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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
 Posted - 11/20/2010 : 10:26:14 AM
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OK, I knew that would get your attention.
Someone just alerted me to the pair Danny Ferington gourd ‘ukulele for sale in the current Neiman Marcus catalog. For $6000.
http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/sitelets/christmasbook/fantasy.jhtml?cid=CBF10_O4841&r=cat33500731&rdesc=The%20Fantasy%20Gifts
Now, Danny is an amazing luthier, and his tuff is owned by a bevy of rockstars and the like. So I'm not going to quibble too much about the cost.
But, six thousand clams??? For two ukes???? Made out of gourds????? sheesh.
However, here's the funny bit. In a paragraph describing the gift some lucky couple with more money than sense might soon own, there is this bold assertion:
Created in the Hawaiian islands by Micronesian immigrants in the 1870s, the ukulele quickly became integral to the Hawaiian cultural heritage.
Waddaya think? The copywriter did not have a spell checker? The editor did a sloppy job?? Someone is trying to fool the buyer???
Or maybe they know that supper rich folks will pay more if they get a genuine Micronesian - inspired cheap-o uke????
Or is there a new line of research opening up here?
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2010 : 11:09:38 AM
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I was thinking about growing gourds in my garden this season so I could make drums and shakers with them, they seem such a nice uke shape and liked the idea of making a uke out of them too, I didn't know you could charge $6000 for them! HA! :P
I might actualy charge in clams for mine, clams are so 'ono. :D |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2010 : 12:30:45 PM
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| NM coulda bought real Koa ukes handmade from HI from any number of makers and charge the same price and still make a bunch. |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2183 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2010 : 12:41:53 PM
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| Build it and they will come. Charge an outlandish price and they will pay. Why use a toilet paper when you have a $20? |
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RobO
Akahai
USA
97 Posts |
Posted - 11/21/2010 : 07:31:55 AM
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| If you read the catalog, I'm pretty sure that price is for 1 uke. YIKES!!! |
a hui hou... Rob
"Lawe i ka ma'alea a ku'ono'ono"
Translation: Acquire skill and make it deep |
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Trev
Lokahi
United Kingdom
265 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2010 : 06:47:58 AM
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There are some people who adopt the motto ‘you get what you pay for’. I think the truth is more like the price is what the ‘market’ will bear. In other words ‘you pay what they can get away with charging.’
People in my country pay, what, $2 equivalent for bottled water. This is 1000% mark up on the stuff that basically comes out of the tap. Why? I’ve no idea.
But musicians think a different way to most people. I’m particularly miserly most of the time. I eat cheap food, only wear cheap clothes, some of which have lasted me 20 years or more. I don’t aspire to owning a car, and I never eat out. We have a pizza/Chinese/Indian meal delivered about once or twice a month as a luxury, and I usually spread that out over two, sometimes three days.
However, I happily paid $4,000 for a mandolin, and thought this was a perfectly reasonable and justifiable amount to pay. I would have spent more too, no question, if I’d thought the more expensive ones sounded any better. Yet I won’t pay $40 for a pair of jeans. Likewise I blanch at the thought of paying $120 to go to London on the train, but over 10% of my annual (before tax) income on a trip to Hawaii? Perfectly reasonable.
I’m not spending $6,000 on a uke though. Ferrington or no Ferrington.
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2010 : 08:56:00 AM
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I agree it's pretty ridiculous, but compared to anything from Bose, they are charging a very modest price! 
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 11/22/2010 : 09:48:40 AM
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How about the Chanel guitar? It's a nylon string made in Portugal. A better value compared to the gourd ʻukulele? I am not sure, but fashionistas have to be impressed when you walk in with a quilted calfskin Chanel gig bag.  |
Andy |
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Bau
Lokahi
USA
226 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2010 : 03:54:16 AM
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lol
did you see their fishing pole? rotfl I emagine the local fisherman would be duely impressed as well. |
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Ku i keleawe
Aloha
19 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2010 : 07:42:45 AM
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My two passions in life are slack key and fly fishing. I used to think that people who paid high prices for vintage fly rods were high rollers until I became aquainted with the world of vintage guitars.
It was a surprise to read Bau's reference to a fishing rod here on Taropatch, so of course I had to check it out. You're right Mark: some rich people ARE stoopid. What are they thinking??
Best wishes to all for a Happy Thanksgiving holiday.
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Proof that Some Rich People Are Stoopid
