What Do You Want For Christmas?

18 Comments

1. Nelson November 18th, 2007 4:27 pm
   

   Howsabout a new uke!
   Haha, I’ve been playing a $30 Stagg Uke for 2 seasons now…and as much as I love it,
   I know there is MUCH better quality out there.

   It doesn’t help either when I’ve inspired about 7 other people to buy ukulele’s and they all have bought much nicer ones!
   (Honestly! I went back to the music store and the guy told me that in the past 2 months they’ve been selling out of ukes thanks to my referrals!)
   Only problem is I’m a full-time college student and all my work money goes to college…no big Christmas this year: (
   Doesn’t stop it from being merry though!
   So happy thanksgiving everybody in the US and preemptive Merry/Happy Christmas!

2. Jimmy November 18th, 2007 6:57 pm
   

   One of the eBooks on this site! I’ll be persuading someone for a “How To Play Ragtime Ukelele” before for MY Decemberween.

   Or a Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain DVD or audio CD. That’d also be pretty jazzy.

3. moocher November 18th, 2007 7:38 pm
   

   I want a concert size for Christmas. Does anyone know anything about the Ashbury Koa Concerts on ebay. Surely they must be laminate at that price. They look nice but do they sound nice? Just got my twin four year old daughters a red and a pink Mahalo for their birthday but told them they need more for christmas(enforced UAS!). I think Nelsons local music store should give him a new uke for commission.

4. moocher November 18th, 2007 7:40 pm
   

   Oh and the ebooks are great BTW. Highly recommended. :)

5. graham November 18th, 2007 9:03 pm
   

   My wife’s getting me a concert Flea! Woo-hoo!

   I’d love a Baritone uke, but I don’t want to have to learn a whole new set of chords.

6. Mike November 19th, 2007 5:20 am
   

   An electronic clip-on headstock tuner (Intelli and Cherub are the brands). I was using an ordinary tuner, and the clip-ons are so much better, especially if you have five people all tuning up at once. They make a special ukulele model, with a re-entrant G, but if you have a low G like me you need to get the ordinary chromatic one. A good stocking-stuffer for a younger player who’s still learning to keep their uke in tune.

7. Brian November 19th, 2007 7:31 am
   

   I’m hoping that the loft conversion will be finished and I will end up with a music room/studio again after 15 years of kids bedrooms.Then I can get on with transferring more Archie Bester songs from “shellac to mac”-oh and a Woodshed authored ebook or even the pair!

8. Ritchie November 19th, 2007 8:13 am
   

   then there was this time in band camp …. I would like a capo & the ebooks (although I’ll probably end up buying them myself)

   certainly a clip on tuner is a great ‘stocking filler’ along with a clip on drinks holder to attach to a music stand.

9. amber November 19th, 2007 8:23 am
   

   I want an Islander plastic uke, a koa Flea and Mike DaSilva’s ukulele building class. And about thirty others…

10. Winger November 19th, 2007 10:41 am
    

    I would love an old knackered ukulele, falling to bits, so I could do it up a bit and have a great sense of self-satisfaction every time I play. Failing that, a kit to try and build my own new one. I like the idea of that. Do a blog about good uke kits!

11. Jill November 19th, 2007 11:31 am
    

    I’ve already gotten myself a new uke for Christmas! Bypasses that whole “dropping hints” thing. But a vintage ukulele for the new collection would always be a kick.

12. zym November 19th, 2007 1:11 pm
    

    i want a concert pono, i think.

    Since the wife and I have decided not to buy each other christmas presents this year, im going to have to buy it myself ;)

13. Deadeye November 19th, 2007 1:11 pm
    

    I’d love a gstring custom…but that would never. ever. ever happen. a kamaka tenor would be nice…but that would never. ever happen. we’ll see!

14. Stewart Greenhill November 20th, 2007 5:32 am
    

    I’m happy with my uke, though I could do with a new set of strings and a good acoustic pickup. Don’t know much about the options, so probably could do with some suggestions.

    Mike, I second the Intelli tuner – these are pretty neat. I borrowed one a couple of months back and found it great for tuning up in noisy environments. I found that I still had to detune the strings slightly as the open string is not perfectly in tune with the equivalent fretted note. I don’t know if this is peculiar to my uke, strings, etc but I guess it makes sense since the strings are quite short and you tighten them slightly when you finger them. Clues and/or explanations on tuning appreciated…

15. Yummy Ukulele November 26th, 2007 12:01 am
    

    I’m hoping on getting this thing called a Banjo Tam. This guy started making banjos built with tambourines for the drums. And as we all know, banjos are sometimes made as ukuleles and thus banjoleles. Well, this guy combined a tambourine with a banjolele and now it’s on my Christmas list.

    To hear a sound clip, go to http://64.106.200.92/woodstock/public/publicCat15403Home_Music.html click on Woodstock Banjo-Tam, which opens up a window, and next to Sound: you’ll see the link Listen. Click that and the window will change for a sound clip.

16. Woodshed November 26th, 2007 7:07 pm
    

    Thanks for all the suggestions. I hope you’ve been good enough boys and girls to get your new ukes.

    Nelson: Great work on the conversions. You’ll get your reward in uke-heaven.

    Jimmy, moocher, Brian and Ritchie: Yes, everyone should buy the ebooks for everyone they know :D

    moocher: I have an Ashbury Concert Koa and love it. You can hear it on some of my YouTube videos.

    graham: That’s almost enough to convince me marriage is a good idea :)

    Mike and Stewart: I’ve been considering getting a tuner. At the moment I tune by ear – which can be tricky some times.

    Ritchie: Clip on drinks holder – best idea ever.

    amber: You must have been a very good girl this year if you’re expecting all that.

    Winger: I know nothing about blog kits, I’m afraid. I’m hopeless with anything practical. I can’t even reliably get a cork out of a wine bottle (at least not by the third bottle).

    Jill and zym: Self-gifting is a good solution – I think I might adopt that tactic.

    Deadeye: I’m longing for the day when I can afford a custom uke too.

    Yummy Ukulele: That looks like a lot of fun. The link took me to a page without the Banjo Tam. I think it’s this page.

17. Dusty Kelley May 23rd, 2008 3:46 pm
    

    Used to play uke, but have severe arthritis affecting left hand. As a kid, I remember a plastic clamp-on piece where all you had to do is push down the proper chord button and it would automatically press on the correct strings. Does anyone know where I might find one (if they’re still made?)?
    Thanks

18. Woodshed May 23rd, 2008 5:22 pm
    

    Sorry to hear about that, Dusty. I know what you’re talking about with the button chord thing. They had them on the plastic ukuleles of the 50s and 60s. The Maccaferri Islander and the Emenee Flamingo both came with them. There are pictures on this page.

    To the best of my knowledge, they don’t make them any more. Your best bet is to keep a look out on eBay or on this page. It looks like none of the ukes on there at the moment have them, but they do come along now and again.