Help to estimate value of banjo uke

Hello, can anybody please help me to estimate the value of a banjo uke?

It is a Superuke, 22 1/4" long with what I guess is a maple body and metal ring with 12 lugs, 8 1/4" diameter and 2 3/8" deep, straight neck with 16 frets, real skin head, missing part of fret board and frets. The back is starting to pull away from the body. The fret board is coming off.

What is the value today?
What would it be if restored?
(Please see the attached photos)

I don´t own this instrument today. But am considering to eventually buy it.

If anybody have any further information concerning the superuke brand I´d be interested.

Best regards

Additional photos, please

It doesn't have a tone ring so doesn't look a particularly desirable model. I wouldn't want to pay more than £30 UK for that to restore, as it needs lots of re-fretting. (although saying that, if you only use the first 10 frets then you are fine as it should be a good player!)

pondweed said:

It doesn't have a tone ring so doesn't look a particularly desirable model. I wouldn't want to pay more than £30 UK for that to restore, as it needs lots of re-fretting. (although saying that, if you only use the first 10 frets then you are fine as it should be a good player!)

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The fret board is coming loose. So, it needs a new fretboard or reattachment of the present.
Why would it be a fine player? Of what reasons?

cheers

Here's one in so so condition. Doubt they will get $349 for it (maybe if it was completely refurbished) http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sup...Harmony-Kay-Roaring-20s-Ukulele-/271518092323

Here's another that sold on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1925-Supe...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

They aren't as subtle as ukuleles. I.e. Think loud, louder, loudest. This will be suitably characterful and won't cost you a fortune. (As will one made from a tin can that Aaron keim posted somewhere recently)

Use glue for the fretboard and get it playing first before you want to throw money at it. You might decide that, like a large proportion of the population, you don't like BUs...!

Thanks for your responses!
The frets look very sharp i.e. they would need to be attended to. But, do you think a Firefly will be more fun to play and sound better?
And give more playing musical dynamics?


Is eventually the banjo uke, that i have already, with a metal rim and plastic skin, more "banjo uke like"?
Beg your pardon for bad photos.

I agree with Pondweed, I wouldn't pay more than £30 (UK) for it. Looks to me like it will need a new fret board and the metal on it is in really poor condition which I think some of it will need re-chroming. It's still got the back on it at least which neither of the 2 that Phil found did. It may be a bit hard to determine if the neck is straight with the state of the frets at the moment.

Is eventually the banjo uke, that i have already, with a metal rim and plastic skin, more "banjo uke like"?
Beg your pardon for bad photos.

View attachment 68326 View attachment 68327[/QUOTE]

The firefly is a cute little banjo uke. It's light as a feather, has a decent head, and would make a great practice/travel instrument in my opinion. I love that little one you have with the cover on the back. I wish my soprano had a cover. To get a more "banjo uke" sound, you'd need to change the head to calfskin, or at least a Remo Rennaisance head and make sure you have some Aquila banjo uke strings on it.(recommended by Goldtone). It already has a nice strap on it. Questionable if the Firefly needs a strap it's so light. If you do get a "fixer-upper, suggest a concert size.

[/QUOTE]I love that little one you have with the cover on the back. I wish my soprano had a cover. To get a more "banjo uke" sound, you'd need to change the head to calfskin, or at least a Remo Rennaisance head and make sure you have some Aquila banjo uke strings on it.(recommended by Goldtone). It already has a nice strap on it. Questionable if the Firefly needs a strap it's so light. If you do get a "fixer-upper, suggest a concert size.[/QUOTE]

Now Thanks!, it is just a 17 cm or 6,67" wihich makes it difficult to change to Remo head or calfskin.

you can cut an 8" head down, but you have to make sure it's not too thick for your banjo uke. Too thick heads can be anywhere from extremely difficult to install to impossible.

PhilUSAFRet said:

you can cut an 8" head down, but you have to make sure it's not too thick for your banjo uke. Too thick heads can be anywhere from extremely difficult to install to impossible.

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Thanks and thanks everybody for replying concerning the estimated value too.

I can understand the above but how is the skin attached to the rim?
Is it a self glue within the hide or what?

My banjo uke now has what looks like a replaceable drumhead (in plastics) attached with epoxy glue to an aluminium frame. A 4 mm chromed steel rim that is pressed down by the 5 side screws holds the skin against the body. I guess the skin would let go if it wasn't carefully glued in some way.

If that one hit my bench I imagine it would need:
-new bridge, strings, nut, tuners
-fret dressing and setup. replacing the end of the fretboard and frets.

Considering all that, I would pay $50 for it and have to sell it for $300+ to makeup labor and parts, which is really more than it is worth.

Henning said:

Hello, can anybody please help me to estimate the value of a banjo uke?

It is a Superuke, 22 1/4" long with what I guess is a maple body and metal ring with 12 lugs, 8 1/4" diameter and 2 3/8" deep, straight neck with 16 frets, real skin head, missing part of fret board and frets. The back is starting to pull away from the body. The fret board is coming off.

What is the value today?
What would it be if restored?
(Please see the attached photos)

I don´t own this instrument today. But am considering to eventually buy it.

If anybody have any further information concerning the superuke brand I´d be interested.

Best regards

Click to expand...

I would not buy it, it appears to be in poor condition and does not seem to be a very good model.
I would let this one go and try to find another vintage banjolele in better condition.

iamesperambient said:

I would not buy it, it appears to be in poor condition and does not seem to be a very good model.
I would let this one go and try to find another vintage banjolele in better condition.

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Dear iamesperambient, can you please tell why it seems to not be a very good model?
I am curious to hear your opinion.
I'd also like to get to know what brand or type of (banjo) uke you would recommend to go for instead.
Or, what propertys a good banjo uke would posess.

kind regards

The banjo uke in question looks like it had an aftermarket fretboard attached to the neck, whereas the one showed in the eBay listing had the frets attached directly to the neck without a separate fretboard, just like my 1920s Stella Banjo Uke.

So, in my guesstimation, a prior owner pulled all of the frets out of the neck, overlaid a cheap fretboard (cheap because it has obviously fallen apart), and then somewhere along the line it was ignored, which is shy there are no strings, no bridge, and the tailpiece is rusted.

For comparison sake, I bought my Stella at a pawn shop of $30 USD, with the intention of using it as a wall hanger. The nut is chipped, the neck is slightly bent, the frets need leveling, the pot is out of round, there is a fair patina of rust on the metal parts, and the tuners need to be removed and cleaned very well. And so it was wall art until I joined a Uke club, and one of the members had a similar vintage Stella. That was when I found out it was actually a playable instrument. On the other had, I have been told it just isn't worth putting the $2-300 into it to make it "like/ better than new". (Just like Aaron said.)

Without putting anything beyond a set of strings on her, Stella plays just fine up to the fifth fret. So that's what I do.

I'd suggest that if you really want to buy that Superuke, you take the same path. Don't pay more than 10-15 pounds for it, don't put more than 10-15 pounds into it, and have a ball with it.

ksiegel said:

The banjo uke in question looks like it had an aftermarket fretboard attached to the neck, whereas the one showed in the eBay listing had the frets attached directly to the neck without a separate fretboard, just like my 1920s Stella Banjo Uke.

So, in my guesstimation, a prior owner pulled all of the frets out of the neck, overlaid a cheap fretboard (cheap because it has obviously fallen apart), and then somewhere along the line it was ignored, which is shy there are no strings, no bridge, and the tailpiece is rusted.

-Kurt​

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Ok, thanks Kurt, but why on earth would anybody like to do such a thing?
So completely hilarious in my opinion.
I mean adding an after market fretboard. What would the purpose be?
It is a lot of trouble....
You mean this uke was supposed to be used without fret board (with the frets directly installed in the neck)?
The fretboard of the banjo uke in the question has a fretboard that is lacquered. Does that go along with the likeliness of it being
an after market one?

Regards

Henning said:

Ok, thanks Kurt, but why on earth would anybody like to do such a thing?
So completely hilarious in my opinion.
I mean adding an after market fretboard. What would the purpose be?
It is a lot of trouble....
You mean this uke was supposed to be used without fret board (with the frets directly installed in the neck)?
The fretboard of the banjo uke in the question has a fretboard that is lacquered. Does that go along with the likeliness of it being
an after market one?

Regards

Click to expand...

Forum member Tudorp did this - read the threads:
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?44739-Bango-preps-for-surgery&highlight=tudorp+bango

http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?45308-Bango-s-Surgery-Update&highlight=tudorp+bango

I'll post photos of my Stella's neck/frets momentarily.

These shots are the neck of the Stella. As you can see, there is no fretboard - the frets go right into the wood of the neck, and that was pretty standard on low end ukes from the 30's and earlier.

It looks like a new fretboard was added over the original to get the action lower and then said fretboard is splintering. It's one not worth the trouble of fixing. Sorry, I've had a few of those as well.