Changing the fretboard of a KoAloha Slimline Special Issue

Aloha from the Philippines,

New to the forum but I have been a long-time lurker. Was hoping to get your opinion if its a good idea to upgrade the fretboard of my KoAloha Slimline Special Issue (2014).

I am the second owner and the uke has seen better days.

• dry fretboard. I did the necessary lemon oil routine and it helped a bit.
• Scalloped/worn at the 3rd fret
• Bridge has started to lift a bit
• Edges are a bit sharp. Koaloha peeps said that its wood expanding and can easily be fixed by sanding
• Dings and scratches.

I can't afford to send it to Hawaii but we are blessed to have a fairly popular luthier in the Philippines (Guitar Hospital) that's tending to the bridge and the edges.

Now, I have also an option to change the entire fretboard to ebony wood and add some good inlays. So far, I havent heard of Koaloha owners going this far.

Help?

I can’t imagine it wouldn’t be cheaper just to send the ukulele to KoAloha for repairs (these all sound like they would be covered by their better than the weather warranty. Or perhaps they could have you send it to their factory on that side of the world for repairs.

It sounds like you're looking to upgrade the appearance a bit. if someone local can replace the fretboard and do inlays, repairing the bridge should be a breeze. Since the bridge is lifting, it won't be long before string pressure pops it completely off. I'd be pro-active and get it repaired before that happens and possibly does some damage.

EDIT: I don't know if this is like yours, but here's a slimline.
https://www.theukulelesite.com/koaloha-koa-tenor-slimline-ktms-00.html