I've decided that this ukulele purchase desease must be addressed at some point (Grumpy made some valid points in his last blog, which I concur with). I have been thinking a lot about this lately, and here are those thoughts (in no particular order).
1. I have never sold a uke. I have every one I have ever purchased.
2. What if I decided on say five ukes that I would like to have forever, and only buy and keep those?
3. There are really only two more that I absolutely must have. (ahem).
4. Mainland's shipment is almost here. I don't yet own one (this is one of the two that I must have).
5. I really like the ones I own, but I can only play one at a time. I have been neglecting some...but I really like knowing they are there.
I'm not really sure what the value of this post is. I guess I am looking for some guidence. Or at least sympathy. And there is NO better place for sympathy, positivity, and helpfulness than this blog, and with you wonderful, loving people.
15 comments:
Not to worry at all. View this UAS not as a disease but as a benefit to all of mankind. Your desire for additional Ukuleles helps keep people working in order to fill the need. As things progress you will need an even larger residence to store your acquisitions. This will help to keep architects & builders in jobs as well.
Remember the well known phrase by Wilma Flintstone & Betty Rubble ..... "CHARGE IT!"
I believe it takes some time to find out which ukes you like to play more often and which ones you only rarely play. So I made up my mind to sell some. The problem I ran into is, that there's no market for more sophisticated ukuleles in Germany. I sold 2 ukes on Ebay under price and then decided to keep the others. Still I have a wish list of ukes that I "must have". Ranging from relatively cheap ones (a Flea Surf Concert with a wooden fretboard, a Kala Acacia Tenor with splitted headstock!) to more expensive models (Koaloha Tenor / Kanile'a Super-Tenor / Kamaka HF3). But that's about it. Wait... a RISA uke stick would be great, too, so I could practice with earphones while travelling by train! (Hmm, but when do I really travel by train??!!) Well, but that's really it - unless some other cool ukes appear on the market. To eliminate the dangers of the UAS (I spent all my saved tax money on 13 ukuleles this year! Which is downright crazy and may get me into serious trouble!) I have now planned to buy only one uke per year from now on. I haven't decided yet if I can afford the Flea Concert THIS year or not. Probably not! *sigh* :-( So I'll wait and in the meantime play the ukes I have. Currently I'm playing the Pono Mango Baritone a lot. I really LOVE it! :-)
I will need a bigger residence at some point Jim. With the two "junk" ukes I recently bought at a second hand store I now have nine (9) ukuleles. In my one bedroom apartment. Nine. Not three. Not even five. NINE!!!! I guess I couuld start hiding them, so they are not so obvious. (and I should be proud that I don't yet have 13 like Dirk....but I see 11 in my future. And real people (as opposed to internet people) dont think this is normal.
Hooks - hang them all on the walls and call them art. You know like Alan.
i think you should do with that junk uke what you plan to do with that old painted guitar you have. how trippy would that be?
by the way, 11 ukes is chump change in alantown.
Boozelele you wrote, "real people (as opposed to internet people) don't think this is normal."
To wit I respond, "REALITY is for people with no imagination."
Some people collect cars. Some collect stamps. Some collect Oscars. Certainly much worse things to do with your money. As long as collecting them is not keeping you from the necessities of life... NO PROBLEM!
Enjoy them.
I know if I were to ever sell one of my ukes, the next day I would pick a song to cover that would ONLY sound good on that particular uke. Everything else I own wouldn't sound right, and I'd probably have to buy 3 more until I found one that resembled the sound of the one I got rid of. (Hmm.. now I'm thinking maybe it's a good idea after all).
I have a dozen ukes, and I justify it by saying "They're all different"... which is true!... don't give me that look ;p I agree with Jim. It's a collection- they are works of art in my mind.
Russ said "i think you should do with that junk uke what you plan to do with that old painted guitar you have. how trippy would that be?".... are you making them into bongs, Booze? Idea stealer! ;p
Ukulele bongs? Could be the next pet rock.
As to excuses to real people, I often use "each uke sounds different" - which can be easily proved (it's also good to know, that others use the same excuse, like Adelle: I'm NOT alone!!) and I often explain that around here you can't just go into a music store and try out some good quality ukes because they only have Mahalos and laminate Lanikais! So the only way of trying out an uke is buying it ("so that you'll have enough time to try it out at home..."). By the way, I figured out that merely WAITING for an uke shipment from MGM already makes me very happy (let alone unwrapping it in slowmo in front of Deach's picture and then playing it). So I'm glad that it takes between 7 to 10 days for an uke to be shipped to Germany from Hawaii - 7 to 10 days of pure bliss!! A big THANK YOU to USPS and the German customs!! Considering this, I could state that an uke is a piece of (buyable) happiness! One last thing: If your UAS is similar to mine, I suggest taking Citalopram instead of buying ukes! It's much cheaper, also makes you happy and has a more lasting effect (and almost no side effects?!)...
Give a uke away to somebody who needs a better player. Or get a bigger apartment. Or look at this photo and feel better about yourself.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3342/3513464021_76ba5a9b9f_b.jpg
Love the mst3k t-shirt. Not sure about the picture though.
Oh man Justin insists on dressing up as Manos the Hands of Fate since we just watched that mst3k episode a few weeks ago. Time to get my sewing needles out...
Adelle the Great said...
Oh man Justin insists on dressing up as Manos the Hands
Awesome! I'm guess you'll be dressing in white curtains..? Or mebbe Torgo?
You want the one in the picture in a Tenor. Cedar+Rosewood+Rope binding+Pinot Noir = bliss
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