If you could only have one.....and only one....what would it be?

ukeclass

ukeclass

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Personally, I love all of my 5 instruments, and even though I have a top of the line Kamaka, there's just something special about my Ana'ole custom flag concert...the voicing, sustain, and tone quality it produces might just be my favorite of my small collection. And that's without even mentioning the master grade Koa and the inlaid flag marquetry top.

What would be your "the one" and show us a photo! It doesn't have to be one you currently own. This could be very interesting!
 

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Recently I was forced to give up my 7 standard depth ukes for thinlines because of nerve damage to my neck spinal cord. Before, my Kala solid cedar top, acacia koa body with preamp/pickup was my go to uke. I bought it from a recommendation by Mim and compared it side by side with a Kamaka and Kanile'a, it held it's own. Now, having 6 thinlines, my one surely is a custom thinline made by Bruce Wei Arts in Vietnam that I received only four days ago. Not only is it beautiful, it also plays great.

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I have more than a dozen soprano ukuleles; I haven't counted them recently. I find it easier to say which ones I would let go. At least eight of my ukes would be perfectly suited to being my 'one and only'.

If I had to get rid of all of them and only ever play the yellow Mahalo in my photo then it would suit my purposes. I would become misty-eyed whenever I thought of those that had gone, but it would not diminish the pleasure I get from playing.
 
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My Kamaka would have to go. I only have it to pay homage to tradition. That's why it is a K brand, it is koa, and it is re-entrant...but I don't really have a connection with it. That honor goes to my custom uke:

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that would be my one and only. Around the first of the year, I am scheduled to pick up a custom baritone that is destined to be bad ass. However as of right now. This is the one ukulele that I would take to the tomb with me if I were a pharoah.
 
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Without hesitation, my Ken Timms soprano. Beautifully crafted and sounds marvellous even under my ham-fisted fumbling.
 
I have had the good fortune to play and own a number of really fine ukuleles. But without hesitation my first custom is still my one and only favorite. It's a LfdM tenor with spruce and Amazon rosewood. It's bright and warm and soft and loud and articulate and easy to play. I've had it 8 years now so the honeymoon period is over and it still thrills me 😊

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I hate this thread! Just thinking about it has given me nightmares about the ukes I'd have to give up. How do you pick between a Ken Potts uke you commissioned for your wedding and used to sing on the beach during that wedding, and a prototype Kanile'a Platinum Edition you bought off their finishing room shelf months before they went into production, and some "first of their kind" collaborations with Pop's, and a couple ukes from famous builders who are no longer with us, and, and, and...

I hate this thread. I refuse to pick one! But it would be a tenor, that's all I can say...
 
I don’t play expensive instruments but have always made what I have got play pretty much as well as is possible - a good set-up, bone nut and saddle, and the right strings make a lot of difference. My basic laminate Kala Sopranos have given me a lot of pleasure and so have sentimental attachment. However I’ve recently bought an Ohana SK-35 and if all I could have was one Uke then that’s the one that I’d be most likely to keep - well, assuming that I was being logical at the time.

As ever: It ain't what you've got - it's what you do with it.
Credit JC.
 
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The "only" part of this makes it far easier for me. If I had to settle on one uke and exclude all others, I would choose an instrument that can handle all of my musical demands with aplomb. I would select Ko'olau's 20th Anniversary 'Ulu #2028.

Ulu.jpg'Ulu.jpg

Aside from its sex appeal, this instrument possesses an exceptional balance of playability, clarity, sustain, volume, brightness, and warmth. I've experienced a number of ukes ranging from very nice to truly fine over recent years, but 'Ulu #2028 stands out as singularly phenomenal.

A very close second is J. Rieck #39 that I both bought and sold a while back through the UU Marketplace. That's another uke with a great balance of musical essentials, but it has a much darker, smokier tonal core. The Rieck is perhaps more musically flexible than the Ko'olau above (and is certainly much easier to love; it took me a while to bond with the 'Ulu), but it never spoke to me as directly as the 'Ulu does now. The 'Ulu actually continues to guide my preferences, and the other ukes I've kept (a mahogany Takumi and Ko'olau chambered electric) fall in the same tonal camp.

Of course, I bought the 'Ulu from another UUer who found it unsuited to their tonal preferences, so there's a strongly subjective element to all this.
 
This is actually a constant thought for me because I live in Northern Cali where fires can be frequent and evacuations are real....fortunately I only have my Koaloha soprano at this time so that would be it.....although I'm definitely considering trying a KTM
 
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