other recommended eBay sellers?

lolfish

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Hi, first post here..

I know mgm seems to be everybody's go-to guy, just wondering whom else I might look to for uke-shopping, specifically on eBay. I'm thinking I should be shopping from someone on the mainland so the instrument doesn't have to transition through different humidity levels (I live in Dallas btw.), but I dunno.. overkill? It does need to go through eBay, whoever it is with.

Also, I can't quite seem to decide what I'm shopping for.. I want a tenor and my budget is under $300. I know all-solid sounds best but I don't have a good history of taking good care of these. Woods drying out and cracking and such. Yet the last laminate I owned caused discomfort in my fretting hand due to vibrations going through the cheap wood.. is this common to most laminate instruments? I'd appreciate any suggestions you all might have.
 
Not necessarily eBay but you might want to take a look at Mainland ukes. They have a mahogany tenor for $249.00 here. If you check out the product page you will see several nice tenor variations.

I buy vintage ukes on occasion off eBay but two of my new ones came from MGM. My Makala Dolphin bridge uke I got from UkeKing. Only because MGM was out, but I just put my own Aquilas on. There are other respected sellers, just can't think of their user ID at the moment. Brain fade.
 
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You may want to try Mim's ebay store: http://stores.ebay.com/Mims-Ukes (North Carolina). Mim has a phone # listed on the ebay page, call and they'll probably have some suggestions for ya. As for not wanting to buy from MGM, I have bought from him several times and never had a humidity problem. He too has a phone # listed on the ebay store. Either way you go, I can't imagine how you could go wrong with either of them.
 
I wouldn't mind a Mainland uke! They look really good. Unfortunately since I'm using BillMeLater as payment, it pretty much needs to go through eBay. PIA.
 
Aloha lolfish,
Check out the solid KPK acarcia on e-bay .....Good Luck and happy strummings...MM Stan
 
KPK certainly looks tempting-- the sound of solid acacia really speaks to me. I just watched a video review of one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GYZGv0WXVQ that is suggesting that the saddle and nut should be upgraded. (what should it be upgraded to?) I am considering doing the work myself, is that just crazy?
 
Uke Republic is a good place. Mike is helpful and you can talk with him on the phone. He sells Mainland Ukes, Ohana and a bunch more. Very good service.
 
I can't recommend them for anything but Fleas and Flukes, because a Flea is all I ever got from them, but before I knew anyone in the uke world, I got a Flea from these guys on a pre-Christmas special. Delivery was uber-fast and the price was great. That said Fleas and Flukes are set up perfectly at the factory, so it doesn't tell you much about their setup - just that they ship fast. Unfortunately prices have gone up since I got mine.

http://stores.ebay.com/ANDYS-GUITARS-ETC/Ukulele-Fluke-Fleas-/_i.html?_fsub=904378018&_sid=8753858&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

If you don't feel comfortable setting up a uke and fixing little problems like bad action, or frets popping out of the neck on cheap Asian ukes, I would stick to the well like dealers like UkeRepublic, MGM, Mim, Mainland etc. My experience with cheap ukes is about 50/50 on needing some work to make them really playable, and all these sellers check them and/or set them up to make sure before they ship. eBay extracts quit a pound of flesh from all sellers, so I think only MGM has a big presence there.
 
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Thanks all uke people, Mike at Uke Republic was able to help me. I went with a Mainland mahogany... I think I'm gonna looooove it. :)

:cheers: lolfish
 
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Uke Republic is a good place. Mike is helpful and you can talk with him on the phone. He sells Mainland Ukes, Ohana and a bunch more. Very good service.

+1 on Uke Republic and Mim
 
My son recently had a wonderful buying experience with UkeRepublic
 
Glad to hear you've found your first Uke! Have a great time learning with it, sounds like it's gonna be a great one :D
 
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