aarondminnick
Well-known member
I happened by my neighborhood string shop yesterday for a couple of uke repairs and they had this swingin' kook-a-la-le hanging on the wall. They were anxious to get rid of it and cut me a great deal!
These, along with their cousins the Treholipee and Surf-a-lay-le, were made by Swagerty in the 1960s--read more at http://ukulelehunt.com/buy-ukulele/brands/swagerty-ukulele/.
Surprisingly, this novelty instrument plays very well! It's strung and tuned to standard gCEA. It has a plastic fretboard (with integral molded frets) and action/intonation are good. Neck is very thick. It's an oddity in terms of scale length: at 18.25", it's longer that a tenor but shorter than a baritone.
No idea specifically what (nylon) strings are on there right now, but one thing I did notice is the tension seems high. I'm thinking that a baritone gCEA re-entrant set will be the way to go to lower the tension and relieve some of the pressure on the tie-offs below the bridge, which I can see is starting to lift from age and tension.
These, along with their cousins the Treholipee and Surf-a-lay-le, were made by Swagerty in the 1960s--read more at http://ukulelehunt.com/buy-ukulele/brands/swagerty-ukulele/.
Surprisingly, this novelty instrument plays very well! It's strung and tuned to standard gCEA. It has a plastic fretboard (with integral molded frets) and action/intonation are good. Neck is very thick. It's an oddity in terms of scale length: at 18.25", it's longer that a tenor but shorter than a baritone.
No idea specifically what (nylon) strings are on there right now, but one thing I did notice is the tension seems high. I'm thinking that a baritone gCEA re-entrant set will be the way to go to lower the tension and relieve some of the pressure on the tie-offs below the bridge, which I can see is starting to lift from age and tension.