The Great Ukulele Revival

[Basil Henriques]

From the March 2010 issue of Aloha Dream:-

[STEDDIE EDDIE]

my first music lesson was at the age of 5, i well remember my late dad, a very accomplished accordian player, taking me to ukelele lessons, presumably cos thats how far my little fingers could stretch, but in recent years, i have watched Joe Brown playing his uke, in particular, in tribute to the late great George Harrison [another uke player, and big guitar influence on me] playing what became known as Georges song, 'i'll see you in my dreams' which actually dates back to the 1920's i believe, and was one of the first 'band in a box' backing tracks that i made early this year,[my own little tribute to George] unfortunately recorded without a uke, i actually wouldnt mind getting a ukelele, perhaps you could point me in the direction as to where to look, Basil, for a decent instrument, not the usual music shop rubbish ones,

[Dave Boothroyd]

One of the staff team at Worcester started a Ukelele orchestra with the students, doing mostly Rock and Grunge songs. That group included an electro/acoustic bass guitar, on the grounds that since it had only four strings, it was clearly a bass Uke really.
It was a similar argument that justified the use of five-string, circular skin-topped mandocellos (banjos) in the Frets Orchestra when we played at the convention of American Mandolin Orchestras.
It wasn't me Guv! I was playing guitar!
Actually, maybe because I do play mandolin, I find the sound of the Uke dull and lacking both treble and sustain. I've played one, but it does nothing for me.
Cheers
Dave