Questions about a ukulele from Island Ukuleles - Raymond Rapozo

biggoomba

Member
Joined
Oct 18, 2016
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Location
Living the life just outside Boise Idaho
I have some questions about a ukulele. I was given a Island Ukulele uke made by Raymond Rapozo as a gift and was curious about it.


I did some looking on the forums here and found the thread from 2011 where Rayan pointed out some problems with these ukes. I want to get an idea where this ukulele sits with respect to sound quality when compared to other ukuleles. Are the problems people have identified with it problems that should not be found on any ukulele regardless of cost or are they problems that you wouldnt expect in a ukulele in the same price range. Was Ryan comparing with the performance with $1000 ukuleles? $500 ukuleles? a $60 Oscar Schmidt?

Cant seem to find much in the way of reviews of these ukes since then. There are some positive reviews out there but not much overall. Its been almost 7 years since then and I am wondering if the playing quality has improved since 2011. I get the impression that these are all made by Raymond Rapozo and seems to me that 7 years is a quite a bit of time for someone to be able to improve. Anyone had a chance to play one of these recently?

The one I have is a tenor and was strung with a wound low g string. I re-strung it left handed with a high g using DAddario nyltech strings (they are what I had on hand) and tuned it up. I stretched the strings re-tuned then waited and re-tuned a number of times.

Some things I noticed:
1. The A and E strings are slightly flat at the 12 fret
2. The C string is right on at the 12th
3. The G string is just a tiny smidge flat at the 12th
4. My Kala KA-FMTG has better intonation at the moment
5. The intonation has improved slightly as the strings relaxed and were retuned.
6. The A string has a quiet buzz when fretted around the 5th fret. No buzz played open or frets numbered higher than 6

Is it possible that having the A string in a place that originally held a large g string be the source of the buzz? Large hole in the bridge or something? Not a problem with the nut since the buzz isnt there when played open.

I played it a fair amount last night and compared it to my Kala KA-FMTG. The Kala is fairly harsh in comparison. The Island is quite a bit larger. Longer neck, thicker and larger body and produces a 'bigger' sound. It sounds a lot better than the Kala when plucked. The Kala may need new strings though because its been sounding a bit off. The 'off-ness' became readily apparent when I was comparing the 2.

My kids like the sound of the Island a lot more.
 
Last edited:
Sounds like it needs a good setup. They'll level the frets and check and adjust the intonation as good as they can. Take it to a qualified luthier, not Guitar Center. Knowing your general location would help others suggest a place to take it.
 
Took it to a luthier today. He thought it was fine. Checked the frets - ran a number of tools around it.

Talked about buzz on the strings and pretty much determined that it proboblt won’t happen during normal playing. Turns out I may have been plucking the strings way too hard when I was looking for buzz and subjecting it abnormal conditions. Not sure if I agree with that 100 % because my Kala doesn’t have that problem.

Was going to fix the intonation problem (which he confirmed) but the guy was being kind of a dick and spent to much effort making sure I understood he was the expert and I was not. I would understand that if I had been telling how to do his job but I wasn’t so I thanked him for his time and will try someone else.
 
Have not had the intonation looked at but was able to address the buzzing. For shits and giggles, I sent an email to Island Ukulele and asked about the buzz. I got a quick reply back saying that it sounded like I could be having a humidity problem and that I should try adding some humidity when I store it. I stuck a humidifier in it and left it in its case for 2 days without using it. Buzz was better on Monday, I have been keeping with a humidifier at night (which I should have been doing anyway). Its gone for the most part.

So thats pretty cool
 
I looked at one of these when it was for sale on eBay. It was so tempting. I believe they come from Kauai. Since I shall be there next month I am considering a visit to the source. The reviews were excellent hough these are pretty rare. I am delighted for you. Intonation may be fixed by a compensated saddle. In my playing it is not really noticed.
Enjoy and play
 
Wow given a uke as a gift! Nice
 
Top Bottom