So Where are the Ukes?

So I read a thread like this, where we all have at least one or two nice ukuleles, usually more ... and wonder why we continue to go to music stores to look at still more. I just did it last week, stopping in to Willie's and strumming a few to just to hear how they sound, feel how they feel, and see how they look. I posted earlier in this thread what I experienced.

However, I have to ask myself WHY? I have two very nice ukuleles with a combined cost of around $6,500 (one from the factory tuned low G and the other high G). I did trades so I really recycled money I had already spent some years before for the most part, but that was their value at the time of the deals I did, and as verified on the makers' web sites. Why would I possibly be interested in yet more ukuleles? It is fun to look, to window shop. But being newly retired, I don't yet have a feel for how my monthly budget REALLY fits together. What if I encounter a ukulele that I just HAVE to have, despite having perfectly fine ukuleles already that more than serve my needs?

Luckily, I like what I have much better than what I experienced in the shop, but will that always be the case? Who knows. Been there, done that with guitars and finally settled down to two very fine instruments - one acoustic (McPherson 3.5XP) and the other a fine vintage archtop (1974 Gibson Johnny Smith). Do I REALLY need to do that with ukuleles? They are truly magical instruments (not just mine, but ukuleles in general) and certainly worth our attention, but how many is enough? In AA, they say that one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough. Is that also what UAS is about? It does seem a really slippery slope.

Just thinking out loud as I try to talk myself out of succumbing to UAS...

Tony

I don't *need* any more ukes. I can play and arrange for the uke pretty well, but I'm not a professional player. and even if I were a pro, I would probably find that at most 2 ukes would suffice, a low G tenor for fingerstyle and a high G concert. My favorite player, Herb Ohta Sr basically only plays a Martin soprano, either tuned to high or low G. Of all the ukes out there (including some excellent instruments that carry his name), he settled on one maker and one size, and that's all he plays. I assume Ohta-san has more than one instrument so he doesn't have to swap strings.

Could I get by with one or two? Of course the answer is yes. Why more than 2? For me, the answer is simple : I collect ukes. Playing and arranging for uke is one of my hobbies; collecting ukes is the other. I like the look, sound, and craft of new ukes, and the antique appeal of vintage ukes.

tbeltrans said:

how many is enough? In AA, they say that one drink is too many and a thousand are not enough. Is that also what UAS is about? It does seem a really slippery slope.

Just thinking out loud as I try to talk myself out of succumbing to UAS...

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How many is enough? Just one more. there are legitimate reasons for "needing" several ukes but most of us UAS sufferers have gone beyond that. I have 6 with 2 on order and that's too many to justify keeping them all - to me anyway. I will be rehoming a few as though two come in. Then I'm going to have to stop or implement a "rotating uke" program as I've seen some other members do. That way, you still get to look and explore without becoming a hoarder.

tbeltrans said:

So I read a thread like this, where we all have at least one or two nice ukuleles, usually more ... and wonder why we continue to go to music stores to look at still more.

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I think there are many reasons "why." One has already been touched on by others, and that is that they are collectors. No matter what my hobbies or passions have been over the years, I've always joked that there are two kinds of people in the world: collectors, and those who aren't collectors. I'm definitely the latter*, in part because of my small house and even smaller bank account, both of which keep me... realistic about buying things.

Personally I don't go into music stores (or any other stores, I absolutely despise shopping) unless I have a specific need, other than the shop I mentioned before - I'm there several days a week because I have friends there and I take lessons there, but I almost never even bother to try out the ukes. My last two purchases there, my Kamaka pineapple and my Ohta-San, happened totally organically - both were ukes that I was pretty certain I wanted, and both tend to be a bit hard to come by. As I'm a big believer in try-before-you-buy, rather than order online, I waited until they came in stock. In both cases, I had a good long time to ponder my purchases, rather than making an impulse buy online or because I happened to look in a shop I was passing by - two things I've done with ukes in the past, once in each case, and both are ukes I no longer own.

*To illustrate: I'm a woman who owns fewer than a dozen pairs of shoes. 'Nuff said

janeray1940 said:

I think there are many reasons "why." One has already been touched on by others, and that is that they are collectors. No matter what my hobbies or passions have been over the years, I've always joked that there are two kinds of people in the world: collectors, and those who aren't collectors. I'm definitely the latter*, in part because of my small house and even smaller bank account, both of which keep me... realistic about buying things.

Personally I don't go into music stores (or any other stores, I absolutely despise shopping) unless I have a specific need, other than the shop I mentioned before - I'm there several days a week because I have friends there and I take lessons there, but I almost never even bother to try out the ukes. My last two purchases there, my Kamaka pineapple and my Ohta-San, happened totally organically - both were ukes that I was pretty certain I wanted, and both tend to be a bit hard to come by. As I'm a big believer in try-before-you-buy, rather than order online, I waited until they came in stock. In both cases, I had a good long time to ponder my purchases, rather than making an impulse buy online or because I happened to look in a shop I was passing by - two things I've done with ukes in the past, once in each case, and both are ukes I no longer own.

*To illustrate: I'm a woman who owns fewer than a dozen pairs of shoes. 'Nuff said

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It never ceases to amaze me how much we are alike in certain ways involving the ukulele and music. From what I understand, you are into fingerstyle and chord melody ukulele and it appears your buying habits are similar to mine. I went to Wilie's last week largely because I know people who work there. I had breakfast with one of those people, the guy who did the deals on both of my ukuleles, and then we continued our conversation at the store. However, I was interested in trying some of the ukuleles they had largely because they are models that have been mentioned frequently in these forums. At least that way, I now know what people are talking about with the Collings, Martins, and Flukes. But I do have to ask myself is that the ONLY reason, or am I starting to look again?

At The Podium, I rarely played any of the instruments unless I was specifically buying. Like you, we have limited space in that we live in a two bedroom condo. It is roomy in that it is almost 1200 sq feet, but somehow a house just seems to have more room in general, given similar size.

This same friend whom I had breakfast has, on a number of occasions, passed on some words of wisdom to me that, in my own observation certain ring true for me. If I am not playing my own instruments and feel I am making progress, I am much more prone to shop for new instruments (what we in the guitar world called GAS - guitar or gear acquisition syndrome). When I was working, I went through long stretches of working very long hours. The pay was always very good, well into low six figures, so I had plenty of money for guitars, since my mortgage has long been paid off and I don't carry any debt. So, weekends, I spent in guitar shops instead of playing.

I don't know about others here, but if I don't play everyday, I feel as if I am going nowhere, instead trying to catch up on musical ground already covered and lost, when I do get to play. That is one reason I don't play golf. Unless I can do a thing every day consistently, I simply don't get anywhere, and golf apparently costs every time you want to do that. It would get awfully expensive for me if I were to get to where I could enjoy it and maintain that level. I don't mean pro, but at least somewhat good enough to relax and have fun with it. So it is a good thing for me that it was just before I retired (literally days) when I got my first ukulele. Since I am playing every day and having fun with it, just as my friend said, I am not looking for yet more ukuleles. The only reason I got a second ukulele is that I learned about high G and low G tuning, and did not want to be switching strings every other day.

I did get a pile of good books on chord melody and fingerstyle ukulele and a couple of DVDs and method books. I learned about these by going through the archives for UkeTalk and finding out what people recommended for the musical areas I am interested in. I am having lots of fun with those as well as experimenting on my own, finding my way around the instrument too. So, hopefully, that will keep me preoccupied and away from wanting still more ukuleles.

My comments are hopefully not being taken as judgmental of anybody else and their buying habits. We all find our own means of pleasure in a pursuit such as this. I worded my post to point at me and ask questions of myself, and secondarily ask questions of those in this type of thread what they are doing. I am finding the followup posts to be quite interesting. I fully expected there would be collectors among us, just as there are with guitars, and then possibly others who claim to be under the influence of UAS. I did that for years with guitars, so I do understand that compulsion. As I prepared for retirement, I capped that off, settling for two very good guitars that directly address my musical interests and let the rest go. It is all good as far as I am concerned.

Tony

Chicago Music Exchange has an amazing variety, from Cordoba, Kala, and Gretsch to Collings.

Bernunzio Uptown Music in Rochester, NY has several low-medium brands, from Kala and Eastman to Islander and Fluke. Plus they have Kamaka (several including an Ohta San), Kanile'a, Martin, and one Blackbird Clara in stock now.

You name it, Elderly has it.

Do a search before you arrive at your destination. You'll find ukuleles. In fact, I think you'll find more than ever. Everybody's building them and it looks like sales are sagging.

I bought strings in quantity for both my ukuleles from Elderly and they were great to deal with. As for ukulele sales, everything I hear from the local shops is that they are selling really well, often out selling guitars. I would expect, under those circumstances, that there should be plenty of fine ukuleles around.

Tony

tbeltrans said:

It never ceases to amaze me how much we are alike in certain ways involving the ukulele and music. From what I understand, you are into fingerstyle and chord melody ukulele and it appears your buying habits are similar to mine.

...

I now know what people are talking about with the Collings, Martins, and Flukes. But I do have to ask myself is that the ONLY reason, or am I starting to look again?

...

I don't know about others here, but if I don't play everyday, I feel as if I am going nowhere, instead trying to catch up on musical ground already covered and lost, when I do get to play.

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I think we are among the uke minority in both of these ways - the type of music we choose to learn, and our buying habits. I don't want to take this thread into too much of a derail, but - the third point above, I think, is directly related to the first. Fingerstyle and chord melody require a certain focus (or talent, if one is lucky that way - I don't think I am!) and repetition that more casual strumming/singing may not. So those of us taking on the former might just have less time/energy/money (hey, lessons aren't cheap!) to put into uke buying, perhaps.

As for that second point - I think it's good to know what's out there. When Collings was getting a lot of hype, I played a few and immediately knew that they just weren't my thing. When new stuff comes into the shop sometimes I'll check it out, more just to satisfy my curiosity than out of any desire to add to my "collection." (Someone once told me that having three of anything is the start of a collection; I've got three ukes so there you go. With two, you are just this side of collector territory, Tony! )

Does that mean I'll never buy another one? Probably not, some day when I least expect it, something completely unexpected might tempt me. Never say never!

janeray1940 said:

I think we are among the uke minority in both of these ways - the type of music we choose to learn, and our buying habits. I don't want to take this thread into too much of a derail, but - the third point above, I think, is directly related to the first. Fingerstyle and chord melody require a certain focus (or talent, if one is lucky that way - I don't think I am!) and repetition that more casual strumming/singing may not. So those of us taking on the former might just have less time/energy/money (hey, lessons aren't cheap!) to put into uke buying, perhaps.

As for that second point - I think it's good to know what's out there. When Collings was getting a lot of hype, I played a few and immediately knew that they just weren't my thing. When new stuff comes into the shop sometimes I'll check it out, more just to satisfy my curiosity than out of any desire to add to my "collection." (Someone once told me that having three of anything is the start of a collection; I've got three ukes so there you go. With two, you are just this side of collector territory, Tony! )

Does that mean I'll never buy another one? Probably not, some day when I least expect it, something completely unexpected might tempt me. Never say never!

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Very interesting comments, Janeray. I was amazed how many GOOD books on chord melody and fingerstyle there are for the ukulele. In some ways, the instruction in these books is (to me) superior to those on the subject for the guitar. Mostly with the guitar, you have books that show you how to "wiggle your fingers so the tune comes out" as a full arrangement, but little on the HOW these are put together. The books I have for the ukulele seem to cover the HOW as much as presenting finished arrangements. I would have thought that with that kind of book available, there must be a market for it. But you could well be right. I have very little exposure to other ukulele players at this point.

Hopefully (for my bank account's sake), I will remain this side of collecting. As you say, "never say never".

Anyway, thanks for the informative followup! Back to the regularly scheduled thread...

Tony

I've not been infected by UAS, although I now have two of them at home. Someone loaned me one, so it sits down in my TV room, and I strum it down there because it is handy, and mine is upstairs in the living room. But when I got started thinking about playing the ukulele, I looked all over for a music store that carried ukuleles. I could not find one anywhere. Then I bought one on line, and shortly after that I found two stores in Des Moines that had a pretty good inventory. However one of them just carries Kala/Makala brand and pretty much has their line and nothing else. The other has all different brands, sizes, and styles. I go down there on occasion and check them out.

I really wish that I had discovered them before I bought my Makala, as I would have probably bought one from them if I had. In time, I will probably replace my Makala. When I do, I doubt that I keep it as well. I will either trade it, sell it, or give it away, as I don't want a bunch of ukuleles sitting around gathering dust. In a way, I would like to buy one from the shop down in Des Moines. They are nice people and I like them, but I played a couple of Mainlands down at a uke festival in Missouri, and I really liked them and I haven't seen anything I like better at the moment. So I don't know what I'm going to do. But it is a ways off. I've promised myself that I was going to play the Makala for a year before I got another, so that is quite a ways off. On the other hand, I've broken promises to myself before, and I have no reason not to do it again. I was in contact with Mike at Mainland and checked to make sure he ships to Puerto Rico, just in case I lose my resolve this winter. Anyway, that is a lot of chatting that kind of went no where, but I'm sitting here drinking a cup of coffee with no plans for the day.

There are also quite valid musical reasons for wanting several ukes. The next one I'll build for myself will be a long neck (16 fret) Bb tuned tenor. With my group, Uke Ellington, we need to be playing in keys that are right for our singer, and some of those keys just don't suit a C tuned uke. After that I'll make an octave uke to fill that region between Sandor's uke playing and our bassist. Sandor switches among a low G tenor, a 6 string uke, a baritone, and a resophonic tenor, all to add different flavors to our arrangements.

It is probably a good thing that I have yet to find a Compass Rose ukulele around here in a shop to try. Judging by your work building guitars, as well as the comments in these forums about your ukuleles, I would most certainly own at least three ukuleles by now (my current two and at least one Compass Rose). You have provided perfect reasons to grow my almost-collection. My wife agrees when it is time to get another instrument if I need it for work in a band, though I don't foresee myself doing that with the ukulele any time soon. I have a lot of work yet to become anywhere near proficient. Knowing what "proficient" means on another instrument provides me with a pretty clear picture of what I am aiming for on the ukulele and the effort it takes to achieve it.

Good point about working in the singer's key. I forgot about that. With the guitar, it is quite easy to handle all keys equally well, and I do that when backing a singer. I would imagine the ukulele would be more limited in that regard. Also, good point about filling the sonic space between other instruments in the band. I am familiar with that for guitar likewise when playing with a keyboard player (i.e. staying out of his or her way). Again, since I have not (yet) worked with other musicians on ukulele, these points never entered my mind. Thanks for adding these points to the mix.

Tony