Flea market find!

nscafe

nscafe

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I bought this cool little Maccaferri Islander today at a local flea market! It was dirty and the fretboard was starting to separate towards the nut, but I cleaned it up, super glued the fretboard and clamped it for a while, and swapped out the strings for some new Martin fluorocarbons, and I'm loving this little guy.

I'd never seen one of these in person before, and I love the swirl pattern on the sides, back, and neck. It really catches the light in interesting ways and adds to the uniqueness of these old plastic ukes.

photo (9).jpgphoto (10).jpgphoto (11).jpgphoto (12).jpgphoto (13).jpg
 
Gorgeous! Congratulations on a terrific find and kudos for restoring that beauty to playable condition. Three cheers for plastic ukuleles... Hip hip ... hurray! Hip hip ... hurray! Hip hip ...
 
Well done!! It looks terrific!! I found my uke in a 2nd hand shop & just love it to bits!

Roberta
 
The back looks cool. But it reminds me of when I was a kid and left a box of crayons on the back window speaker shelf of my Mom's car in the Florida summer sun.. ;)
 
Great score! I have one myself, but mine came from eBay. Maccaferri ukes are surprisingly well-made, and they play and sound really nice. I saw one with a light blue back years ago in a big antique mall. It was just after I had bought my first really crappy ukulele, but a few years before I got serious about learning to play (and realized that my first uke was junk), so that one slipped away from me.
 
Thanks everybody. I was pretty excited. My wife was dubious but it cleaned up even better than I thought it would, and it sounds great. It seems like it will stay in tune once the strings are done stretching because it's already staying pretty stable. I'll be able to get some audio up in a day or two.

It was pretty great because just a few minutes before I found that I told my wife I was going to go see if I could find an old uke! Haha.
 
That is sweet. Just soap and water to clean it up?
-joe
 
joekulele said:
That is sweet. Just soap and water to clean it up?
-joe
Click to expand...

I actually haven't even used soap on it (yet). I just rubbed it down with a damp microfiber cloth and it mostly just wiped right off.

There are some spots of some kind that I can't get off with that method, so I'm going to try to give it a more intense cleaning, but I'm not sure what cleaner is safe for this old plastic. You can see them in the closeup of the neck on the left-hand side of the pic if you're curious what I'm talking about.

Does anyone know what kind of cleaner is safe to use on Styron? I'd like to get it as clean as possible without damaging it.
 
nscafe said:
I actually haven't even used soap on it (yet). I just rubbed it down with a damp microfiber cloth and it mostly just wiped right off.

There are some spots of some kind that I can't get off with that method, so I'm going to try to give it a more intense cleaning, but I'm not sure what cleaner is safe for this old plastic. You can see them in the closeup of the neck on the left-hand side of the pic if you're curious what I'm talking about.

Does anyone know what kind of cleaner is safe to use on Styron? I'd like to get it as clean as possible without damaging it.
Click to expand...

I'd try just water first... maybe windex?
 
I was finally able to snag a few free minutes to record a little something with this little guy. Check it out!

 
$45 is great deal. Islanders go for anywhere from $50 to $250 on evilBay depending on color and condition. Score!! And it sounds great---I'm going to go play Five Foot Two on mine right now.
 
Cool find! :)

My husband and I go walking for exercise several times a week. Whenever I see a yard sale sign, well, that determines our course. I'm always hoping to find a hidden jem of an uke, but so far... nothing. Maybe someday. <sigh>
 
Nice find. You id a good job cleaning it up.
 
Jealous! There is a big Flea Market I go to every year and snagged a Harmony Plastic Fretboard Ukulele and a No Name Plastic Fretboard Ukulele. But... I was hoping for something as cool as yours! GREAT find! Pretty cool!
 
Wow! Great find! Love the swirly colours on the back :D

And sounds great too!

Congrats!
 
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