its actually not terrible but the action is WAY high. I'm getting a new ukulele from Mainland for my birthday on the 28th of this month so I am SUPER excited. I'm guessing it'll be a mahogany soprano. I wish I could visit Mainland but I live on the East Coast. If you go take some cool pics so we can all sit here and be jealous. Happy strumming!
 
Congrats on the new uke! Learn what you can on it, but definitely don't lose sight of that Mainland on the horizon. There's a world of difference between an "okay" uke and a really good uke. Ask anyone here and they'll likely agree that a Mainland is a great buy.

I was tickled to see your user name! My YouTube account (no videos yet, sorry) is under the name "Grampalele"....mailman was already taken. Welcome to UU!
 
I did the same thing a couple of years ago and it worked out fine. If you get way into it, you're going to want something better. But what's the rush? Anyway, it's nice to have an extra beater uke around just in case....

As far as the tuning problems go, it's probably just the strings settling. This happens with all new strings. If you play a lot, it should be better in less than a week.
 
Hilo ukes aren't to bad in their price range, and if you put a set of Aquila Nylgut strings on them the sound is vastly improved. I have a fairly battered Hilo baritone that has been dropped at some point and has a pretty good sized dent in the lower bout, but I put a set of low g Aquila's on and it sounds and plays quite nice.
 
Gramalele said:
And my Mainland Red Cedar, the entree. . .Should I be thinking about dessert??????
Click to expand...

There is so much variety to Ukes that you must be careful that you don't end up ordering a sampler... haha! I have only been playing a little over a month and #2 is on the way!
 
Congrats on your first uke purchase! The Hilo will tide you over until your next uke purchase, at least. Once you can get a good sound out of the Hilo, a Mainland will be absolutely effortless to play. :D

Buying "dessert" ukes is always nice, until you're stuck thinking about what to have for breakfast tomorrow. ;)
 
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