The Torture of Anticipation

Kem

Kem

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The Mainland I bought from Gmoney just arrived, but because it's so cold outside, I need to leave it in the box for a few hours before I open it. Also, I hate BLOODY EXORBITANT IMPORT CHARGES. That is all.

Dear Canada:

Please get yourself a decent ukulele distributor. LA Music never has anything in stock and takes three hundred years to deliver things it claims ARE in stock (though often, they aren't). Also, it sells only Oscar Schmidts. Long and McQuade is in love with Kalas but absolutely nothing else. I could list the other companies, but that would just be depressing. I think I shall now go mark term papers and gently weep.
 
Congrats on your new uke!!!
 
Aloha Kem,
Congrats on the new purchase from Gmoney....do you still have import charges if it's declared a gift or private sold to other countries??Let us know how it turns out....he he the rant about ukulele inacessability
there...don't blame you!! Have Fun and Enjoy! Happy Strummings!! MM Stan..
 
You don't get import charges if an item is declared a gift. However, I believe eBay has rules about sellers not trying to get around import charges in this way, as labelling what is actually an imported item a "gift" is against the law. I HAVE had certain international sellers (not eBay sellers) label my items as "gifts" on their own initiative. I do not object when this happens. $100 in import fees is a bit much.
 
Congratulations on the new ukulele! Please post photos and vidoes after you have a chance to play it!
 
Kem said:
You don't get import charges if an item is declared a gift. ...
Click to expand...

Glad it got there, but hate that you ended up w/import fees - I waffled over those questions from my UPS shipper when I shipped it & didn't know how to declare it... Hope you end up loving it enough to soften the import blow.
 
Well, I finally opened it, and it is certainly a pretty little instrument; oddly enough, it was also almost perfectly in tune when I first tried to play it. One thing is, however, worrying me. Is the pick-up supposed to be floating around freely inside the instrument, occasionally going thump and bang? It seems a little odd that it's doing that. If this is wrong, I have utterly no way of fixing it.
 
Kem said:
Well, I finally opened it, and it is certainly a pretty little instrument; oddly enough, it was also almost perfectly in tune when I first tried to play it. One thing is, however, worrying me. Is the pick-up supposed to be floating around freely inside the instrument, occasionally going thump and bang? It seems a little odd that it's doing that. If this is wrong, I have utterly no way of fixing it.
Click to expand...

EEk! There should be no banging around inside your uke! It might be an easy fix, but you'll have to loosen the strings to get a good look inside.

Good luck!
Aldon
 
hey kem,
I feel for ya. I had to pay around $80-90 on the Kala I bought from mgm for $300. All I can say is:

"Free trade my a**!!!"

I am considering buying a $1000+ uke from an american luthier but i'm worried that duties will be...what, $200, $300, $400??? Maybe I could just ship it to friends/family in the states and wait till they come to visit.....


I sometimes wish I could open up a good ukulele store here in Toronto which could carry some good brands (Kala, Mainland, Fluke, maybe a "K" brand, a few by good American builders) at less than the prices we are forced to pay buying through American internet sellers or at local big box or specialty instrument stores.
Though, I must say that guitarjunky in Montreal seems to be offering instruments at much better prices than I've seen else where
 
Kem said:
The Mainland I bought from Gmoney just arrived, but because it's so cold outside, I need to leave it in the box for a few hours before I open it. Also, I hate BLOODY EXORBITANT IMPORT CHARGES. That is all.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the uke but I'm floored that you had to pay that kind of import tax - that amounts to what, 30% of the new retail cost - on a used item??!! I though most countries didn't charge import duties, or charged much lower duties, on used items. I know I've ordered used stuff from Europe and Asia a couple of times and never got charged import duties.

We need a UU-er who lives close to the border to drive ukes over and ship them from inside Canada for our brothers up north, eh?

John
 
Anything you fellow canucks buy from the US needs to be sent via USPS. That way you pay a flat $5 + hst.....that's it.

Guitarjunky.ca has some nice ukes
 
If it's the Mainland with factory pickup it's probably a Mi Si and they don't have a battery bag (the preamp uses a capacitor and you just charge it up by plugging it in to the power supply for about a minute, so, no battery).

If the pickup is working then it's probably the wire between the pickup and the preamp (which I believe is mounted on the jack) slapping against the top or whatever.

John
 
OldePhart said:
If it's the Mainland with factory pickup it's probably a Mi Si and they don't have a battery bag (the preamp uses a capacitor and you just charge it up by plugging it in to the power supply for about a minute, so, no battery).

If the pickup is working then it's probably the wire between the pickup and the preamp (which I believe is mounted on the jack) slapping against the top or whatever.

John
Click to expand...

No, it's like...there's something HUGE loose in there. Every time I move the instrument at all, the...thingy...goes sliding and banging and thumping around, like a bar of soap rattling in the bottom of a bucket. If I squiddle my eyes around, I can see something large attached to some wires; it's sitting loose inside the uke. I don't know if the pickup is working or not because I don't have the proper equipment at the moment. And yes, it's a Mi Si.
 
That doesn't sound promising at all because I think the preamp, including the capacitor that powers it, are soldered directly to the endpin jack and it sounds like that has broken free. I'm pretty sure the Acoustic Trio at the top of this page http://mi-si.com/products/ is what Mike is using.

Just guessing, of course, but I can't think of anything else it would be...unless maybe the charger slipped into the sound hole? (Just kind of hoping against hope; I'm betting it was packed too well to let that happen.)

John
 
I guess it's also possible that the "simple jack" retaining nut loosened completely and let the jack/preamp fall inside the instrument - but that should be obvious because there will be a hole on the heal instead of a strap button/jack.

Sure would be nice if that is all that's wrong though, because that's a fairly easy fix.

John
 
OldePhart said:
I guess it's also possible that the "simple jack" retaining nut loosened completely and let the jack/preamp fall inside the instrument - but that should be obvious because there will be a hole on the heal instead of a strap button/jack.

Sure would be nice if that is all that's wrong though, because that's a fairly easy fix.

John
Click to expand...


It's not the charger; that was packed neatly into the inner compartment of the case. I fear your first idea is correct. There's definitely no hole in the instrument.

So you're basically saying that I'm screwed, then? Will taking it in for repairs help? Am I going to be forking out yet MORE hundreds of dollars?

This was supposed to be a happy day. Sigh...
 
Worst case would be about a hundred bucks for a new unit, I guess. Though you should fill out a report and see if you can get reimbursed by the shipper if it was insured.

If there are any good instrument techs in your area they might be able to repair it. It might be something as simple as the board assembly coming desoldered from the jack. Solder is not very strong - it is actually just used to make good electrical contact between components (the reason you should always wrap or bend wire around a pin before soldering it, etc.). So, I haven't seen one of these in person, but if the board is just soldered straight to a jack without good mechanical support I can see it breaking loose in shipment if the package took a hard knock. There wouldn't necessarily be signs on the outside of the package if it landed flat.

Wish I had better news for you, but I just can't think of anything else that would be banging around in there. (And now, with a Mi Si equipped tenor arriving tomorrow, I'm crossing my fingers!) Actually, when mine gets here I'll see if I can find my inspection mirror to get a good look at the way the board and jack are attached to see if the board coming off the jack seems a likely scenario.

John
 
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