Me Too! NEW UKE DAY

pdxuke

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Portland OR, The Rose (and Uke) City
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...and
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Kamaka Concert! Big Sister to my Pineapple!

Strings settling in--sound sample soon!

I've sold three ukes in as many days. Thank you UU Marketplace and FMM Marketplace for helping to focus, re-calibrate and settle on in.

Now, if those Flea Banjo Ukes would only come out, I could sleep peacefully at night! :)
 
Yes!!! It looks like saw dust; under a good light it took me all of a minute to find it. Like little white spots, under a coat of finish, like someone leaned it on the heal and didn't blow it off between coats. It's very subtle, but it's there. AND I KNOW IT'S THERE!

Anyway, I'm very unhappy about it. Trying to stay positive. We'll see what the vendor says. If I hear anything about a "re-stocking fee" I'm going to be a very, very unhappy puppy.

I mean, I'm not unreasonable, am I? Wouldn't you expect a perfect finish on a Kamaka, or you'd send it back, no?
 
Yes!!! It looks like saw dust; under a good light it took me all of a minute to find it. Like little white spots, under a coat of finish, like someone leaned it on the heal and didn't blow it off between coats. It's very subtle, but it's there. AND I KNOW IT'S THERE!

Anyway, I'm very unhappy about it. Trying to stay positive. We'll see what the vendor says. If I hear anything about a "re-stocking fee" I'm going to be a very, very unhappy puppy.

I mean, I'm not unreasonable, am I? Wouldn't you expect a perfect finish on a Kamaka, or you'd send it back, no?

Unless it was sold as a second, I would absolutely expect a perfect finish. Especially at full price from a vendor!

That being said - if the vendor was willing to issue a partial refund, equivalent to what a luthier would charge to make it perfect, I'd keep the uke and get it fixed, if I loved everything else about the uke.

Actually - depending on how bad it is, I might not even bother to fix it, provided I got a price break of course. Two of my second-hand Kamakas have things I wanted to get fixed at first - the soprano has the name of the school I bought it from written in Sharpie on the side of the headstock that faces the ground when I'm playing, and my first concert Kamaka has a little flaw in the finish on the back that looks like someone touched it before it was completely dry.
 
Also, if I could go directly to Kamaka, and this didn't cost me anything, and just have it refinished, I'd keep it. But I have to go through the vendor, and then they would have to send it to Kamaka, etc. And then before you know it it's 3 months gone. I'm sick about this because it's a beautiful instrument. It's beautifully made, it sounds beautiful, but...there's this one little flaw that might drive me crazy for ever.

I wish I could just keep it, knowing that one day I could got to Hawaii, vacation, drop it off at Kamaka and they'd refinish for me at no cost. That's my fantasy!
 
Oh man, that is is a bummer......that vendor should take care of you, I don't think they do any kind of re-stocking fee or any of that crap, they are a great shop! Maybe they have another one they could exchange it for?
 
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Unless it was sold as a second, I would absolutely expect a perfect finish. Especially at full price from a vendor!

That being said - if the vendor was willing to issue a partial refund, equivalent to what a luthier would charge to make it perfect, I'd keep the uke and get it fixed, if I loved everything else about the uke.

Actually - depending on how bad it is, I might not even bother to fix it, provided I got a price break of course. Two of my second-hand Kamakas have things I wanted to get fixed at first - the soprano has the name of the school I bought it from written in Sharpie on the side of the headstock that faces the ground when I'm playing, and my first concert Kamaka has a little flaw in the finish on the back that looks like someone touched it before it was completely dry.

I hear you. The magic word is "second hand." This was full price retail, and the shop made a point of telling me that part of what I got for that full price was their expert luthier who looked the whole instrument over. I kind of think that's funny, under the circumstances. I mean I'm NOT an expert luthier and I saw this in under a minute of examining it...
 
I dunno, depends on how exact you want to be. My wife gave me a Pineapple Sunday for an anniversary present, ordered direct from the factory, and there are some issues with it. Small drip in the finish, headstock not quite centered, but you know, it plays beautifully, and reminds me that these are hand made instruments, not made by robots in a factory. It sounds wonderful, and is still a joy to play.

It's totally your call, but I think something like that would make it seem more personal. More "mine", as every flaw is unique.

Oh, and I'm local to Gryphon. I've purchased 2 ukes there, and their customer service is great. They will make you happy.

Cheers,
Skottoman
 
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I wish I could just keep it, knowing that one day I could got to Hawaii, vacation, drop it off at Kamaka and they'd refinish for me at no cost. That's my fantasy!

You know... this doesn't sound totally outside of the realm of possibility, if you do think you might ever get to Hawaii! If there is any chance that might happen, maybe the thing to do is call Kamaka tomorrow morning, tell them what happened, and ask if at some point in the future you were to come to Hawaii, would they refinish it for you at no cost. If the uke left their factory with a flaw, I'm sure they would want to make it right.

The grain in that uke is just so striking. If I were in your situation, I would have a really hard time letting it go...
 
You know... this doesn't sound totally outside of the realm of possibility, if you do think you might ever get to Hawaii! If there is any chance that might happen, maybe the thing to do is call Kamaka tomorrow morning, tell them what happened, and ask if at some point in the future you were to come to Hawaii, would they refinish it for you at no cost. If the uke left their factory with a flaw, I'm sure they would want to make it right.

The grain in that uke is just so striking. If I were in your situation, I would have a really hard time letting it go...

I like this idea.
 
...reminds me that these are hand made instruments, not made by robots in a factory. It sounds wonderful, and is still a joy to play.

It's totally your call, but I think something like that would make it seem more personal. More "mine", as every flaw is unique.

Good points. The biggest problem I see here is that pdxuke paid full retail and did so with the expectation of a perfect Kamaka. There's nothing wrong with an imperfect Kamaka, but the price should be adjusted to compensate.
 
I dunno, depends on how exact you want to be. My wife gave me a Pineapple Sunday for an anniversary present, ordered direct from the factory, and there are some issues with it. Small drip in the finish, headstock not quite centered, but you know, it plays beautifully, and reminds me that these are hand made instruments, not made by robots in a factory. It sounds wonderful, and is still a joy to play.

It's totally your call, but I think something like that would make it seem more personal. More "mine", as every flaw is unique.

Oh, and I'm local to Gryphon. I've purchased 2 ukes there, and their customer service is great. They will make you happy.

Cheers,
Skottoman

I have no doubt Gryphon will make me happy. I have purchased very expensive instruments from them in the past.

I'm leaning towards contacting Kamaka. I want to keep this thing.
 
Aloha Thom,
Sorry to hear about your finish issues...I'd rather have a minor finish issue than Intonation issues anyday....I can live with the first but not the second...not all ukulele sounds great, if yours sounds good to you,
maybe I suggest you keep it...you don't know what the next is going to sound like...every uke has it's own sounds due to the many variables in the building process and materials..maybe you can take pictures
of the problem area and email them to Kamaka and the vendor..I know if you bought it through the retailer it is their responsibility, but you can always send pictures to Kamaka and see what they say...never hurts
to ask.. or maybe the retailer could give you some money back for the flaw..and your's is below the surface and it's a manufacture's flaw...so it's hard for the retailer to discredit you there..Good Luck...
 
Thom,

Sorry to hear your new Kamaka isn't as perfect as you'd hoped, let us know if you do get it repaired/send it back or what not, it looks beautiful! :drool:

Let us know how it goes!
 
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