NUD photos

[tbeltrans]

These are photos of my new ukulele that I just got on Saturday. It is a Ko'olua Deluxe model with koa top, back, and sides. It is a tenor. This is also my first time posting pictures...











Tony

[Luke_]

Ain't that thing sweet!

[Guitarbench]

very nice! Did you buy it new?

[tbeltrans]

Thanks guys!

It would be considered new in that I got it from Willie's American Guitars, but it has been there a while. It is a very expensive small shop/handmade ukulele, pretty much one-of-a-kind in that it has all the "upcharge" items, so there probably isn't much of a market for it in that price range. Judging by a couple of comments I got in other threads (unusual for anybody to rain on someobdy's new instrument day), there are those who feel an expensive ukuelele is either a joke or a foolish person with his or her money. To me, that is similar to the idea many people have held over the years that spending $50k on a violin is normal, but spend even just a few thousand on a guitar is foolish. Fortunately, I think that general attitude is changing as decent guitars as "real" instruments is becoming culturally acceptable. Ukuleles are obviously not there yet.

I traded straight across, a guitar I bought in the mid-90s that I have not played since getting my McPherson, so no cash changed hands. It is a fine guitar, but I don't want wood instruments sitting around not being used and personally, I hate selling stuff. This ukulele also has an LR Baggs pickup in it that seems very similar to that in my McPherson (9v battery pack velcroed to the neck block and volume just inside the sound hole) and it sounds very, very good through my AER Compact 60.

Tony

[joeguam]

Someone call the fire department to put out all those flames! Geez!
Nice lookin' uke you got there!

[wcap]

Very pretty.

I've tried out some very nice ukuleles at Willies. I think I might have played this one as well.

Say hello to Frank for me if you are in there again - I keep popping in to say hello and to congratulate him for having what must be a very satisfying landing after the closing of the original Podium store, but I keep missing him (I seem to always stop in on days when he is not there).

[cigarfan]

Really nice Tony! I thought you did a fine job on the pics.

Ko'olau ukes have a nice tone. Hope you enjoy it!

[franchelB]

Geez, I thought I was about to see some NUDe photos...and I was right. That uke is sexy as heck!

I'm still new in the uke world, and I just bought a new concert uke at a discontinued price...a Kala KA-GACE. It's in, no way, as beautiful as that Ko'olua.

Enjoy your new uke.

[tbeltrans]

Thanks for all the kind comments! Yes, I was very fortunate in this one. It was a win-win all around. The ukulele had been there a while and I had a very nice guitar I wanted to either consign or trade. I would never have considered a ukulele this nice otherwise, not because I wouldn't want one, but because I know nothing about these instruments and would not have known what to get and would therefore have started with somethign much more affordable and worked my way up to this if I decided to continue with the instrument. This is a lifetime keepr of an instrument, so I really have no plans to get another.

As it turns out, I am finding the ukulele to be a very friendly instrument to play, and very conducive to just fiddling aroudn and figuring out stuff by ear. I can't explain why, other than fewer strings, but it is easier on the ukulele than on guitar.

Also, people are doing amazing things musically with fingerstyle on the ukulele, clearly showing it to be far more capable of making really nice instrumental music than one might think of as the stereotypical ukulele that Tiny Tim played on Laugh-In, where many of us may have first encountered the instrument.

Wcap - I will pass on your greeting next time I see Frank. I think he and I will have to meet for lunch to really chat, since the environment seems a bit different at Willie's than it was at The Podium. Frank seems much busier and less able to visit to me, though he seems happy enough with his position there. I have purchased a couple of larger ticket items at Willie's over the last year or two - an AER Compact 60/2, a 1974 Gibson Johnny Smith archtop, and now the trade for the Ko'olau ukulele. Prior to these, it was just the occasional pedal. We are really fortunate to have a number of great places like this around town.

Tony