Nancy sent me this video of the Ukulele Orchestra of the UK playing "Life on Mars" and asked me "Now don't you wish you bought that ukelele?"

Well, Nancy, I'm not sure how to answer that, since, actually, I DID buy the 'ukulele, although actually it wasn't the same ukulele that I was going to buy, so actually I didn't buy THAT 'ukulele, I bought THIS 'ukulele:


                                          

(if you clicked that link, you saw two 'ukes - my model is actually the tenor model, although it has a round soundhole)

This is plumb crazy - thanks, God. I musta prayed right that morning, and followed my gut, because it's amazing how this turned out.

I was looking at a couple of 'ukes online, and comparing them to some I'd found in a shop in Waimanalo (aka 'Nalo Town) and I decided that I'd actually found my best deal in that shop (well, the same deal that I could get at Amazon - although I'd have to pay sales tax (and one extra penny) at the shop, I could get the 'uke right away, and not have to worry about how to ship it to a condo on Oahu) so we stopped by the shop on Saturday afternoon to pick it up - the shop is open until 6 PM, but for some reason there was a sign in the door - "Sorry We're Closed" at 4 PM. Hmmm.

The next day we went by the Swap Meet at the Aloha Bowl, and I was wandering around and saw a guy walking along with a big smile and a 'uke case under his arm - he told me that he'd just bought it "...up that way about a hundred yards".

So I walked up that way about a hundred yards, and there was this little guy - well, he was probably as tall as I am, but he FELT like a little guy - fussing over his 'ukes, pulling out his tools and fiddling with them. The prices were high - ouch! high like "let's sell a 'uke to a sucker tourist" high - but they were all Koa hardwood (at least, so the sign said) and they looked pretty nice.

I picked one up and strummed a bit - it sounded really nice, to my unpracticed ear, but it felt right. Felt good in my hands.

I put it down and sighed - the little guy came up to me with an "are you interested?" look on his face - I said "Actually, I just managed to get the wife to agree on a Kala Malaka tenor - I don't know how I'd sell her on this, although I wish I could!"

He scrunched up his forehead, picked up another one, said "You like this one?" - a beauty! I held it in my hands, plucked it a few times, and said that, yes, indeed, I liked it...he indicated that the finish was off; slightly dulled on the topside. He told me a price that was stupidly low, and said "I'll rework this for you, too".

Huh.

Well, I walked off, and Ethel was in the soap shop, buying soaps (how much time can you spend on that, anyway?) - she asked me what I'd found, and I told her - I also told her "Look, this doesn't feel like a guy selling Chinese made 'ukes out of the back of a truck - he seems to be a real luthier. Watching him work on the 'ukes is very impressive. I think I'd like to buy it."

She told me to go buy it.

So I did.

I've very much enjoyed plucking away at this thing - I might see if Ethel wants to video some plucking - and had decided not to concern myself with the question of "how good is my 'uke, really?" since it's a done deal - until Nancy asked me that question, and I started to answer it, and went off looking for Nice Ukulele links on the web, and found out that Mr.Edmund Bacani is, really, exactly what he seemed to be - which leaves me feeling good about the choice of 'ukelele - and also tells me that the feeling of competence and craft that I got from watching this man work was not an illusion.

So, Nancy, no, I DON'T wish that I had bought that 'ukulele - I'm glad I didn't; I'm glad that I bought THIS 'ukulele, instead : )