Fleamarket Ukulele rebuild
October 3, 2010 at 4:01 am | Posted in General, Projects | 3 CommentsTags: Care, cheap, DIY, home made, learning, Play, posts, sale, seconds, uke, ukulele
Some would say there is a special place in hell for what I did to this uke. The first rule when finding a vintage ukulele is to never, I mean never ever strip the original finish off. So I did it anyways. In my defense the name on the head was gone, head was torn, and the tuning pegs were shot. Not to mention that there was no bridge or tailpiece.
Go HERE to see pics of it before I “restored” it.
So here is the list of what I did:
- Pulled it a part
- sanded it down
- stained it reddish purple
- Sanded and repainted the ring that hold the head
- Put a new head on (Here is the post on how)
- changed the tuners for some smaller ones (Had to do a washer to cover the hole from the banjo tuners)
- Made a new bridge from maple
- Stole the tail piece from a mandolin I purchased several years ago
- Strings and all is done
- Made a case from cardboard duct tape (A post after the head replacement post)
I learned a few things while doing this and made a few mistakes along the way. I wish I would have not sanded the fretboard as much as I did, I scalloped it a little. The good thing is that it makes it faster, I just have to remember not to go all the way down to the fretboard sometimes. I did find a really cool micro file set to make the notches for the strings on the bridge. As a whole Aaron Keim played it and said I did a really good job when I brought it to the Milwaukee Ukulele fest.
I could not have done this with out Aaron, he was the only person who replied to me when I asked them how to replace the head. His instructions gave me the right basic steps on how to replace a head like that.
Please stay tuned for the next 2 posts about the head replacement and my cardboard case.
Sound Sample
Oscar Schmidt OU-2 Deal $49.99 Shipped
November 6, 2009 at 1:57 pm | Posted in Oscar Schmidt, Products | Leave a commentTags: cheap, Oscar Schmidt, OU-2, posts, sale, uke, ukulele
Oscar Schmidt OU-2 Deal at JR.com
So….I got an e-mail from JR.com about black Friday deals. I guess they are doing “deals” on every Friday of November. Well today they happen to have a ukulele. This is a place where I buy a lot of my electronics, but hey its a pretty good price. $49.99 Shipped
NOTE: This is one of my first ukuleles, I love it. They did have some issues back in the day with quality, but they have been resolved. Go to my other post on Oscar Schmidt to read more about it.
DEAL LASTS UNTIL SUNDAY AT MIDNIGHT SO HURRY!!!!
Ukuleles on the Cheap
August 4, 2009 at 6:26 pm | Posted in General | Leave a commentTags: cheap, sale, seconds, uke, ukulele
As we all know we can find inexpensive ukes on Ebay, but there are many more places to find great deals! You just have to know where to go and sometimes who to ask.
Wait and See Deal
MusiciansFriend.com Stupid deal of the day- Every so often there are ukuleles that come up for sale on their site. I bought a Rogue a couple of years back for $17 with free shipping (Not bad with $10 Worth strings on it). just look everyday and you may get lucky. I will post if one does show up.
Seconds
Seconds are a good way to get a pretty good deal on instruments that have minor cosmetic flaws. Usually they play just great. Just be aware of what you are buying and ask what is actually wrong with it before purchasing.
Risa – Risa has a section on their site for seconds and demos. I purchased a black soprano solid 2 years ago, and it came from Germany in no time. I have seen many great instruments on the site.
Ukuleleworld.com – I am always looking on this site. I love how many ukuleles they have at a very good price, but you can get some even cheaper. They have a section called Luthier’s Flea Market. As of right now there are 2 ukes on it, but I have seen books, cases, gig bags, bulk tuners, just everything.
Flea Market Music Store - While I was doing the review of the Fluke I asked if they had seconds that they sell, the answer is yes, you just have to call or e-mail to see what they have. Dale said that they can be up to 20% off the prices you find on the website store. Just contact them here for inventory requests.
Mim’s Ukes - I met Mim at summer NAMM 2010, she is the person holding the Ohana sopranino in this post. She owns a Hawaiian Snow/Ukulele shop in Charlotte, NC. While I was talking with her she told me that she sells seconds. All you have to do is call her and ask what she has and she will give you a great deal. Tell her Tim from Ukeeku sent you.
On a sad note; Kamaka use to have seconds for sale at the factory, but no more. I guess they stopped it a few years back. Just keep in mind that it never hurts to ask any place or manufacture that sells ukuleles about their stock of seconds.
Forums
Flea market Music Market Place – I love to take a look every so often on this site. You will see some good deals and some not so good deals. I can guarantee that you will see a huge variety.
Ukulele Underground Forum – On the UU forums there is a section called market place. It has a ton of great ukuleles for sale at great prices. Take a look, you will be surprised on what you find.
If you know of any others please leave a comment for all to see. I hope this helps people who want a good ukulele but don’t care if some person in a factory put their fingerprint into the finish or may have dropped it…a few times.
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