Fs: Solid acacia koa concert ukulele

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1geo

1geo

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As I stated in a previous post, I am buying unfinished ukuleles from Asiaand finishing them myself. This all koaconcert is the first of these ukuleles. I put 3 coats of instrument lacquer on the body, neck and head, smoothout the fret ends and assemble the hardware. The sound box, head and neck are well constructed. The sound is what I call typical koa. It is well defined, loud and suited forpicking. The only negative I can find isthe fret board, specifically the ends of the frets. They required re-filing and are not as well finishedas you would expect from a American maker. specs of this ukulele are as follows:
neck: mahogany
Binding: full top and bottom
headplate: acacia koa inlaid Alulu logo
fretboard: rosewood
bridge : rosewood
nut and saddle : bone
string: Italian Aquila strings
Tuner: geared gold surface set with ebony buttons
FRONT, SIDE, BACK BOARDS: SOLID ACACIA KOA
Thebest part about this concert is I can sell it at $120 plus actual shippingcost. And, to answer questions up front,am I making a profit at this price? Answer; absolutely, I don’t sell at a loss.


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glad to see people make a profit and still give a good deal. congrats.
 
I've been enamored with this brand's sun uke but don't want to pay their asking price. This is the sunflower which really catches your eye too. Have you been able to purchase any of their Sun Ukes?
 
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Gig bag or case?
 
No, i have had a tough time getting any of them. I've had a tenor on order for over a month and hope to get it soon. It will probably run $150.
 
No gig bag or hard case. You can get a 4 star rated gig bag from Musician's Friend for $19. If I see these sell well I will order some and offer them at cost with the uku. Geo.
 
You are saying it is acacia koa. Does that mean it is a native grown Hawaiian timber shipped off to be made into ukuleles?
 
Acacia Koa

vanflynn said:
You are saying it is acacia koa. Does that mean it is a native grown Hawaiian timber shipped off to be made into ukuleles?
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All I can tell you is the unfinished ukulele was sold as a "solid Acaia Koa" ukulele. It is definitely solid wood not laminate but I am not an expert in wood and cannot personally identify the species and subspecies of this particular wood all I can do is rely on the manufacturer's representation. My photos are high resolution closeups if you are a wood expert maybe you can answer the question; it would certainly be helpful to me.
 
Geo, you are the one selling this so the onus is on you to know what you are selling. A solid koa Uke for $120 just doesn't pass the sniff test. Your lack of spaces in your original post doesn't help much.

Hopefully you are legit, but we do get some folks trying for a quick, iffy sale at times. Just trying to stay honest
 
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I have often wished for an unfinished ukulele so I can stain it and apply a Tru-Oil finish. Finishing sharp fret ends is relaxation to me. I love to move metal. Since I would put PEGHEDS on it, it really doesn't matter what the tuners are. May I buy an unfinished one from you at a price where you can still make a reasonable profit for your initial outlay? I have six Acacia melanoxylon ukuleles, but only one Acacia koa. There are 182 species of the genus acacia. If you would prefer to reply privately, I am
thecraftedcow@comcast.net
 
As I stated, I am not a wood expert. The manufacturersells a lot of ukuleles under the brand name "Alulu" His eBay ratingis 21000+ at 99.8% (and 21000 is not a misprint) if he was misrepresenting hisproducts his rating would not be anywhere near that amount. The ukulele speaksfor itself. Take a good look at the pictures its a fantastic piece well buildand sounds great, the intonation is right on; there is no question it is solidKoa, what the actual subspecies is I have to rely on the Manufacturer'srepresentation and his representation is good enough for me. So my suggestionis, if all of this is not good enough "proof" for you, don't buy thisukulele. I thought putting the pricewhere I did would give someone on UU a great deal; looks like I thoughtwrong. I will leave it on UU for two more days and ifthere is no interest I will moveit to another venue where the price will be a lot higher.
 
people told you that the wood is not Koa, was trying to help you clarify the fuzzy information. Nobody tried to argue with your sale nor win the fight. If you are targeting to win every fight in this forum, that is fine. If you want to find out the truth of what wood Alulu use in this particular instrument, why not call the ebay seller and talk to him? I, as others in this forum can offer my help: If the guy run this Alulu business cannot speak fluent Egnligh, I am sure they can speak Chinese language. I can help talk to them too.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't said anything about you being a wood expert, nor your information was misleading blah blah. I am interested in getting closer to the truth too.
 
Fair point. But one thing needs repeating - it cannot be Hawaiian Koa for $120. Acacia possibly.
 
Odds are, this uke is an Asian species of Acacia. Many of those sellers do claim it to be Koa. It's not, but they ride on that reputation of Koa because many people don't know that Acacia is the mother of the many species, including Koa. They use it as a marketing term only. But like I said before, that isn't always a bad thing. Sooner or later, Acacia, and many of it's subspecies will gain a reputation of their own and it will split from claiming to be Koa. Acacia is a fine tonewood for some of the same reasons Koa is, and other reasons. It stands on it's own. What George is asking for his uke is very reasonable, as there are several reliable sources in Asia. There are other's not reliable, but if you know who and where it comes from, it's a safe alternative, and much more affordable to offer folks a nice, but more inexpensive alternative. As long as they are playing and spreading the music and fun of the ukulele, that is what it is about. Not all of us can afford the K brands, just as not all of us can afford the Gibsons, and Fenders and relay on their Asian counterparts. There is nothing wrong with that. George's uke sounds like a nice alternative and it is priced right. Just my opinion..
 
vanflynn said:
Geo, you are the one selling this so the onus is on you to know what you are selling. A solid koa Uke for $120 just doesn't pass the sniff test. Your lack of spaces in your original post doesn't help much.

Hopefully you are legit, but we do get some folks trying for a quick, iffy sale at times. Just trying to stay honest
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As I stated previously, this ukulele is sold under thebrand "Alulu" The manufacturer of that brand has a 21000+ rating onebay at 99.8%. And 21000 is not a misprint. There is no question that myukulele is solid koa what species I can't say but I believe the manufacture andgiven his solid reputation I see no reason to question his honesty as you havequestioned mine. You are obviously not interested in purchasing this ukuleleand requiring proof of manufacturer's representations is ludicrous. Thisconcert is a fantastic piece as the pictures will attest to. When I priced it Idid so thinking I would give a member of UU a great buy; obviously I thoughwrong. I will keep this instrument on the marketplace for two more days ifthere is no interest, I will close this post and put my concert in anothervenue at a LOT higher price.
 
very much doubt its solid Koa, and no amount of ebay ratings will change my view on that. Sorry.

As Tudorp says - most likely Acacia (which was mentioned originally) and that is related to Koa. Also, as Tudorp says, Acacia is a fine tone wood.
 
TheCraftedCow said:
I have often wished for an unfinished ukulele so I can stain it and apply a Tru-Oil finish. Finishing sharp fret ends is relaxation to me. I love to move metal. Since I would put PEGHEDS on it, it really doesn't matter what the tuners are. May I buy an unfinished one from you at a price where you can still make a reasonable profit for your initial outlay? I have six Acacia melanoxylon ukuleles, but only one Acacia koa. There are 182 species of the genus acacia. If you would prefer to reply privately, I am
thecraftedcow@comcast.net
Click to expand...
Right now I am in negotiations with the manufacturer tobuy a half dozen of these ukuleles; 3 concert and 3 tenors. He has raised hisprice and I am trying to lower it by buying in quantity. If I am successful Iwill sell you one, on that I will keep you informed. Be patient though I have had a tenor koa onorder for over a month and still have not gotten it. One thing I would caution you on is using aTru-Oil finish. It is my understanding that Tru-Oil penetrates the wood andthen hardens to form a protective barrier. This hardening changes thecharacteristics of the wood's resonant foot print. That resonant is what giveseach type of wood its unique sound. I refer you to a book by David C. Hurd,Ph.D. titled, "Left-Brain Lutherie" which explains mathematically andpictorially each wood's footprint. I use string instrument lacquer which isspecifically formulated to seal the wood but at the same time allow it tobreath so its sound footprint will not change.
 
George, even though you are not a wood expert (neither am I for that matter), you should educate yourself the best you can on them, especially spiecies of woods from other countries. I am not personally familair with the brand you are dealing in. It looks like a nice instrument. But, you should open a repor with the builder and know his/her practices, woods he uses etc. If not for full disclosure, but more importantly to protect yourself. When you re-sell someone elses work, you are responsible to provide a guaritee of sorts to your customer. I have had the same situation, and had to do some warrantee work repairing the builders uke to maintain my own reputation. Fortunatly, I did have a great repour with my builder, and was compensated on this end. It was seamless to the end user, which it should be. But, I take that risk and back it up with as much education as I can get from the builder, and the materials. On the same note, there are woods that are VERY illegal to import, and sell, or even own in the united states. There are builders in other countries that build with materials that isn't against their laws to build with, or in some cases, even if they were they obtain them on the black market and build with them anyway. Some species of ebony is a good example. If you happen to sell an instrument made from illegally obtained woods, it's on you and ignorance of the law or the fact you are not an expert will not protect you from the law. It's in your best interests, as well as your customers best interests to be as educated as you possibly can, and to have an open relationship with your sources. This in no way is said to pester you, it is freindly advice from someone that has also had dealings outside the congus US. I know you are a mature gentleman, but even myself at my age (52) keeps an open mind to learn many things from folks much younger than myself. Your uke seems to be similar to the ones I used to import, and like I said earlier, are nice ukes and provide really nice alternatives to folks that can't afford the high end customs. I hope they are. Just recently, even our beloved Gibson had a run in with the law over that. They were busted with millions of dollars of illegal ebony in their warehouse that they inoscently purchased from their importer. In fact, I think they are still dealing with legal issues over that. They didn't know (alegedly), but it was still on them, and they got in a world of hot water over it and held accountable for having it in their possesion, and building instruments with it. Just educate yourself, and know your product. It's best for all concerned. Good luck in working with those... God Bless..
 
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Tudorp said:
George, even though you are not a wood expert (neither am I for that matter), you should educate yourself the best you can on them, especially spiecies of woods from other countries. I am not personally familair with the brand you are dealing in. It looks like a nice instrument. But, you should open a repor with the builder and know his/her practices, woods he uses etc. If not for full disclosure, but more importantly to protect yourself. When you re-sell someone elses work, you are responsible to provide a guaritee of sorts to your customer. I have had the same situation, and had to do some warrantee work repairing the builders uke to maintain my own reputation. Fortunatly, I did have a great repour with my builder, and was compensated on this end. It was seamless to the end user, which it should be. But, I take that risk and back it up with as much education as I can get from the builder, and the materials. On the same note, there are woods that are VERY illegal to import, and sell, or even own in the united states. There are builders in other countries that build with materials that isn't against their laws to build with, or in some cases, even if they were they obtain them on the black market and build with them anyway. Some species of ebony is a good example. If you happen to sell an instrument made from illegally obtained woods, it's on you and ignorance of the law or the fact you are not an expert will not protect you from the law. It's in your best interests, as well as your customers best interests to be as educated as you possibly can, and to have an open relationship with your sources. This in no way is said to pester you, it is freindly advice from someone that has also had dealings outside the congus US. I know you are a mature gentleman, but even myself at my age (52) keeps an open mind to learn many things from folks much younger than myself. Your uke seems to be similar to the ones I used to import, and like I said earlier, are nice ukes and provide really nice alternatives to folks that can't afford the high end customs. I hope they are. Just recently, even our beloved Gibson had a run in with the law over that. They were busted with millions of dollars of illegal ebony in their warehouse that they inoscently purchased from their importer. In fact, I think they are still dealing with legal issues over that. They didn't know (alegedly), but it was still on them, and they got in a world of hot water over it and held accountable for having it in their possesion, and building instruments with it. Just educate yourself, and know your product. It's best for all concerned. Good luck in working with those... God Bless..
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Hi Big Guy, do you really believe you would be prosecutedfor innocently selling a ukulele made from wood that is illegal to import? Ihave over three years of law school to my credit, worked in legal areas for thefederal government for decades, represented scores of people as a unionexecutive in a variety of legal arenas and I can say without reservation orequivocation that you have a better chance of getting hit by lightning in yourliving room then you have of being prosecuted for innocently selling a ukulelemake from illegally imported wood. I have no intention of becoming a woodexpert to sell a uku on UU. And since to my knowledge that is not a requirementI will continue to post. There is one thing I can do and that is show acomparison between my concert and a Kamaka. I have over 4 Kamakas, one is apineapple HP-1 The manufacturer says its Acacia Koa, I cannot testify to theaccuracy of the manufacturer's representation but I am not about to call Kamaka aliar so I accept its representation. The picture below is my concert on theleft and the Kamaka on the right. The wood grain and structure looks identicalto me. What do you think? Or does UUneed a notarized document by a qualified legal wood expert to sell on UU? You’re a UUVIP what’s the answer?
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