Ladies, you both look nice but....

TheWannabe90

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Belgium (you know...in europe...)
I can only choose one...
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A few months ago I contacted "The Ukulele Shop" London for a uke.
They told me they were having some damaged Kanile'a Tenor ukuleles repaired,
these both had a small crack in the soundboard because they were sent from Hawaii without a case.
I sent them like every week an email to check if they had already come in
(It was almost stalkerish). Luckily they remained very friendly.
Today they finally came in. And although "The Ukulele Shop" is closed they still want to sell it to me as a personal transaction.

And now the hard part... They have 2 beautiful ukuleles to choose from.
Now can you guys help me decide which one to buy? Or shouldn't I at all?
Any advice/warning for cracks/personal taste is appreciated


This is the one on the left hand side of the picture
The darker big dots on the pictures are apparently reflections.

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This is the crack on the left one

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and this is her back

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I vote LEFT . . .
 
I like Lefty's look better and from the pics it looks like the crack is more visible on the right uke.

They both look nice but of course I would pick the one with the least damage....not that I would buy a damaged uke myself.
 
I really like the idea of giving a broken soul a second chance. It's great to have something that's not perfect.
 
Unfortunately not...
Does anyone know if those cracks might have changed the sound, although they been repaired by a professional luthier?

I wouldn't be worried at all if its a model you REALLY want and the price is super good. However, if its just for the sake of having another Uke I'd be a little hesitant as if you decide you don't like how it plays and want to sell it down the road you'll have a pretty limited market.

As far as repairs go, I had a lefty Gibson 5 string Banjo that had both the neck and resonator repaired and that old gal sounded just as good as a new one 10 years down the line. Not quite the same I know and I was also saving around $2500 but none the less, if the luthier is good it shouldnt change a thing otherwise you'd see one hell of a lot of vintage ukes going for pennies because they'd all sound like crap :eek:
 
I like the richness of the darker colored one on the right. But the lighter honey color of the left one is pretty nice too. Tough choice...

If the crack was professionally repaired, I doubt it will affect the tone very much.

Question: Why do Ukes not use soundhole rosettes(besides the obvious cost issue)? They were added to classical guitars to help reinforce the soundhole from this kind of damage. I just think they look somehow "incomplete" without one.
 
Question: Why do Ukes not use soundhole rosettes(besides the obvious cost issue)? They were added to classical guitars to help reinforce the soundhole from this kind of damage. I just think they look somehow "incomplete" without one.

it really depends on the make and model.... some do and some dont..... BTW welcome to UU!
 
Thanks for the welcome. I've been browsing the other parts of UU, but just found the forum today. Feels sort of like "home" already.
 
can i buy the one u dont get?:D
 
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