The Mighty Uke

I recently took up playing the Ukulele. My aim is to meet up with like minded Ukulele individuals and have a bit of a jam. There are a number of Ukulele groups springing up all over Perth. It's great fun playing with other people.

Of course, as is my method of operation with projects like this, there's no starting off slow, dipping my toe in the water so to speak. No siree bob, I jump in with both feet and start splashing around. I didn't start with something cheap, I got something really good. Not only that, 4 strings was not enough for me, I got an 8 string Ukulele.

But wait, there's more: It's electric...

I plan to record with this Uke at some point, as soon as I get some recording gear organised, so having an electric Uke is a big advantage. I'm planning on acquiring a Roland Juno GI keyboard, which has both an 8 track digital recorder built in, and an input for a guitar (or bass, or Ukulele). That would be a real thrill to be able record some keyboard, a bit of guitar, bass maybe, and put the Ukulele on top of that.

Here is the mighty beast:

So there you go. Buy a good instrument and you sound better than you really are. I learned a long time ago that a good instrument makes a big difference. A friend of mine had a band, and I used to hang out with them  a lot. For me, a wannabe rock star, that was heaven. I even got to play a pub gig once when the regular guitar player didn't show up. What a buzz. Fortunately, prior to that, I made a great decision to get myself a Fender Telecaster. A genuine American Telecaster, not the cheap Mexican or Japanese versions. And it is a black American Telecaster, because I saw Springsteen play one once, and being a huge Springsteen fan, that was enough for me.

Anyway, back to the Uke. I sort of had an interest in the Ukulele previously, but I didn't follow through with it. Then I saw a documentary on TV called "The Mighty Uke", and I was sold, not on the instrument itself, but on the fun I saw everybody having, and it took me back to the days when I was hanging with the band. It's the greatest fun playing with somebody (I once had a jam session with my friend, just him on keyboards and me on a bass that happened to be in the room. I don't really play bass so I made it up as I went along. We were there playing, getting in to it, and I glanced at a clock, and we had been playing for 6 hours straight! It seemed like 6 minutes...)

As you can see from the above picture, this Ukulele, made by Lanakai, one of the top brands, is a magnificent looking piece of machinery. It inspired me to indulge in my other great love, photography, and take a series of classy pics (well, as classy as I can get with a little point and shoot camera). There's even a couple with big brother Tele...

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the Mighty Uke: