Author: Uke Guy

Sneak Peak: Kala’s Solid Body U-Bass

Kala has really revolutionized both the Ukulele and the Bass guitar with their U-Bass.  Heck, the U-Bass has been featured in live performances and studio recordings for the likes of Sting, Paul Simon and Jimmy Buffett.  I was lucky enough to play one at a local music store and it blew my mind.  The strings feel like nothing you've ever played.  What's even better is that if you close your eyes you'd swear it was an upright bass.  It has BUCKETS of bottom end.

So, what did Kala do?  Yup, come out with a solid body version of this bad boy.  Now I have to explain to my wife why we need to have two ukulele bass guitars in the house.  Heh.  I just finished convincing her that I just HAD TO buy my new 1973 Gibson EB-0 bass.  Doh!

Feast your eyes on the Kala Solid Body U-bass:

Kala Solid Body U-Bass
Kala Solid Body U-Bass

If you want to see a demo of this beast, check out this video of Hutch Hutchinson pretty much slaying it.

Video: Kazookeylele – Final Countdown

So, you know who I want in my corner when the S really hits the F.  (Why couldn't I spell Fan?  Good Question).  I don't want Indiana Jones, I don't want Boba Fett.... I need this guy right here.  I can just tell that he's who you need in your corner in a clutch cargo situation.

I'm also thinking how to take this thing to the next level. I mean, how many nerdy instruments can we combine? For example, the accordion appears to be sadly lacking. Not that I'm knocking the Kazookeylele. I would literally kill my own brother to own one. But, while I dreaming, can't I dream of a version that has an accordion and theremin built in? I think so.

Anyway, moving onward. How about the song choice for this video? I think one of my first ever posts was of this same fella doing Bohemian Rhapsody.  I think Final Countdown might even be a better representation of the Kazookeylele, although I'm not sure which video was first.  I think maybe this one was.  So, he might have redone the instrument since then.  I'll find out when I start stalking him. 😉

Video: The Electric Fence Wager (part 5)

Well, you knew what was coming.  Or, if you didn't, you weren't really paying attention to parts 1-4.  In this particular installment (which started as some sort of crazy promotion for the Eleuke Electric Ukulele) Colin finally puts his nuts where his mouth is.  Err... that didn't quite sound right.  Long story short, he puts his testicles squarely on the electric fence in my backyard.

Yes, I realize that this only barely qualifies as a ukulele video.  Meh.  You can't deny a guy a public forum from which he can humiliate his beloved kinfolk can you?

Video: You Didn’t Have a Girl (the making of)

Hmm..  I totally thought I had posted this song already, but it looks like I was wrong.  So, here's the deal.  This Christmas, Erika (my wife) and I agreed to not spend very much money on presents for each other.  So, I had to sort of get creative.  Luckily, I'm the king of pulling a song out of my hat with a moment's notice.  And, this time I had helpers!

Or, rather, anti-helpers as the case may be.  You see, I decided to involve my two sons in the recording process.  In hindsight, this was a terrible idea, but the end result turned out great.  It was just incredibly painful.  They fight like cats and dogs on a good day and (as you can tell from their jammies) it was getting on in the day.

Anyhoo, I made the process even more painful by videotaping parts of the recording "session" with my Flip MinoHD.  I had actually forgotten that I had done this until I found the videos today.  So, I decided to finally give Adobe Premiere a shot and try and do some video editing.  This is my first editing attempt so please be gentle.  You should just be lucky I wasn't doing "star wipes" all over the place. Also, I guess I have to figure out how to edit it without that black border around the whole thing. If you are an Premiere genius, then I welcome your input.

If you want to hear the finished product, then give this a listen: Ukulele Guy - You Didn't Have a Girl

Oh yeah, and I was using my aNueNue Banjolele in this song.

NOTE: Of course, after I already uploaded this video and wrote the post I realized what I did wrong in Premiere.  The next video won't have those annoying black bars around it.  I'm not sure I'm going to re-do it, though, because I don't see a way to do that easily without starting all the way over.  And, I'm way to lazy for that.

Video: “I’m a mess” – the Valentine’s Day song

Now, before we get started, I have some defending to do.  Since February 2nd, at least one person in our house has been sick.  For myself, I was sick from like the 6th through the 13th.  So, as you can imagine, all of the Valentine's Day planning and shopping that I would normally do went right out the window.  Now, I know what you are thinking, "Hang on Ukulele Guy, you don't strike me as a real planning type.  How can we accept this excuse when you probably wouldn't have done any planning or shopping for Valentine's Day had you been healthy?"  And, my reply to that is "Shut up!"  Sheesh.

So, anyway, once again I'm left with only my once-quick-but-now-dulled-through-years-of-beer wits and my trusty Ukulele.  Thankfully, driving to my oldest son's Valentine's Day party at school I got stopped at a train crossing.  I swear the train must have been 200 freaking cars song.  For some reason I had the radio off so I just started singing "I'm a mess, but I'm your mess" and that got me started.  Unfortunately, it took me until February 15th to finish the song.  But, on the plus side, I actually wrote a bridge for once.  Anyway, here's the video for it.

Now, I'm not sure why you would want the lyrics and chords to this song. I mean, unless your kids are also named Simon and Gus and you also like all the same stuff that I do and you also drink beer and play Nethack till 4am? If those things are true then we need to hang out.

I'm a Mess - Ukulele Guy
Chords:
Ab - 5343
Cm - 0333
Db - 1114
Gdim - 0101
Bbm - 3111 (sometimes 6564)
Fm - 5543 (sometimes 1013)
Eb - 3331 (sometimes 3336)

Bbm  Gdim
Intro

Ab
I am lying on back lookin' up
Cm
not a star in the sky
Db
or a satellite
Gdim
and I wonder why
       Bbm 3111 6564
wonder why-y-y-y-y

Well I can 
Ab
waste time thinking bout stars
Cm
till the early morn
Db
yet year after year I somehow manage to forget
      Gdim
the day you were born

that perfect day that you were born

           Ab
Well I'm a mess
        Fm (5543)
But I'm YOUR mess
                Bbm (6564)
despite all the stupid things I do
    Eb 3331
I'm hopeless-ly
    Eb 3336
craz-y about you

Bb Gdim

Who do you pick
in a battle 'tween a wizard and jedi knight
it's important
that I answer this one right
well I may stay up all night

And when I 
don't get up in time to help with simon and gus
it was just because
the question was too tough
but I answered for the both of us
Chorus


Fm
And even if I said that I tried my best to
Ab
warn you
Fm
There is no way you could know
Ab
what you were getting into
Bb                Fm
I am geek on nerd compounded
Bb Fm
I am dorkiness expounded
Eb
But I'm yours
Bb         Gdim
I'm youuuuurss
and I'm a mess
Chorus