Things that make one say, "hmmmm"

I was watching two eBay auctions and I'm kind of bemused by the results of the auction.

One was for an old echo uke in pretty bad shape. (It wasn't advertised as an Echo uke, just an "antique," but I downloaded the photo of the top and by enlarging it I could see the remains of "ECH" on the label.) The bridge was popped off and it appeared as if it had been badly repaired with epoxy or something once before - both the top under the bridge and the bottom of the bridge looked like cratered messes. There was only one photo, of the top, and it was not high resolution and was poorly focused to boot. I was watching this auction because I figured if I could pick it up for forty bucks plus shipping it was worth taking a chance on since it was a style 4 and would look nice if cleaned up and repaired (assuming that the back is not completely missing or something). This little beast fetched $305 plus shipping. Now, this seems crazy because I've seen several Echo ukes (albeit style 1) that were in beautiful original or restored condition sell for about half that.

The other auction I was watching, that ended at almost exactly the same time, was for an almost new Kamaka HF1 with a hard case. It had some tiny dimples on the headstock where the previous owner had attached a pickup, but was otherwise pristine. It only fetched $100 more than the previously mentioned fugitive from the landfill.

Just makes me say, "hmmmm" - gonna be pretty hard to find a good deal on an old fixer-upper at this rate!

John

I was watching those ukes also. At first I thought it may be a Kumulae or a Nunes, but I did the same thing you did, enlarged the photo, saw the EC, and immediately recognized it as an Echo. Bid a little, then was stunned as you were that it went so high. I'm thinking that some others didn't enlarge the picture. The Kamaka was a better deal, but not a steal considering the dimples. Bah! Can't fond any bargains out there.

It gets even crazier - another Kamaka - 71 soprano in pretty good condition (a few scratches and a small chip, but no cracks that I could see) with a decent case sold a few hours later for a whopping two dollars more than that trashed Echo uke!

It's a nutty world.

John

Were those by chance from the seller that has been selling off several uke projects along with the Martin I was watching? Some of those went pretty cheap. The Martin went for about $100, and the Favilla went in the 2 figure range. ya dont know how hard it was for me to keep my trigger (Submit) finger off the trigger..

No, different sellers on all three auctions, I think.

I bought it!

I bought that uke and thought I was doing it under the radar here... I thought it was a really early Kamaka. I didn't want to ask the seller what it was for fear she'd post it all over the ad, and drive up the price even more.

Even so, I was willing to pay more. This one looks better than any echouke that I've seen on the web, possibly a higher grade than any of them, so I'll risk the dough and see how it turns out. I'll post up some pics on this thread, keep you guys in the loop on it's rebuild.

unfix8r said:

I bought that uke and thought I was doing it under the radar here... I thought it was a really early Kamaka. I didn't want to ask the seller what it was for fear she'd post it all over the ad, and drive up the price even more.

Even so, I was willing to pay more. This one looks better than any echouke that I've seen on the web, possibly a higher grade than any of them, so I'll risk the dough and see how it turns out. I'll post up some pics on this thread, keep you guys in the loop on it's rebuild.

Click to expand...

Yes, please do. Interested to know how it turns out.

Since this is my first rebuild, I'll probably post more and ask more than a non-newbie!!

Yep, let us see how it cleans up.

on a related note look at the price on this poor uke

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-KAMAKA-GOLD-LABEL-PINEAPPLE-HAWAIIAN-UKULELE_W0QQitemZ190484770323QQcategoryZ119025QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D120680144210%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6990545384687708198

It arrived today....

Thought I'd post up some pics I took. There's slight cracking on the top, and a really big one on the back. Thankfully these are repairable, or leavable, IMHO, so, it's off to work. Someone really f-ed up the bridge reglue... sad.

HornedOne said:

on a related note look at the price on this poor uke

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-KAMAKA-GOLD-LABEL-PINEAPPLE-HAWAIIAN-UKULELE_W0QQitemZ190484770323QQcategoryZ119025QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D120680144210%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6990545384687708198

Click to expand...

...price check, isle 3!

More pics fopr the interested/ historical photos

So here you go, should anyone want to see an echo-uke.

HornedOne said:

on a related note look at the price on this poor uke

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-KAMAKA-GOLD-LABEL-PINEAPPLE-HAWAIIAN-UKULELE_W0QQitemZ190484770323QQcategoryZ119025QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUCI%252BIA%252BUA%252BFICS%252BUFI%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D120680144210%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6990545384687708198

Click to expand...

Sad ukulele. It deserves to be repaired, but not at that price.

Yeah, that guy has been trying to move that POC for a long time without coming down any on the price. I guess he doesn't realize that a uke that has been through a house fire (that's what it looks like anyway) is just not going to fetch top dollar...

John

unfix8r said:

So here you go, should anyone want to see an echo-uke.

Click to expand...

Ouch, you've kind of got your work cut out for you. Let us know how it goes. That messed up bridge was what made me decide I wasn't going over about 40 bucks. Depending on what that glue is, there may not be any choice but to take a belt sander to it and cross your fingers!

John