I have several, a Y'Ke'Ke soprano, a Hawaiian Mfg. Co. soprano, and a Nunes taropatch. They all came needing work. The HMC has the smallest body and, ironically, is the loudest. So loud in fact that my wife doesn't like me to play it when she is in the house. I repaired a number of cracks on the top. I love the almost primitive way it looks and especially the gorgeous koa Neck and body), but it is crudely constructed in comparison to Martins and the contemporary Hawaiian makers. It plays okay, but because the frets are laid in the neck, i.e., no raised fingerboard, it can get challenging up the neck. At 13", the scale length is a bit less comfortable as well. The neck is very thin and narrow at the nut. The tone is somewhat brash and boxy. They didn't use bridge patches on these, which is another reason, in addition to the thin wood, why the tops tend to crack.
The Y'Ke'Ke is roughly the same size but deeper bodied. It is not quite as loud, but a little mellower. It appears to be of the same dimensions as the Kumalaes. It came to me with a badly cracked up back over which a previous owner had collaged. While the 20s-30s characters were cool, they were also starting to flake off, and there were patches of glue exposed. I just redid the back completely. The neck is kind of funny, comfortable near the nut, but it gets comparatively bulky up the neck.
The Nunes is still in the hospital. It needed just about everything. It was literally falling apart when I got it. I have it back together, and I did put a bridge patch in, both in anticipation that it won't sound so brash and boxy and because it would have required so many cleats in that area anyway that the patch accomplishes instead. The wood is almost paper thin, which made it hard to realign the top and back with the sides while putting it back together. The sides at the upper bouts are kinked, i.e., not evenly rounded. The back of the neck as it goes into the headstock is anything but symmetrical.
Personally, I think these are more interesting as objects than they are great players. Although, in terms of the sheer volume of sound they produce, they are astonishing. The style 5s, with the rope binding going around the bodies and up the sides and centers of the necks and rosettes, and extraordinarily curly koa are amazing things to behold. I don't think I would pay thousands for one though. You can find the plainer ones more in the $200 - $250 range, making them worth a try, Gary.