Old Kamaka Pineapple - Worth Saving?

hilot.h. · Apr 18, 2014

Haven't you bought it YET????

stevepetergal · Apr 18, 2014

First of all, in response to your question: If you have the dough, it is absolutely worth repairing.

ScooterD35 said:
I would take it to a really good luthier and get a price to repair, rather than replace, the cracks and separations.

I would prefer to have Kamaka replace the top and back. You would have more permanent repairs. (Shimmed or filled cracks are short-term fixes and over-humidification is arguably a waste of time.) And it would still be 100% Kamaka. Just think, if you had a Manuel Nunes, you couldn't do that. I would surely have the original manufacturer/builder do the whole job. But, that's just me.

P.S. - Thought about it a little more. 300 bucks is nothing for top and back replacement, re-gluing bridge, sanding, refinishing, stringing, set-up,.... My luthier would be charging at least twice that. Probably three times!! I would expect to pay $300 just to do the repairs and finish. Crazy not to have Kamaka do the whole job, if you can afford it.

RyanMFT · Apr 18, 2014

mm stan said:
Yes Ryan, most times I would rather keep the ukulele original, but looking at this one, there are far way too many cracks and it would probally hurt the value even more than putting a new back and sides on. Alot easier fixing, looks nicer at the end and probally worth more.. I am like you, whenever it is possible to keep it original, I would...in this instance though, way too many cracks..it's the most I probally seen on a uke...holy smoke.. like I told matt, it will probally sound different if changed....whether bad or better we will know after the strings are on....I am sure and confident in kamaka in doing it right though....anyone else maybe not so much....

I guess it depends on what you want to do with it.

toddir58 · Apr 18, 2014

gtomatt said:
A lady here at work has a Kamaka pineapple she has owned since the 1960's. Unfortunately, she has stored it quite poorly and it has dried out/cracked. Sending photos to Kamaka has gotten me a rough quote of $250 - $300 to restore it (replacing top and back) and upgrading the tuners.

Do you think it's worth the investment? Any idea of what it might be worth completed (just curious - if I invest that much in it the odds are pretty darn good I'll be keeping it).

Mahalo,
MattView attachment 66000 View attachment 66001 View attachment 66002 View attachment 66003 View attachment 66004

Don't even think twice about getting the uke,run,don't walk and get this uke,send it to kamaka and wait about a year,as that is how long it usually takes to get one repaired at their shop. I have a 30's and a 40's pineapple,that i play daily and the sound is spectacular !!!

Xtradust · Apr 20, 2014

I'd plan to restore the heck out of it as it hung on my wall. $50?! I would have torn my pocket, trying to get my wallet out!

chuck in ny · Apr 20, 2014

they are being pretty reasonable and you will get a new looking instrument. it is largely dependent on the appearance, on that particular ukulele i would lose the original skins. jmo.

The Big Kahuna · Apr 20, 2014

The last bottle of Gin I bought cost more than $ 50.00, and that lasted about 4 hours. Buy it, then use it to learn how to renovate an instrument yourself. If you screw it up, it'll have cost you very little, and probably won't be any worse than it is now, so you can still send it off to Kamaka. If you don't screw it up, you'll have a vintage instrument that's almost totally original, and one which you renovated yourself.

Teek · Apr 20, 2014

It will cost maybe $50 each way to ship. The top is a mess so that at least needs replacing, so they need to take off the fretboard and bridge to replace it, check all the braces etc. and also you need to know if the neck is straight. If it was me I'd buy it and put it on my wall while I thought about it. I hate seeing nice old collectibles being treated like rubbish. This one doesn't look really spectacular though and be sure you like the old bar frets and the overall feel before sending it off for repair.

The Big Kahuna · Apr 20, 2014

To be honest, it's a pineapple. I'd buy it for 50 bucks and turn the damn thing into a clock.

BlackBearUkes · Apr 20, 2014

Well, as someone who restores this kind of thing all the time, hear is my professional opinion. I would restore the top and back plates, not replace them. All those cracks can be repaired and the uke made whole. If done right, you would have a hard time even finding the cracks once the work is completed. Please don't pretend to know what you are talking about if you have no idea on how to do the work. Opinons are not repairs and a lot of the responses to this thread are idiotic. Also, the bridge is not original and needs to be replaced with one that is like the oridinal design. Its your call, but it can be made right.

Skinny Money McGee · Apr 21, 2014

Duane, what makes you say the bridge is not original? Looks very similar to my 61 Kamaka Standard.

BlackBearUkes · Apr 21, 2014

Skinny Money McGee said:
Duane, what makes you say the bridge is not original? Looks very similar to my 61 Kamaka Standard.

Well, as many Kamaka ukes as I have repaired over the years, I don't recall ever seeing one of that vintage with a rosewood bridge and a bone saddle. Maybe I'm wrong, they liked to change things up a lot. I seem to remember a one piece koa bridge.

mm stan · Apr 21, 2014

BlackBearUkes said:
Well, as many Kamaka ukes as I have repaired over the years, I don't recall ever seeing one of that vintage with a rosewood bridge and a bone saddle. Maybe I'm wrong, they liked to change things up a lot. I seem to remember a one piece koa bridge.

I have a couple gold original kamakas with darker wood and streaker darker stridations bridges than that, early 60's models...also It may not be bone in the picture as both of mine came with a translucent white plastic
that are not as white as bone...I can see in the picture it is NOT bone white either, even with the bad picture....as for the top and back, everyone has their own opinion...sorry

The Big Kahuna · Apr 21, 2014

BlackBearUkes said:
Please don't pretend to know what you are talking about if you have no idea on how to do the work. Opinons are not repairs and a lot of the responses to this thread are idiotic.

If we ever lose Rick Turner for good, at least we have a spare.

molokinirum · Apr 25, 2014

Yes...send it to Kamaka. I have a 1935 Kamaka Pineapple that I sent to Kamaka for repair and it was $300 and they did an amazing job. Worth every penny.

Here is Fred Jr. playing my restored Kamaka Pineapple!!

stevepetergal · Jun 12, 2014

I'm the idiotic one here. I've only repaired several thousand soundboard cracks. The repairs may last for years. They may not, even done well. But the ones that last are temporary. Period.

iamesperambient · Jun 12, 2014

gtomatt said:
A lady here at work has a Kamaka pineapple she has owned since the 1960's. Unfortunately, she has stored it quite poorly and it has dried out/cracked. Sending photos to Kamaka has gotten me a rough quote of $250 - $300 to restore it (replacing top and back) and upgrading the tuners.

Do you think it's worth the investment? Any idea of what it might be worth completed (just curious - if I invest that much in it the odds are pretty darn good I'll be keeping it).

Mahalo,
MattView attachment 66000 View attachment 66001 View attachment 66002 View attachment 66003 View attachment 66004

if you have the money maybe you could send it back to kamaka and see if they can restore it for you
kamaka is the holy grail of ukuleles i would do everything you can to restore it but thats just me.

kkimura · Jun 13, 2014

Whether restored or repaired, that old Kamaka deserves to be heard again.

gtomatt · Apr 13, 2015

Update on my Kamaka pineapple...

I sent the pineapple home to Kamaka to be refurbished in November of 2014. They returned it to me completed on April 10 (last week). It took much less time than I anticipated. They finished it in five months - I thought it would be almost a full year. The job they did was very impressive. If you compare the finished photos to the original photos in this thread, I'm sure you'll see what I mean. They repaired the top, back, reseated and cleaned up the frets, reglued the bridge (yes - it was the original bridge - there had been some questions on that), and refinished it. I also
had them upgrade the tuners to the Gotoh UPT's. Kamaka also returned the original tuners & original strings that were on it to me. They even saved/reused the original label! Much thanks to Christine, Tekla, and the whole Kamaka ohana for bringing it back from the brink! I played it for the original owner this weekend, who unfortunately is battling stage four breast cancer.
Since she had never learned to play it (it sat unplayed since her parents purchased it for her new), she was very happy to see it in this condition & actually hear it sing after so many years.

Matt