Carnival Sopranino Restoration

Ahnko Honu

Ahnko Honu

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 26, 2009
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Location
Moku Manu, Hawai'i
pithaya9 said:
Show us the uke Ahnko, show us the uke pleaze.
Click to expand...

Okay, but remember... you asked for it! :D

Top view. Strung thru top holes with bead stoppers ala Waverly Street, and Bader 'ukuleles. I got two of these for $10 but one was thrashed- this one with larger triangular crack in body side and gouge on top. Repaired both using medium viscosity superglue, worked our well. Side crack repairs invisible, top gouge smooth but slightly different color. Also was missing tuning pegs on both so ordered ebony violin pegs size 1/4 and they fit when I enlarged the top holes to 1/4 drilling by hand twisting bit with fingers. Had to trim the pegs by 1/2 inch. and drill a hole in them for strings. Also the cast in nut was busted so I sanded it down into a zero fret then made a nut from scrap plastic (putty knife handle) and just tacked in place using one drop of superglue just in case I have to pop off and replace. I had Martin fluoro strings on my Tangi Gecko so I put these on my Carnival and will put worth clears on my Gecko later. Sounds decent but my fingers are way to big for the tiny fretboard so a tad disappointed, may sell. I got my Blue Smurfulele too that I'll restring but at least this one is a full soprano size so much easier to play.
 
Nice restoration job. Like how you did the pegs and nut repair.
 
Now I wish I took before pictures especially of the damaged nut, and the rather large crack on the left side of the body, and documenting the steps with photos showing the progress of repairs and methods used which involved a Dremel tool, sandpaper, and 0000 steel wool. Also how I made the nut from a plastic putty knife handle using a belt sander and hacksaw. Just didn't figure there'd be any interest.
 
Ahnko Honu said:
Now I wish I took before pictures especially of the damaged nut, and the rather large crack on the left side of the body, and documenting the steps with photos showing the progress of repairs and methods used which involved a Dremel tool, sandpaper, and 0000 steel wool. Also how I made the nut from a plastic putty knife handle using a belt sander and hacksaw. Just didn't figure there'd be any interest.
Click to expand...

Theres always next time Ahnko. Were uke addicts so there will always be interest.

Now what to do with a putty knife with no handle :confused: ;)
 
Ahnko, nice work! I find myself wishing there was something familiar in the photos for size comparison. Maybe a dollar bill, or something. Hard to tell how much smaller than a soprano this guy is....
 
Awesome! I'm a big fan of plastic ukes and the tiny ones :p I adore my Ohana Sopranino. Give me a shout if you decide to sell it ;)
 
Ahnko Honu said:
Okay, but remember... you asked for it! :D

Top view. Strung thru top holes with bead stoppers ala Waverly Street, and Bader 'ukuleles. I got two of these for $10 but one was thrashed- this one with larger triangular crack in body side and gouge on top. Repaired both using medium viscosity superglue, worked our well. Side crack repairs invisible, top gouge smooth but slightly different color. Also was missing tuning pegs on both so ordered ebony violin pegs size 1/4 and they fit when I enlarged the top holes to 1/4 drilling by hand twisting bit with fingers. Had to trim the pegs by 1/2 inch. and drill a hole in them for strings. Also the cast in nut was busted so I sanded it down into a zero fret then made a nut from scrap plastic (putty knife handle) and just tacked in place using one drop of superglue just in case I have to pop off and replace. I had Martin fluoro strings on my Tangi Gecko so I put these on my Carnival and will put worth clears on my Gecko later. Sounds decent but my fingers are way to big for the tiny fretboard so a tad disappointed, may sell. I got my Blue Smurfulele too that I'll restring but at least this one is a full soprano size so much easier to play.
Click to expand...

Genius with the nut, pegs, etc. I'm sorry it's too small for you. I love playing my Carnival and Enemen plastic sopraninos. Too much fun! Maybe a little time and you'll get used to it...?
 
pithaya9 said:
Theres always next time Ahnko. Were uke addicts so there will always be interest.

Now what to do with a putty knife with no handle :confused: ;)
Click to expand...

Just an el cheapo disposable putty knife but I'm cheap too so I just ripped a 1/4 piece off the length of handle so still very usable. :D;)
 
mailman said:
Ahnko, nice work! I find myself wishing there was something familiar in the photos for size comparison. Maybe a dollar bill, or something. Hard to tell how much smaller than a soprano this guy is....
Click to expand...

The handiest soprano I had was my old Roy Smeck so here it is compared to my Carnival sopranino. I have named her "Omocha". ;)
P1010271.jpg
 
Nice job. I'd love a sopranino, its my dream uke..... would you recommend buying "junk" off ebay and having a bash, or have you made it look much easier than it actually was :D?
 
Rainhill said:
Nice job. I'd love a sopranino, its my dream uke..... would you recommend buying "junk" off ebay and having a bash, or have you made it look much easier than it actually was :D?
Click to expand...

This particular 'ukulele was sold in a pair with one in good shape and this one with a crack in side, broken nut, and gouge on top. $10.00 was a good deal for the one good 'ukulele let alone the pair so I bought it with the idea that worse case I'd just throw the damaged one away. I tried the repair and it turned out very well, but I personally probably would not have bought the damaged one by itself at any price not knowing the exact extent of damage. I was lucky it was within my skill level to repair. In fact I also didn't notice the tuning pegs were missing until after I bid even though plainly stated in auction so had some regret. But I honored my bid not trying to back out of deal, and in the meantime found cheap 1/4 size violin pegs on eBay 5 pairs so turned out well with an extra pair to spare. ;)
 
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Ahnko Honu,

If you don't mind answering a few questions...here goes:
I got a carnival sopranino from Ebay. It still has its plastic tuning pegs but I would prefer to copy your job and replace them with wooden pegs.
Cosmetically, there are some glue spots. You say that side crack repairs are invisible, did you sand them?
The face of mine is slightly sunken and so the action is too low. My plan is to sand the plastic saddle down and glue on a higher one.
There is also a bit of what appears to be duct tape residue on the back. Any idea on how to remove that?
There are some pictures I took with my cell phone up here under CARNIVAL UKE PROBLEMS.
http://webpages.charter.net/drw46/uke/uke-problems.htm

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug
 
Ahnko Honu,

If you don't mind answering a few questions...here goes:
I got a carnival sopranino from Ebay. It still has its plastic tuning pegs but I would prefer to copy your job and replace them with wooden pegs.
Use the smallest peg size available which is 1/4 size. You may have to still sand individual pegs since they vary slightly in diameter.
Cosmetically, there are some glue spots. You say that side crack repairs are invisible, did you sand them?
The glue on seams come that way from the factory, I just left those areas alone. The repaired crack I sanded with 220 grit then went finer down to 600 grit then finally 0000 steel wool. I left it with a slight satin finish but you can bring to gloss with a glass polish.
The face of mine is slightly sunken and so the action is too low. My plan is to sand the plastic saddle down and glue on a higher one.
When I installed a new nut made from PVC plastic I used superglue. You may not need glue for your saddle the string tension keeping it in place.
There is also a bit of what appears to be duct tape residue on the back. Any idea on how to remove that?
What I found works well as a adhesive residue remover was plain old WD-40 aerosol lubricant, dissolved the residue without harm to plastic. Any other solvent risks reaction with plastic. Even with WD-40 I suggest you test using a small amount on a small area first just to be safe.

There are some pictures I took with my cell phone up here under CARNIVAL UKE PROBLEMS.
http://webpages.charter.net/drw46/uke/uke-problems.htm

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Doug
 
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