Lineup update. Finally!

It's been quite some time since I last posted a lineup update. I finally found some time to take some pictures. Let's see, since the last update, I've shipped out the Honu concert, the Uklectic, the Fender Koa Nohea, the Kanile'a super tenor, and the LoPrinzi mahogany tenor. Additions since then are the Mainland slotted headstock concert and Ko'olau CE-1. Hmmmm, as you can see, I actually managed to keep the UAS rate in the negative! Woohoo! OK, so no one cares....

Anyway, there's a Glyph mezzo soprano still being built, but I don't anticipate adding any more ukes in the short term. In fact, a couple more will surely find their way out of my collection before I add any more.

Below are some group shots and back shots for your viewing pleasure.

Group back shot.


Sopranos. These are likely going to be the only 2 sopranos I have for quite a while.


Back of the sopranos.


Tenors.


Back of the tenors.


Concerts.


Back of the concerts.

Ukulele usage analysis

I'm curious about the actual usage of each of the 14 ukuleles I currently own (I don't count the Sunny D tenor because it's cracked and I've essentially wrote it off as a total loss), so I'm going to analyze right here how each uke has been played in the last several months or so. Ukes are listed in random order, pretty much as they come to mind:

William King LS-tenor: This uke was my favorite before receiving the King LS-concert. Now that I'm on a bit of a concert kick, this uke actually has not been played all that much. I think I've played it about once every two weeks or so on average, which is entirely too little playing time for such a fine instrument. But I'm finding myself a little lazy to stretch out my finger on a long scale tenor lately, so I guess it may be on this playing schedule for a while yet.

William King LS-concert: This uke is my current undisputed favorite and gets played probably at least 5 days per week. A lot of times it gets played every day.

Kepasa Gypsy Rose: I play this about the same frequency as the King LS-tenor these days. So that's about once every two weeks. When I remember that I own ukes other than the King concert, this usually gets a spin because it really is an awesome sounding uke.

Kamaka HF-3: Lately I think this uke got played maybe once every 3-4 weeks. The last couple of times I played this uke, I really felt that it's a notch below most of the other tenors I have. Of course, those tenors are mostly customs, so it's not unexpected. But I'm basically keeping this uke because it's a Kamaka.

Koa Works tenor: I've been taking this one out for a spin about once every two weeks. I'm re-developing an appreciation for this one lately. It has such a pleasing sound and is the easiest playing tenor I have. I actually thought I'd try to sell it at some point, but I think I'm hanging on to it now.

KoAloha Pineapple Sunday: It was being played maybe once a month, but lately, after reading a post on Ukulele Underground, I've gained new appreciation for this one and it has been played more often. My copy of the P.S. has super low action and is from the first production run that has the pointy bridge, ebony fretboard bindings, and de-bossed pineapple grid pattern (new P.S. has a KoAloha concert bridge, koa fretboard bindings, and laser cut grid pattern). It's always been a nice sounding uke, and I'm re-discovering it a little bit.

Kiwaya KTS-7: Believe it or not, I'm playing it a little bit just about every day. Not because it's become my favorite or because I've become a soprano guy, but because it's the uke I keep at my office at work! It is a nice uke though, and I really like the Martin style 3 styling. One could do worse than having this little guy around for a few strums each day at the office.

DaSilva Santo reproduction: This uke gets played maybe once a month. It's a wonderful little guy, but for whatever reason the sound doesn't quite grab me as much as the concert & tenor ukes. Probably just a personal preference thing. It might be the best looking uke I have though. I should probably take it out more often just to admire it or something. I just changed strings on it last night though, so it'll get some extended play at least over the next week or so to settle in the strings.

Aaron Taylor milo/spruce tenor: This uke gets played about once a month. It has very nice sound but the action seems just a tad high and there isn't any room to lower it at the saddle, so it hasn't been a uke I reached for often. I wouldn't say the action is too high, but just a bit higher than where I like it and feels like a little bit of a chore to play compared to say the Koa Works tenor. I love having a milo uke in my collection and it has my last name on the headstock, so it's not going anywhere.

Bluegrass Ukes cigar box tenor: I think I've played this uke maybe twice in the last half a year or so. It'll always be in my collection as it has Jake's autograph on it and my name on the label, but it's not a uke I'll favor over the other ukes I have for playing purposes. That actually says more about the other ukes I have than about this uke. It's really a very nice sounding uke and has great playability. It does have fretwire that sticks out a little bit and that has always been the one thing that's bothered me about this uke.

Bushman Cedartone baritone: I don't think I've played this more than once or twice in the last year. I'm not a baritone guy and have felt no urge to play this uke other than for a couple of curiosity strums. But I do like having a baritone in the collection, and since it's more or less worthless in the open market, I'll probably always have it.

Collings UC-1: Since the last post about the Smackdown between the Collings and Mainland, I haven't played this uke a whole lot. Maybe once every 2-3 weeks. I do plan to finish off the Smackdown (sometime, I promise!), I'll need to play it more often to get a better opinion on this uke. It's a fine uke, but not quite at the level of my customs.

Mainland slotted headstock concert: Same playing time as Collings. It's a great uke for the money, but the King concert has a strangle hold on my ukulele playing time, so it doesn't get a lot of play.

Kanile'a Custom SS: I think I've played this one maybe once in the last half a year. It's kind of weird because I really feel that this is a great sounding uke. I'm not sure why I've played it as little as I have. And it has some really nice looking koa too. I'm puzzled. And I've thought that I would sell this one to make room for the upcoming Glyph mezzo-soprano, but I guess we'll see. It's such a nice uke.

So there it is. I guess the moral of the story is not to buy too many ukes because you end up not playing them enough. And to think, I have an upcoming trip to Hawaii and a Glyph coming in the not too distant future! Seriously though, I think I do need to play some of these nice ukes more often if I'm keeping them around.

Lineup update

With the arrival of the King concert, I guess it's time to do a lineup update. Hopefully this will be it for UAS for a while (yeah right!).

Since the last update, the changes are:

Comings: Kamaka tenor, LoPrinzi mahogany model A tenor, DaSilva Santo reproduction, Fender Nohea, Aaron Taylor tenor, William King LS-concert.

Goings: Kala tenor-neck soprano, Kelii tenor, National mahogany concert, Martin style 1 (on the blocks), Sonny D tenor (junked).

I guess I'm behind on the one-in-one out policy, but overall I guess it's not bad. The Aaron Taylor was something unexpected, so if you don't count that one, I kind of sort of (not really) achieved one-in-one out. With so many ukes, look for some wacky comparisons down the road as I attempt to put the number of ukes I have to good use.

Below are the group shots.

Tenors: Top row (L-R): Bluegrass Ukes cigar box, Koa Works, Aaron Taylor, KoAloha Pineapple Sunday

Bottom row (L-R): LoPrinzi model A, Kamaka, William King, Kanile'a super tenor, Fender Nohea

Concerts (L-R): Pete Howlett Uklectic, Honu XXX, William King, Kepasa Gypsy Rose, Kanile'a super soprano

Sopranos (L-R): Kiwaya KTS-7, DaSilva Santo reproduction

Bushman Cedartone baritone

Lineup Update

Since I just ranked the ukuleles in my collection, I guess it's time to post a lineup update. Since the last update, the count has grown from 13 to 16 (gasp!). New from that time are a Kepasa Gypsy Rose, Sonny D purpleheart tenor, Kala tenor-neck soprano, Kanile'a super tenor, and a Kelii tenor. Gone are the Pono Ebony deluxe tenor, and the Compass Rose Walnut tenor.

Of the new blood, the Kepasa and Kanile'a super tenor are outstanding, while the Kelii tenor is very nice as well. The Kala is nice for the price and a good knock around uke. The Sonny D, however, is a disappointment. While it's a good uke in its own right, it probably sounds a tick better than a typical Pono but costs almost as much as a Kanile'a. It also has some of the worst workmanship I've seen whether it's a Chinese import or USA/Hawaiian made ukulele. I guess the only reason I got the Sonny D was because it's a purple uke (I bleed Vikings purple), so I can't really complain. Still, given how much it cost ($700+), I don't think it could ever get rid of it because no one will pay close to that amount for it. I guess it'll be my "Vikings Uke" or whatever that means.

As you can see, the couch is barely big enough to accompany the madness. With 2 custom ukes that are in the works for the not too distant future, I'd better get my butt going on moving a few more of these.

Anyway, here are some more pictures (all pictures taken using a Nikon D300 with 17-55mm, 1:2.8 DX lens):

Frontal shot of the entire lineup:



Tenors (L-R): Bluegrass cigar box, Kelii, Kanile'a super tenor, William King LS, Koa Works, KoAloha Pineapple Sunday, Kala tenor-neck soprano, Sonny D


Another shot of the tenors:


Concerts (L-R): Uklectic, Honu XXX, Kepasa Gypsy Rose, Kanile'a super soprano, National Mahogany


Baritone & sopranos (L-R): Bushman Cedartone Bari, Kiwaya KTS-7, Martin style 1

Lineup Update

It's been a while since I've done one of these lineup updates. (or updates of any kind) I finally found some time to take some pictures of all of my ukes. It's grown to 13 ukes now with still a few in the works. I definitely need to be getting rid of some of these ukes to keep things sane. The hard part is, almost all of these have some redeeming quality that makes it hard to part with. But I'm going to have to make some decisions soon.

New this time around are: William King LS-tenor, Pono Ebony Dlx, Compass Rose Walnut, National Mahogany, and Kiwaya KTS-7. Except for the King LS-tenor, these are "curiosity buys". I would say that the Kiwaya is the only one of the "curiosity buys" that was completely satisfying. The Pono Ebony Dlx is pretty nice, but it pales in comparison to the King. (then again, the 12 other ukes I have pales in comparison to the King) It stands out because I got it just a few weeks before taking delivery of the King and they both have spruce tops. It's not fair for the Pono but that's how it worked out. The National has a very unique sound that's loud and piercing. I'm not sure it's for me, but I do think it's a high quality uke. The Compass Rose came to me with very high action, which was very disappointing since I've read that Compass Rose ukes have almost exceedingly low action. I'm attempting to adjust it lower, but haven't had much time to do it, so it has been sitting in its case.

Anyway, below are some closer shots of each group of ukes I currently have. Enjoy.

Tenors & Baritone: Compass Rose Walnut, Pono Ebony Dlx, Pineapple Sunday, William King LS-tenor, Koa Works, Tom Guy Cigarbox, Bushman Cedartone Baritone.

Concerts: Pete Howlett Uklectic, Kanile'a "Custom SS", National Mahogany, Honu Super Dlx.


Sopranos: Kiwaya KTS-7, '30s Martin Style 1.

Lineup Update

It's been a while since I updated the collection picture. Compared with the last update, the G-String soprano and the BugsGear Eleuke are gone. In their place, I've acquired an Oscar Schmidt Bell uke, a Pete Howlett Uklectic (used), and a B-Stock Bushman Cedartone baritone. So the total uke count has been upped by one. I guess my policy of one-in-one-out isn't working so hot.

Why did I get the 3 new ukes? The Oscar Schmidt was an impulse buy at a great deal. The Bushman baritone was to satisfy my curiosity about baritones (and it was really cheap). The Uklectic was something I've been interested in and I jumped at the chance to get a used one at a great price.

The departed G-String was not getting played much and I've decided that I'm not really into sopranos (this could change at any time though). The departed BugsGear wasn't getting played much either and when I bought the Uklectic, it had to go.

There are two custom ukes that are scheduled to arrive pretty soon, so I guess I'm going to have to think about which ones needs to go next. Of the ukes pictured, the Pono, Oscar Schmidt, Martin, and Maccaferri doesn't get played much. The Maccaferri was cracked when I used it to film a video for the Ukulele Underground April Contest, so I guess I can write it off from the uke count. That leaves the Pono, Oscar, and Martin. I think I'll keep the Martin, so I guess I'll try to find the other two a new home sometime down the road.

You know, UAS is a difficult disease to fight off. Even though I couldn't be more satisfied with the Koa Works tenor and have two pretty sweet customs coming soon, I'm still constantly looking at other ukes online. I'd be very interested in a National reso-uke, a Kiwaya KTS-7 (Martin style 3 copy), and a Compass Rose tenor just to name three. I sure hope those custom ukes kill off UAS for a while. Wish me luck...:p

Lineup Update

There has been a new addition to the "family". The Koa Works tenor followed me home from Oahu last week. It is simply a dream to play and opened my eyes to how great a custom level instrument can be. I still have a couple of custom ukes on the way this year, and the Koa Work tenor has set the bar extremely high for them. I will review it soon. I will probably need to get rid of a couple of ukes to make room for the customs too. But until then, this pic represent the current lineup.

Lineup Update

Check the picture to the left for my latest 'ukulele lineup. 3 of the ukes from this entry are gone, replaced by a BugsGear concert and a Bluegrass cigar box. That picture will probably change a bit next spring when I take delivery of a couple of customs. After that, hopefully UAS will run its course for a while.:P