Vintage Kamaka soprano

This isn't a proper review as the ukulele isn't actually playable yet, but I wanted to post about it and see if anyone has any information about it, or advice as to the next steps to take to make it playable. Please feel free to re-categorize the post if I chose the wrong category.

It all started when I decided to look on Etsy for ukuleles on a whim, and I found what was listed as a vintage Kamaka flamewood koa soprano ukulele from the 1920s. I didn't think "flamewood" was really a thing, but it was pretty anyway and I was tempted by the idea of a Kamaka.

The seller listed the visible condition issues, including 3 cracks on the top, 3 missing tuners, a tiny chip at the bottom edge on the back, a few spots where the finish is thin, and a lightly scratched name and address on the back. The seller stated that she was not familiar with ukuleles, and I am not really familiar with Kamakas, but I decided to take a chance and bought it. It was $215 (shipping extra). Here is a link to pictures: http://imgur.com/a/uC3uq

Once the uke arrived, I noticed that the soundhole area had a strong musty smell and the cracks were worse than the seller described. Not horrible, but I can see light through them if I put a flashlight in the soundhold in a dark room. Everything else was as described. It has its flaws, but that wood is beautiful!

There is no label in the body, so I am unsure how to get more information on it, aside from an approximate date based on the headstock decal. I looked for pictures online and found a couple of listings for other ukuleles that seem similar with the headstock decal,
3 concentric rosettes around the soundhole, and the way the neck is attached to the body, but I don’t know if my uke is really the same as these ukes:

http://manningsmusicals.co.uk/ukulele/rare-early-kamaka-ukulele-ukelele/

http://ukulelefriend.com/ukes/1920s-kamaka-soprano-ukulele/

So is this really a Kamaka? If so, does anyone know anything about it? Did I pay too much? It’s okay if I did. I think it’s beautiful, even if it isn’t really a Kamaka.

I haven’t done much to it yet. I used very fine steel wool to shine the frets, and I put some baking soda and dried rice in the soundhole to clean out the dirt and yuckiness as I saw advised in previous posts to the forum. It worked like a charm and the uke is amazingly fresh smelling now! I installed Ping tuners as they were small enough to fit in the holes without modification. I know wooden pegs are the proper tuners to install, but I wanted to see if it would actually even play well before putting too much more money into it. I actually don’t think the body needs cleaning, and I really don’t want to damage the wood so I’m holding off on anything further.

I tried to string it, but all of my strings are too fat to fit through the holes on the bridge. I tried both Aquila new nylgut and Martin M600s (what I had on hand), but neither fit. I was afraid to exert too much pressure trying to force the strings to fit as two of the three worst cracks run alongside the bridge. I don’t know if it’s possible to rip a bridge off, but I don’t want to find out on this uke!

That leads me to my final questions. Does anyone know what strings will fit through these holes? Also, should I even attempt to string it without stabilizing the cracks?

Thanks for any advice!

likely get a better response in the Uke Tech Support forum. I'd try Oasis lights. Best thing is to take some really good pics and forward them to Kamaka for their take on it. Those cracks likely need professional attention. A Kamaka refurb job an option as well. Pictures would have helped a lot here as well.
mmstan is our Kamaka go to on UU.

Thanks. I'll try reposting it. I did include a link to pictures in my post. I'm sorry if it didn't work.

The thinnest strings I know of, with the lowest tension and brightest tone are the Worth CL (clears). the Worth BL (browns) will ALSO fit and are the same gauges, but will have a 'warmer' tone.

You can see gauges here (SCROLL DOWN): http://worthc.to/english/w_strings.html

They are about $12 per set online, but they are double length (2 sets), meant to be cut exactly in HALF, and if not in half exactly you will not have enough for a second set.

You can find them online at Elderly, Strings By Mail and Strings And Beyond, all of which I have bought strings from with no problems ever from any of these vendors.

The Worth CL should fit even the thinnest bridge and nut slots.

Hope this helps.

ETA: Aquila REDS, LAVA and the new CarbonBlack are also thinner than most other string sets, but I do not have the string gauges yet on these.

I have always had good success, feel and pleasing tone with the Worth CL and BL strings.

Looks genuine to me - that's koa, and I can't see why anyone would fake a uke in that condition for such a low price.

The cracks are pretty big and do affect the structural stability of the top. I wouldn't string it up until they are fixed.

This is how I'd go about it (but I'm a builder, this isn't a good uke for someone's first attempt!):

1. Clean out the cracks as much as possible with distilled water.

2. Rehumidify the uke to see how much they close up. With luck finger pressure will be enough to close them.

3. Work hot hide glue into the cracks and clamp up. Clean off glue residue after.

4. Cleat each crack with little spruce patches.

5. Check for loose braces and reglue as necessary.

Not a big job, but whoever does it needs to know what they are doing. When searching for a luthier/repairer ask them to explain how they'll do the repair, and if it's not something like this then I wouldn't use them. Superglue/crazy glue is a no-no, for example!

Your bridge would have been made for gut strings which are quite fat, so I'm surprised you can't fit modern strings which tend to be thinner. Silly question, but are you trying to thread a string through from the tail of the uke towards the head? For this style of bridge you just tie a knot in the end of the string and slide the string into the slot so that the knot sits in the hole at the tail end of the bridge. If the slots are too narrow, your luthier can quickly make them wider.

1920s ukes are fairly rare, so once fixed it should be worth rather more than you paid for it - I'd guess 2 or 3 times what you paid, to allow for the repaired cracks.

Sorry, I got the impression that those links were of similar ones. Oasis lights were the string most recommended to me when I got my Kamaka soprano and I'm glad I followed the recommendation. Perfect fit and sounds amazing and bright, which is what I wanted.

Booli said:

The thinnest strings I know of, with the lowest tension and brightest tone are the Worth CL (clears). the Worth BL (browns) will ALSO fit and are the same gauges, but will have a 'warmer' tone.

You can see gauges here (SCROLL DOWN): http://worthc.to/english/w_strings.html

They are about $12 per set online, but they are double length (2 sets), meant to be cut exactly in HALF, and if not in half exactly you will not have enough for a second set.

You can find them online at Elderly, Strings By Mail and Strings And Beyond, all of which I have bought strings from with no problems ever from any of these vendors.

The Worth CL should fit even the thinnest bridge and nut slots.

Hope this helps.

ETA: Aquila REDS, LAVA and the new CarbonBlack are also thinner than most other string sets, but I do not have the string gauges yet on these.

I have always had good success, feel and pleasing tone with the Worth CL and BL strings.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the suggestions and the gauges! I have wanted to try some of these anyway, so it's a good excuse to buy some, even if they don't fit this uke.

It was confusing. There was a link to pictures of mine, as well as links to pictures of some I thought were similar. I just thought it might be easier to link to pictures of mine on a different site rather than trying to upload that many on the forum. I haven't tried Oasis lights, so I'll add those to the list as well

ProfChris said:

Looks genuine to me - that's koa, and I can't see why anyone would fake a uke in that condition for such a low price.

The cracks are pretty big and do affect the structural stability of the top. I wouldn't string it up until they are fixed.

This is how I'd go about it (but I'm a builder, this isn't a good uke for someone's first attempt!):

1. Clean out the cracks as much as possible with distilled water.

2. Rehumidify the uke to see how much they close up. With luck finger pressure will be enough to close them.

3. Work hot hide glue into the cracks and clamp up. Clean off glue residue after.

4. Cleat each crack with little spruce patches.

5. Check for loose braces and reglue as necessary.

Not a big job, but whoever does it needs to know what they are doing. When searching for a luthier/repairer ask them to explain how they'll do the repair, and if it's not something like this then I wouldn't use them. Superglue/crazy glue is a no-no, for example!

Your bridge would have been made for gut strings which are quite fat, so I'm surprised you can't fit modern strings which tend to be thinner. Silly question, but are you trying to thread a string through from the tail of the uke towards the head? For this style of bridge you just tie a knot in the end of the string and slide the string into the slot so that the knot sits in the hole at the tail end of the bridge. If the slots are too narrow, your luthier can quickly make them wider.

1920s ukes are fairly rare, so once fixed it should be worth rather more than you paid for it - I'd guess 2 or 3 times what you paid, to allow for the repaired cracks.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the detailed response and advice!

I'm glad to have confirmation that it's koa at least. I knew it was solid wood from looking at it, but I've never seen koa in person so wasn't confident enough to determine the species. You're right - it doesn't make much sense to fake something in that condition. I should have thought of that.

Thank you for the repair steps. I have never had a uke repaired and don't know the first thing about choosing a luthier. I definitely don't feel confident enough to try repairing it myself, but I'm grateful to have your list so I'll know how someone should go about repairing it. And I wouldn't mind trying my hand at fixing a cheaper one myself someday, so I'll save the steps for reference if I ever have the chance and get brave I'll wait on stringing it until it's fixed, just to be safe.

That isn't a silly question. It's always good to start at the base level when troubleshooting. I tried tying the knot in the end of the string and sliding it into the slot. I never anticipated having issues with strings not fitting. I'll mention it to the luthier and see what he thinks.

Your assessment gives me hope that I didn't buy a total dud! I'll have to post a real review once it's fixed and playable. Thanks!

Before I had anyone else do anything to it, I'd send photos to Kamaka and find out how much and how long it would take them to put it back in playable condition. This uke is potentially valuable and Kamaka is your best bet. I have my dad's 1957 Kamaka soprano that was water damaged in a moving van fire. About 15 years ago, I had it fixed locally by a reputable shop. They did a pretty good job but I wish now I'd known that I could have had Kamaka do it.

the Kamaka folks are friendly and very helpful. I've seen some of their prices for repairing and restoring older ukes and they seem quite reasonable if you're not in a hurry.