Uncle Fred

Russ

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Had the opportunity to tour the Kamaka factory and take my ukulele home to meet its maker last week. On the way out, had the pleasure of meeting Fred Kamaka. This is what your face looks like after making ukes for 50 years (his, not mine). What a lovely guy.



FredKamaka.jpg
 
Had the opportunity to tour the Kamaka factory and take my ukulele home to meet its maker last week. On the way out, had the pleasure of meeting Fred Kamaka. This is what your face looks like after making ukes for 50 years (his, not mine). What a lovely guy.

"take my ukulele home to meet its maker." Love it!

I don't mean to hijack your thread or turn it into a "Post your photos with Uncle Fred" thread (although that would be fun!), but here's my photo with Uncle Fred from April 2011, when he let me hold (and even play) an early Kamaka pineapple.

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Aaaaaah, yet another reason to visit Hawaii.
 
Awesome! That Uncle Fred is pretty quick for his age! I didn't think about it at the time since I'm not big on collecting autographs but for Fred Kamaka Sr. I should've gotten him to sign the back of my headstock or at least my uke case.

Here's a little flashback to 2012 when I visited the factory. :)

 
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My wife and I visit Oahu frequently to visit her family. We took the tour with Uncle Fred, what a wonderful man! He moves like a man in his forties.
I ended up ordering a tenor, best thing I've ever bought. I can't imagine ever playing a better instrument.
 
Great video that. Good point about Fred's sig somewhere on the uke. I have Jake's initials on the back of my uke where neck meets body...Fred's on the headstock near the K/K logo would have been a GREAT idea.


Awesome! That Uncle Fred is pretty quick for his age! I didn't think about it at the time since I'm not big on collecting autographs but for Fred Kamaka Sr. I should've gotten him to sign the back of my headstock or at least my uke case.

Here's a little flashback to 2012 when I visited the factory. :)

 
How cute is he!!

Guess I'm going to have to save an extra $2k above and beyond our Hawaii fund...I told John that I would HAVE to buy a uke there...
 
No one can talk story like Uncle Fred does. His age always looks the same year to year. He says his time in the infantry keeps him able to move. My husband will tell you it didn't work for him and he's quite a bit younger than Uncle Fred.
 
Had the opportunity to tour the Kamaka factory and take my ukulele home to meet its maker last week. On the way out, had the pleasure of meeting Fred Kamaka. This is what your face looks like after making ukes for 50 years (his, not mine). What a lovely guy.



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thats wonderful, how fun for you!
 
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