Dolphin problems.

webby · Jul 23, 2012

If any of you own a newish dolphin, one of the plastic body ones, could you do me a favour and stick your finger through the sound hole and feel around the underside of the top.

I just did this with my blue dolphin and was gutted to find that all the laminate layers are separating and there are wooden shards and splinters and lose flappy bits of wafer thin timber all over the bloody place, I checked my green dolphin and it's fine so maybe this was just a bad build or something, the top is still intact on the outside but i feel now that only the paint is holding it together.

I will try and somehow get my webcam and a small led light inside so I can show you some pics (good luck with that i hear you cry lol), but I want to know if this is just a one off so if all you plastic dolphin owners could check yours for me I'd much appreciate it. also as no bits of timber have fallen out of the sound hole since I bought it and it feels like some bits it the laminate are completely missing I am assuming it left the factory in this condition.

Seeing as it is only a cheapy and I've owned it for a year and never checked the underside of the top before how do you rate my chances of getting a replacement from the music shop that sold it to me ?, I bought it online from a music shop in Melbourne.

Thanks people

webby

TG&Y · Jul 23, 2012

Howdy

Mine feels nice and smooth and intact. Sounds like you got a clunker unless something has happened to it in the year you've owned it (gotten wet or some such). I'd guess a return after a year would be a hard sell, but you never know. How does it sound compared to your other one?

webby · Jul 23, 2012

I reckon I deserve a photography award for getting the cam and the torch inside the dolphin

These pics are looking forward towards the neck joint.

And this one is looking backwards towards the underside of the bridge.

Now I have never leant the dolphin to anyone and its always been hanging on my wall since the day I got it and NO BITS OF WOOD HAVE EVER FALLEN OUT !, so they must have shipped it like this

What do you guys think ?

The glue blobs are unreal too !!!

Funnily enough it still sounds great lol.

Louis0815 · Jul 23, 2012

webby said:
how do you rate my chances of getting a replacement from the music shop that sold it to me ?

You will never never know if you never never go........

TG&Y said:
I'd guess a return after a year would be a hard sell, but you never know.

Any chance to get that covered by warranty? I'd say this clearly is a production defect which could lead to replacement. Depending on purchase date and your local warranty regulations of course.
Give the folks in Melbourne a call and kindly ask for their opinion.

PS: I'd look into my Dolphin just to crosscheck, but it is currently some 11000 km away - no chance for a quick look any time soon....

spookefoote · Jul 23, 2012

Please will you film asking for a refund?

webby · Jul 23, 2012

spookefoote said:
Please will you film asking for a refund?

lol, no way hehehe.

1931jim · Jul 23, 2012

Hello Webby,
In posting #3 you said...."Funnily enough it still sounds great lol." That is what you really want isn't it.? The nice sound. Keep it and don't get frustrated trying to get any satisfaction after a year. Your blood pressure will be all the better if you fix it yourself. But only if it needs fixing.
At your local car body shop get some fibreglass cloth and some A and B epoxy from the guys there. If you have some #4 or #6 copper wire, it has lots of strength and is pliable, you can get in there with the cloth and the epoxy goo dangling on the end of the wire and perform your surgery. I know it can be done with patience. That is what I do to help all the local folks with their guitars, mandolins, fiddles and inexpensive ukuleles.
As my guru used to say..."The difficult we do right away, the impossible takes an extra day." HaHa. Good luck if you are going the warranty route and the new one, If you get it, may not sound as good as your present uke.
Jim

OldePhart · Jul 23, 2012

Honestly, if it's playing good I wouldn't worry about what's inside. And...even if it falls apart tomorrow after a year you've probably got your $40 worth out of it.

ChrisRCovington · Jul 23, 2012

You've had it for a year? I doubt they'll give you anything after so long. In fact personally I'd be embarrassed to ask. When I worked in the restaurant business while I was in college we'd have people who would finish their meal and then say they didn't like the dish and ask for something else.... um no. I think OldePhart is right you've likely gotten your $40 out of it and then some. Play it til it falls apart.

Captain_Lovehandles · Jul 23, 2012

I've got one at the house right now. Sailor Jim gives them to me for art projects like the Cheeselele. I'm working on my third one. There's always something shoddy about the workmanship. I'm with Sir Phartsalot. Don't sweat it if it plays.

beautifulsoup · Jul 23, 2012

Egad!

I'll be getting my first Dolphin in the mail soon; today or tomorrow...I suspect mine will be fine.

"Funnily enough it still sounds great lol."

Well, that's good! (Sorry, couldn't find the "quote" thing in the edit text box, so I quoted and italicized, ha).

Louis0815 · Jul 23, 2012

beautifulsoup said:
Sorry, couldn't find the "quote" thing in the edit text box, so I quoted and italicized, ha.

It's simply an opening [_quote] and a closing [/_quote] (leave the _ underscores out to make it work) - or click "reply with quote" right under the post instead of "Reply to Thread"

For more information and details ask your favorite search engine for BBCode or look here.

mangorockfish · Jul 23, 2012

Contact Kala, know what you're talking about and be nice, and I bet they will trade with you. They sent me two new tuners at different times for mine no questions asked. You will probably get better results by going straight to the source and cut out the middle man. Good luck. Oh, I wouldn't mention how long I had had it unless they ask.

Uke Republic · Jul 23, 2012

Sir Phartsalot!

He was the guy at the round table nobody wanted to sit near. " No I swear, it's that blasted squeaky armor "

Captain_Lovehandles said:
I've got one at the house right now. Sailor Jim gives them to me for art projects like the Cheeselele. I'm working on my third one. There's always something shoddy about the workmanship. I'm with Sir Phartsalot. Don't sweat it if it plays.

Teek · Jul 23, 2012

That is a pretty good mess in there. It kind of looks to me more like an extra layer on one side, and like it is shredded on the other, but also like it left the factory that way.

Mine is perfectly smooth inside, is a few years old and has fallen off the wall twice now, plus been banged against solid unforgiving objects several times by careless people. It has edge dings and the paint is cracked along the bridge. Still plays great. Newer ones maybe not as much, and the saddles seem to be unnecessarily tall. Maybe it is more a good excuse to get another new one in a different color and let this one stick around. I personally pretty much consider them disposable beaters.

Good luck whatever your course of action, and really admirable photography!

strumsilly · Jul 23, 2012

I'd get out the loose bits as they flake off, and keep playing it. at around $40 it's disposable. who knows. as the top gets thinner it might start sounding really great, then everyone will be taking the tops off and modifying them.

1931jim · Jul 23, 2012

Hello Finnegan, you're lookin' thin again. Thin is in. So says she who must be obeyed.

mangorockfish · Jul 24, 2012

Give it to Goodwill, take a $200 deduction off your taxes and buy a new one and forget it.

Prius23 · Jul 24, 2012

Webby,
I purchased two dolphins about 2 months ago. My blue sparkle is a bit rougher on the top inside but nothing is flaking off. My red sparkle is smoother on the top inside and no flakes also. Both feels like cheap laminate but don't expect much for the $60 I paid for each. I bought mine from Ukerepublic and got orange and blue strings on them.

ricdoug · Jul 24, 2012

webby said:
What do you guys think ?

The glue blobs are unreal too !!!

Funnily enough it still sounds great lol.

"Funnily enough it still sounds great"

Keep playing it and enjoying it! A lot of plywoods have a finished side and an unfinished sideThe lifting there probably occured during the cutting of the soundhole. If it causes and buzzing, put a little Elmers Glue on your fingertip and rum it around the afflicted areas. Not too much glue, so as not to muffle the resonance of the soundboard. The glue blobs look like it was assembled with hot glue sticks. Don't worry about them. If it still sounds good, it does not matter. Ric

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Dolphin problems.

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