SeilerBird's ukulele baptism

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I don't have scratches on any ukes, and there's no change in sound.
 
I always keep my instruments in perfect shape. When I sell them they always look like they are brand new. This comes from years of trading in and buying new ones I have learned to handle them with kid gloves. I was going to brag that my bass is in perfect shape without a mark of any kind due to picking but then I realized I have never used a pick on it. I pluck it with my fingers.
 
My soprano uke showed up last night and I am in love. It is my favorite uke so far. Now I have a soprano, a concert and a tenor in my collection. I think I am done buying ukes. The Lanikai is going to be my go to uke, I like it that much. So beautiful and it sounds great and is easy to play. What a deal.

https://www.amazon.com/Lanikai-LK-SEU-Soprano-Ukulele-Natural/dp/B00DBRTNGG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1475582412&sr=8-1&keywords=LK-SEU
 

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Congrats. A Lanikai soprano was my first uke. It turned out to be too short for me, and I sold it to a lady in the band; Five years later she's still playing it. I bought two additional Lanikai concerts as loaners for our beginners class.
 
I am watching an episode of Saturday Night Live from 2011 and Abby Elliott appears in a skit playing Zooey Deschanel and she is playing a Lanikai soprano that looks identical to mine. How cool. It is almost the exact same size as a violin. I studied violin in college in the 60s and when I pick this uke up I have the urge to put in under my chin and get a bow. :D
 
I went to my third uke meetup this morning and had a great time. I met a gentleman who had a Martin soprano and he let me play it. It was nice but my old ears could not hear any difference between it and my cheaper soprano. He also had a bass uke which he also let me play it. I am in love. Gotta get one soon. I thought a bass uke would be an oxymoron but it is not. It is really cool. Very easy to play.
 
I've thought about a bass uke on several occasions, but every time I try one in a store, they seem to have goofy strings. I'll look a little closer when we visit the Kala factory next month.
 
I play my bass guitar every day and the strings felt perfect to me. But I can see how it would be strange if you had not spent a lot of time playing one. I was amazed at how much it sounded like my bass guitar. Hadean makes a bass for less than half the price of the Kala Ubass so that is the one I will be getting. It gets great reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Hadean-Acoustic-Electric-UKB-22-NM/dp/B00QFV1RGE/ref=sr_1_1?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1476556560&sr=1-1&keywords=Hadean+Acoustic+Electric+Bass
 
I have been thinking about this bass uke all afternoon long. I can't wait to get my hands on mine. I will order one on payday this week and it will be here next weekend. It is combining my two favorite instruments. I was shocked at how good it sounded. I need to take some time before I order it anyhow to check out as many basses as possible to make sure I get the right one.
 
I got my bass uke a few days ago and I had a problem playing it. I don't use a pick when playing bass I pluck with my index and middle fingers. On my Hofner bass I anchor my thumb on the top of the neck pickup for stability. Since the uke bass has a pickup that is located inside the body there is nothing to anchor my thumb on making it difficult for me to play. I went to Home Depot this morning and bought a piece of wood and attached it to the body and now it is playable. There are other bass players who don't anchor their thumb and have no problem but since I have always played with my thumb anchored it was not easy for me to play that way. Here is a photo of my Hofner and my uke bass with my modification.
 

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I have a meetup today at 6pm about 50 miles away. The World Series starts at 8pm and I am a huge Cubs fan since I was born and raised in Chicago and my dad was a Cubs fan. He used to take me to Wrigley Field. Watching the games brings back memories of my dad. So I am going to have to miss the first hour of the series so I don't miss the meetup. I am currently listening to my Jake CD to get me into the mood. ;D
 
Tom said:
Have fun.
Fun? I hit the jackpot. This was my fifth meetup and by far the very best. This is a group that has been meeting for years and they have it down cold. This is the Space Coast Ukulele Club and it meets at the Hawaiian Cultural Center. I walked in and the first thing they told me was to take off my shoes. My kind of people. Then they wrote me out a name tag and gave me a sheet with all the main chords diagramed. The leader of the group has an amazing setup. He has about four beautiful ukes, a computer, a microphone and PA and a TV screen on the wall in front of him. He would pick a song, put it on the screen, make sure everyone was comfortable with the chords and then start the song. He would sing and play the song and operate the computer to scroll the lyrics. After we had done about six easy songs to begin we had a dozen or so hula girls get up and do a line dance hula. After several more dances we took a break. Everyone got into a circle and held hands while the leader said a prayer. Then everyone lined up to share in the pot luck meal. They had enough food and drink to feed an army. At this point I declined the food, thanked everyone and hit the road. It was 7:30 and I was an hour from home and the World Series was starting at eight. Really a cool friendly group and I can't wait to go back next month.

https://youtu.be/ofaUSEfGvUw
 
My hula isn't very good, and I wouldn't dance in public  :-[
 
I am just the opposite, I love to dance. I always have all my life. In fact recently someone from my high school class posted a video of a dance party from when I was in the 8th grade. I am the first male you see with dorky glasses and an even dorkier hair cut;

https://www.facebook.com/100008088555797/videos/1774893872790214/

In the 80s and 90s I spent hundreds of nights in country bars country dancing and line dancing. Weird because I never drank.
 
I had a rough day yesterday. I had a meetup with a few other ukers to practice for the upcoming Christmas parade we are going to march in. We practiced Christmas songs for three hours. Then in the evening I went to the Space Coast Uke Club for their monthly meetup and near the end I was getting cramps everywhere from sitting in a folding chair for six hours. But I had a blast.
 
... practice for the upcoming Christmas parade we are going to march in

Sounds like fun. Will you be a strumming/singing Santa?

How many folks will play? Just curious, will you be amp'd? Every time we've tried to play &/or sing outdoors with a couple of dozen ukes or more without an amp, the sound doesn't project. As a result, the first question I ask venues that call and ask us to play is "will this event be indoors or outdoors?". The next question is "will the audience be eating &/or drinking?". Our bankoukers might have a chance of projecting, but we don't play banjoukes on Christmas or Hawaiian songs  ;D

Meanwhile, I'd be afraid to have our band march while playing & singing; Many are in their 70's, 80's and even 90's, and we'd end up with some accidents or health issues.
 

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