I've been asked to play Beatles songs on a Uke for an upcoming wedding. I don't know much about uke, so I picked up a used "Donner" cheapy from a thrift store's online site. There were no accessories. Donner instruments are at or close to the bottom of the price range across the board, but I figured if it was playable at all, I could get some practice in before shopping for a better instrument.

Turned out it was like new and didn't suck. Plus it had a built-in pickup and tuner, which isn't a bad thing either.

Later, on a "Stupid Deal of the Day" from Musician's friend, I bought a Mitchel uke for half price. It wasn't as nice as the Donner. Also, it didn't have a gig bag.

Last weekend, at a "flea market" in Crawfordsville, Indiana, I came across the ugliest gig bag I've ever seen, for $10.

The Mitchell uke is back in the trapezoid-shaped box it came in. And now the Donner uke is protected as well.

Digging through the ugly gig bag, I found receipts, tiny "owner's manual" sheets and other scraps of paper that related to several brands of uke, so obviously this gig bag has "gotten around."

There was no branding on the gig bag, but the zipper "pulls" were both emblazoned with "Hello Kitty" branding. I have a feeling they were aftermarket.

The next day, in Chicago, I picked up a Beatles songbook, after checking to make certain that it included "Here, There, and Everywhere," as well as "I Will," two of the songs I hope to perform.

At the moment, I'm still using the Donner uke. If something better comes across my path, I may spring for it.

The gig bag and Donner uke are shown below.