Yeah, I went, and again I was underwhelmed by what I saw. Sure there were some guitars that I played, but for the most part I was interested in touching base with those who I left behind 8 years ago. It didn’t take long to start bumping into old colleagues and friends.
That being said, for me this was the year of the Ukulele. I played a ton of them and came to the same conclusion…they all play terribly. It didn’t matter who manufactured them, the set up was in need of improvement…that is the goal for this year. Make a uke that plays well.
One untold story that you will not hear around the blogisphere about the show was this. The Kamaka family had been making Ukuleles for 93 years. In an obscure booth we found a Kamaka Guitar that was dated in the early 20’s at the same booth was a pineapple uke that was dated 1928 …No big deal you say…
The man in the picture is the grandson of the guitar maker. He now runs the company. The owner of the guitar is the grandson of the original purchaser. Along with the uke, it was a pretty sweet thing to come across.
Filed under: NAMM | Tagged: Electric Guitars, Kamaka Ukulele, NAMM, NAMM 2009, Old Friends, Old Guitars, Old Ukuleles, Winter NAMM
Far out, I just started playing Uke a few weeks ago…mainly because a student wanted to get into it, but I’m digging the portability of it. And yeah, the ones I’ve tried aren’t doing much for me in the way of tuning stability.
Your five can rocks, BTW. Threw the ingredients together this weekend. Will do it again.
Ukuleles are fun to play, I own a few. friction tuners and poor setup make a potentially cool instrument clumsy. the diff between a $500 and an $18 Japanese model bought at ther “International Market” are few as far as playability is concerned.
There were more uke manufacturers at the show this year which means that the market may be prime for a small playable and relatively inexpensive Uke.
There are good instruments out there, but Casey and I are going to try to raise the bottom line a little.
Enjoy the enchiladas…one day I’ll pass along my Mac and cheese casserole with bacon, bleu cheese and a few other secret ingredients.