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Ukulele update: May 09
30 May 2009
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Tom Guy's cigar box ukulele has certainly taken over as my most-played instrument. I take it to work to practice on during slow times - usually the last hour of the day or the last couple of hours on a Saturday. I play it around the house a lot, too. I love the sound of the cigar-box uke, the action and the feel. My customers at the store all seem impressed by it, and it certainly sparks some interesting conversations. If only it would encourage them to buy ukes so we could jam!
The low-G tuning of the ciagr-box uke certainly changes a lot of songs. I've become used to high-G tuning (on all my other ukes) and find it sometimes jarring to have that low-G note when I start playing. But then I really like having the low-G for some runs that can continue on past the third string! So it's forcing me to rethink some versions of the music I like to play. That's a good challenge!
My other mainstay is the Mainland tenor, sitting beside my computer so I can pick it up and strum when I'm surfing.
Before the cigar box uke arrived, I alternated between the Mainland and the Kala cedar-top, and used the Fluke as my pick-up-n-strum uke - these were my everyday strum. But with the arrival of the cigar-box uke, the Fluke has been moved to the living room and gets much less attention right now. The Kala has gone into its case for the nonce, as the two latest ukes take precedence over the rest. I'm so fickle!
I actually dug out my pair of Pono ukes last week, only to find the mango tenor had split the A string, probably because of changes in weather (humidity in particular). Both Ponos have split strings in their case, which worries me a bit, since none of my other ukes have done so. I repaired the string and played both a bit, before putting them away again. It reinforced my affection for their sound and tone - I had contemplated selling the cedar top to help finance the purchase of another instrument, but after a few minutes playing it realized I'd be poorer without it. Better to have more - although the clutter is driving Susan mad.
Yes, I am contemplating another ukulele. Two in fact (bringing my total up around 10, not including the incomplete ones). First is a zebrawood Ohana soprano. Now I'm not a soprano player by nature and find the fretboard rather cramped, but the zebrawood is so damned beautiful I just wanted one. I'll practice that scale and try to make it work. There's a small Canadian distributor[/url, who expects one to arrive any day now. I'm first in line for it!
The other is a tenor-scale banjo uke. I've been after Dave at Waverly Street Ukuleles to build a tenor scale banjo uke for a year now (he makes nice concert and soprano scale ukes but has resisted tenors to date). Recently he announced he would work on one - so I feel honour-bound to buy it if he goes to all that work! He's posted pics of his work on the Ukulele Underground forum. I've wanted a banjolele for a while now, and it looks like one may be coming my way soon!
Meanwhile, I've been working on writing out a version of the Beatles' It's Only Love for the uke, and trying to rewrite The Glory of Love to sound like a Steve Goodman version I used to like. I already worried a version of Swinging on a Star into something that sounds like a Dave van Ronk version I liked. Wish I had the ability to sing like that! I am contemplating putting together a songbook of my own versions and efforts; a PDF collection to share with my fellow ukesters. Not brilliant arrangements, but it's stuff I like to play. Some of it I have [url="http://www.ianchadwick.com/essays/ukuleles.htm#music"]already posted.
Susan and I are planning to take a mid-week mini-vacation and spend a night in Toronto in July, to shop, to wander, sightsee - and to attend one of the Toronto Ukes jams, on Queen Street. It's not her choice of vacation, but she's like to visit Toronto again, maybe take in a gallery or museum.[/indent]
The low-G tuning of the ciagr-box uke certainly changes a lot of songs. I've become used to high-G tuning (on all my other ukes) and find it sometimes jarring to have that low-G note when I start playing. But then I really like having the low-G for some runs that can continue on past the third string! So it's forcing me to rethink some versions of the music I like to play. That's a good challenge!
My other mainstay is the Mainland tenor, sitting beside my computer so I can pick it up and strum when I'm surfing.
Before the cigar box uke arrived, I alternated between the Mainland and the Kala cedar-top, and used the Fluke as my pick-up-n-strum uke - these were my everyday strum. But with the arrival of the cigar-box uke, the Fluke has been moved to the living room and gets much less attention right now. The Kala has gone into its case for the nonce, as the two latest ukes take precedence over the rest. I'm so fickle!
I actually dug out my pair of Pono ukes last week, only to find the mango tenor had split the A string, probably because of changes in weather (humidity in particular). Both Ponos have split strings in their case, which worries me a bit, since none of my other ukes have done so. I repaired the string and played both a bit, before putting them away again. It reinforced my affection for their sound and tone - I had contemplated selling the cedar top to help finance the purchase of another instrument, but after a few minutes playing it realized I'd be poorer without it. Better to have more - although the clutter is driving Susan mad.
Yes, I am contemplating another ukulele. Two in fact (bringing my total up around 10, not including the incomplete ones). First is a zebrawood Ohana soprano. Now I'm not a soprano player by nature and find the fretboard rather cramped, but the zebrawood is so damned beautiful I just wanted one. I'll practice that scale and try to make it work. There's a small Canadian distributor[/url, who expects one to arrive any day now. I'm first in line for it!
The other is a tenor-scale banjo uke. I've been after Dave at Waverly Street Ukuleles to build a tenor scale banjo uke for a year now (he makes nice concert and soprano scale ukes but has resisted tenors to date). Recently he announced he would work on one - so I feel honour-bound to buy it if he goes to all that work! He's posted pics of his work on the Ukulele Underground forum. I've wanted a banjolele for a while now, and it looks like one may be coming my way soon!
Meanwhile, I've been working on writing out a version of the Beatles' It's Only Love for the uke, and trying to rewrite The Glory of Love to sound like a Steve Goodman version I used to like. I already worried a version of Swinging on a Star into something that sounds like a Dave van Ronk version I liked. Wish I had the ability to sing like that! I am contemplating putting together a songbook of my own versions and efforts; a PDF collection to share with my fellow ukesters. Not brilliant arrangements, but it's stuff I like to play. Some of it I have [url="http://www.ianchadwick.com/essays/ukuleles.htm#music"]already posted.
Susan and I are planning to take a mid-week mini-vacation and spend a night in Toronto in July, to shop, to wander, sightsee - and to attend one of the Toronto Ukes jams, on Queen Street. It's not her choice of vacation, but she's like to visit Toronto again, maybe take in a gallery or museum.[/indent]
And then there's that Ohana zebrawood soprano... it should arrive later this month! These will bring the collection to 10 - either it's time to stop acquiring, or time to thin the herd.[/indent]