i wasn’t planning on buying a ukulele this past evening..

I wasn’t planning on buying a ukulele this evening, and am still surprised that I did. Tonight, my plan was to drive out with my dad (who doesn’t drive) to a city just over a half hour away, go to a funky pizza place for a slice and a pint, then walk from there through the small but comfortable downtown area to a large and unique coffee house for espresso drinks and dessert.

The pizza place is in a pleasant building that contains several other businesses. Right across the hall from the pizza place is a tiny but impressive music store. I had spotted it last time I was at the pizza joint, but the store was closed. Tonight it was open late, probably because there was a rather good jazz trio performing at the pizza place, and people kept showing up.

After many years of toil and strife, some months ago I finally gave up trying to learn guitar. But I still felt lured into the store. Several vintage guitars hung on the walls, including an old Gibson hollow body electric, which looked very similar to one I saw in a youtube video recently. This model of guitar, or one very much like it, was being played by a guy from Mumford & Sons at the Glastonbury Festival.

There was other interesting gear around as well.. a few dayglo electric guitars that were obviously from the ’80’s hair metal days, a beautiful Takamine 12 string Jumbo-size guitar, a dusty lap steel, some amps in a corner, and other gear.

What really drew my eye, besides the Gibson, was a row of ukuleles, and a very noticeable sign that read, “Ukes $37.50.” That’s rather cheap for a ukulele, I thought, even if the ukes are made in China.

While I was waiting for my slice of pizza to be warmed up in the oven (and, as it turned out, slightly burnt), I went across the hall and into the music shop. There was a pleasant smell, like the guy in there lounging on the couch had just been smoking aromatic pipe tobacco. I asked what kind of tobacco he’d been smoking, and he told me the smell was from one of those fire-free candles. I don’t know how those work, but the smell sure added to the ambiance.

I looked around for a few minutes, and noticed that next to the three brightly colored ukuleles, there was a battered old vintage uke. The blue ukes and the orange one were made in China, and felt cheap.. although a good value at such a price, I’m guessing. They didn’t feel or sound nearly as good as the all-mahagony (except for the fretboard) vintage uke, which was made in America, probably 50 years ago. Even though the vintage instrument had a smaller soundhole than the others, it had a better tone. It had resonance. It was selling for $125.00.

I looked across the hall, and saw that my slice of pepperoni had been brought out. I asked the guy if he was going to stay open for awhile and he said yes. I went back to the pizza place, enjoyed the rousing jazz music, played by a drummer, bass guitar player, and impressive pianist. I ate my overly crunchy pizza slice, and drank a good pint of stout, then went back to the music store.

Do I have money to spend on musical instruments? No. I’ve already bought 2 mini keyboard midi controllers on credit, and over $150 worth of e-cigarette supplies and juices. Besides that, I’ve already got a pile of debt from earlier in the year, when I bought a laptop computer I don’t need, and various and sundry other items.. some of which I’ve used quite a bit, and some not.

I certainly wasn’t planning on going into yet further debt to buy a ukulele.

Some weeks ago, I had checked out ukes at Guitar Center, and was thinking of purchasing one. I did not go to GC to look at ukes though, I went to try out some midi controllers. The ukuleles on display caught my eye though, and I tried a few.

I like that they sound a bit like classical guitars, but have only 4 strings, and are very portable. I could tell these would be easier instruments to play than the mandolin I’d bought and tried the year before last, and later sold. However, I didn’t buy a uke at GC. .

At the music shop this past evening, I found a uke I quite liked. There is a certain magic about vintage instruments. They have mojo. This one.. stirred my heart somehow. I don’t often feel anything resembling joy, but I felt something like that while plucking away on the instrument. I don’t know how to play ukuleles, but I tried anyway, and had fun.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time to test out the uke. I don’t know a thing about these instruments, so maybe testing it out.. playing every note on every string individually.. would not have told me anything about the instrument.. but still, it might have helped. However, the jazz band across the hall had stopped, and my dad was getting restless. He walked into the music store, and told me he was ready to move on to the next place.

I stayed just a bit longer. I asked the proprietor of the store, a younger guy than I am, a dumb question. I asked if he had tested out the instrument. Of course he said yes. Earlier, I had asked him him if he or anyone else at the store did any instrument repair. He said everyday.. lots of different kinds of repair. I noticed there was some space behind the counter for a workshop, and that’s why I’d asked him. Hopefully the guy had tested the old uke, and found it to be in good condition.

I felt a sort of joy, and, without playing the instrument much at all, got out my high interest credit card, and purchased not only the battered instrument, but a gig bag and a cheap instruction book as well.

I felt good about this purchase for a little while, but now I am wondering if I just did another irrational thing. I do a lot of irrational things, or so it seems.

I tuned up the instrument and tested it at home as best I could. The tuning keys were very hard to turn. Is this normal?  The second string, when fretted past the second fret, did not sound very good to me. Almost like two notes were being sounded at once. Maybe I’m not fretting it right, but I don’t think that’s the only reason. But I could be wrong.

Also, the notes on all the strings sound odd.. they don’t sound evenly like they are going up a half-step at a time the way guitar strings do. I know ukes are tuned quite differently than guitars, but it is my (perhaps quite erroneous) assumption that the notes on the strings should go up by half-steps. I thought all fretted, stringed instruments worked that way.  Since all four strings sound like this, it’s hopefully likely that this is normal.

For all I know, this is a mostly good uke, and this is just how uke strings sound. I really don’t know. Usually before I purchase an instrument, I do countless hours of obsessive research. This was different. This was an impulse buy. I don’t know if it was a sane choice.

Tonight, once home, I went on ebay. I found instruments similar to this one.. same brand, a Roy Smeck uke made by Harmony in Chicago, with starting bids as low as $6.99. I found some selling for $80, and some selling for over $100. Those looked to be in much better shape than the one I bought. Maybe the one I bought is damaged, or otherwise not very good.

And so, of course, I am uneasy. Feeling the usual.. why do I always bring misfortune on myself.. why do my impulsive (or carefully considered) decisions so often cause me trouble?

Yes, more inner conflict. How am I to know if this instrument is damaged or good?

I’m thinking of posting a video on youtube, saying that I am new to ukes, playing the notes on the strings one by one up the neck, and asking whoever out there who watches the video if I made a serious mistake, or if this uke is just fine. But I might not bother doing that. Maybe I’ll go down to Guitar Center and try out some of their ukes and listen closely to hear if they sound the same as mine. I don’t want to go back to GC anytime soon though. I’ve spent more than enough time and money there already this year. I want to stay out of that place.

Worry worry worry.

Oh well. Even though I am feeling bothered by the sound of the strings played individually, the instrument doesn’t sound too bad at all when I am playing the chords I just learned. And, I should not worry about the instrument going out of tune. I’d asked the music store guy if ukuleles needed to be tuned frequently. He’d said yes.. something to do with the diminutive size of the instrument (I bought a soprano uke, which I think is the smallest).  I’d heard this before, regarding mandolins, so what he said made sense to me.

Maybe it will turn out all right. Maybe I will try not to worry, and really enjoy the instrument.

As far as price goes.. price is subjective. Even if I paid too much compared to other ukes on the market, if this instrument is worth $125 to me, that is really what matters.

Maybe I will really like this instrument. I hope I made the right choice. I can’t return it, and might not get much if I decide to sell it, considering the wood is nicked and scratched compared to other instruments on ebay (I think some nicks and scratches and faded patches give the instrument character by the way).

I’m going to keep the uke for now, try to hope for the best, and enjoy playing it. Turns out a ukulele really is a cool instrument. I didn’t think so in the past, but I do now.

Well folks.. that’s pretty much all I have to say in this post . If there are any ukulele players out there who can let me know if notes not sounding exactly like they are going up by half-steps, or if half-step increments on ukuleles sound differently than other stringed instruments, please let me know.

Thanks.