I was just personally surprised the luthier didn't think it was worth slipping the saddle out and trying a different one. (I often pull a tall saddle and just tune up over the bridge to see what the action is and check for room. I am currently playing my Halekoa saddle-less and it has great intonation and action, and old Kamakas are built without a saddle). It will take a standard Martin bone saddle blank. No offense was meant to the luthier at all; I gather there was an obviously unhappy buyer who was shilled which is reason enough to be unhappy, a busy builder who could easily think "Japanese piece o' crap" and say send it back so it wouldn't be his problem, and it could plain be a bad uke, as any used instrument can have issues. My only involvement was that I spotted it because I have an eBay search set up for Yasuma, and I posted it here since they are generally well thought of and usually go for a reasonable price.
The brand isn't well known now outside of enthusiasts and Martin fans. It is a defunct 1950 -70s company that blueprinted Martin ukes and guitars and built copies to Martin specs. Thin Martin neck, fat rounded frets, pin bridge. Not a fake, not a knockoff, a well built copy. Looks just like a 1960s era Martin but has black binding instead of tortoise. Kind of like getting a Keiiki Kamaka. They are lightly built, my Yasuma tenor weighs 534 grams, my Kanile'a 528 grams. Hard to find and considered collectible. The seller I bought mine from was a little sleazy too, but the joke on them was that supposedly one was a uke player and liked their new Ohana laminate better. Maybe because (they said) the "guitar pro" strung it up with "new" (absolute crap clear nylon guitar) "strings" (that had awful tension and choked the real voice completely out of it). I didn't even tune it up all the way, just took them right off and put on Worth Brown medium strings.
I am not any kind of expert, please don't anyone bid on this uke who isn't willing to check it over and who doesn't know how to set up a uke themselves, or knows someone who can, and who can't afford it if it is a clunker, or is willing to do battle to send it back for a refund (though if the seller shills it again, the magic words for a full refund are "I'm making a shill report to eBay", though possibly eBay no longer cares because it means more fees in their deep greedy pockets). I can only report my observations on the one that is in my hands. I had access to a Martin baritone for awhile, wanted a Martin tenor, this is it for me for about a third of what a Martin in the condition mine is in would bring. They could well be somewhat hit or miss like the real Martin tenor's reputation, but I haven't come across any owners online when I was researching them who didn't wonder about their Yasuma guitar, uke, tiple, or mandolin and think they had the only one, or who would part with theirs.
It's all personal preferences as well. It's a shame this seller is shady. Someone to whom the money isn't an issue probably wouldn't mind taking a chance, but could also probably afford a Martin. If the previous buyer had been close to me location wise I would have taken a look at it. I have seen maybe four tenors and two sopranos in the last year come up for sale, I bought one of the tenors, you can see the pics still posted on Uke Yak (by the seller) at FMM. If I had to choose between it and my Kanile'a, the Yasuma is brighter and cleaner sounding, and they are still making Kanile'as. The K is more resonant and bell like though they are close. Strings may play a part here, the Y has Worth Browns, the K Worth Clears. In my experience the clears have more ring and sustain, which the K exhibits.
That is all I can report for anyone here thinking on it. I would say best of luck to you, and though it wasn't a good fit for the other buyer, it might be for someone looking for a vintage mahogany tenor. Or not.
PS: I should note that I have both tenors tuned down a step, the K is linear and the Y reentrant. I also like the Yasuma in dGBE on tenor strings. I don't like the tension on the Yasuma in C, but I don't like the K much better. Mostly because my arthritis hurts so much.
