Okay, here we go. I can't remember when I got my Griffin. It was before my first year anniversary of playing uke. I'm still not at my two year mark yet, so please know that I'm learning as I go and may not know the right words for everything. But I'm trying to be thorough.
-I got photos of the uke emailed to me before hand. I received the exact uke pictured.
-He put in a misi pickup for me at a very reasonable charge. Haven't had any problems with the pickup at all.
-Included was a two page letter telling about where the wood came from, how to care for the finish, etc.
-Brian was an absolute gentleman from the word go. I'd happily do business with him anytime. I was never put off or ignored and no question went unanswered.
-After a couple months I had some problems with the neck pulling away from the body at the joint. I sent Brian pics of that and we discussed it. He was willing to take it back and attempt to figure it out/repair it at no charge, but it turned out just to be a humidification issue. Michigan is drier than the Pacific Northwest. Still, the willingness to take care of it meant a lot to me.
-The Aloha strings it came with were fine, I later changed to some Living Waters, and will try something else next time, as I'm still experimenting.
-I don't know much about "intonation". I don't play much past the first five frets anyway.
-I don't care for the tuners. I wind up tightening them a lot - there's one that just refuses to stay in tune, and I'm having a friend replace them. If I were buying a Pinecone today I'd ask him to upgrade the tuners.
-The fretboard had a bit of glue mark? I don't know what to call it. Like a smear on one fret. It's a little bit reflective is the only reason I noticed it. No biggie, but something that I would have expected to be caught at this price point.
-The case is nicely made, and fits my other pineapple bodies as well. I have a hard case I got on ebay for it for air travel. Click here:
http://www.amazon.com/Soprano-Pinea...90&sr=8-23&keywords=ukulele+case+hard+soprano
-The soundboard, when you tap it, doesn't have that "bell" tone. It's a little on the dead side.
-The carved back makes it a LOUD uke - projection is great.
-I'd love it if he had a proper label for the inside. The label looks like construction paper.
Here's a vid. I'm a strummer, not a picker! Sorry.
Inbox me if you have any more questions.
I tried to think of everything.