Good Luthier in Minneapolis/St Paul?

My friend has a 70s Kamaka soprano that has a 1 inch crack on the top by the upper bout. It doesn't look like a hard fix but I wouldn't recommend the local shop and she doesn't want to go through the time/expense to send it back to the factory.

Does anyone know of someone in the Twin Cities area that they could recommend to do uke repairs?

I know of no one. Maybe check with Homestead Pickin' Parlor?

Hoffman Guitars, 2219 East Franklin Ave, Mpls. Best around.

You could check with Willie's Guitar in St Paul too, I'd trust them as well but not sure if their work is in house or not.

FWIW, if that doesn't work out for you, you might consider contacting the manufacturer. I have a Tangi Mango Uke that developed a crack, even though they went out of business, the guy that made it repaired it for free. All I had to do was pay shipping one way...

Hi Ross, Kamaka has about a 6-8 month turnaround time plus they are a bit pricy because they basically do a full restoration. You get what you pay/wait for though. I sent my Tiki to them and they did a magnificent job. She doesn't want to wait that long or pay that much.

ukulele-melee said:

Hoffman Guitars, 2219 East Franklin Ave, Mpls. Best around.

You could check with Willie's Guitar in St Paul too, I'd trust them as well but not sure if their work is in house or not.

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Posted By: Billyuke Date: 2/8/2008 3:04:29 PM
RSteve-
I got my uke fixed by Leonard Shapiro. Nice professional job-I'd recommend him. I don't think he sees too many ukes come in, although he said his mother has a Kamaka too.
Incidentally, I took it to Charles Hoffman guitars first. They were very friendly and helpful but unfortunately too expensive. They told me it would cost $200+ while Shapiro did it for less than 1/4 of that. (They wanted to cleat the cracks and maybe thats where the difference in price comes from?) I'm sure they would do a first rate job, I just couldn't see sticking the money into this ukulele.
At any rate it's fixed, looks great and sounds just like it used too-so I'm happy. Plus, I saved some money that just might come in handy when I'm ready to buy a concert uke.
Hope this helps.



Posted By: RSteve Date: 2/9/2008 12:36:15 AM
If you take a close look at Leonard Shapiro's URL, http://www.moseso.com/lsgr.html , tucked within is "moseso". Moses Oakland aka Leonard Shapiro, besides being a respected luthier, is a well known Twin Cities blues guitarist.

I'm pleased that he repaired your uke. I've seen Leonard recommended on several guitar forums.



Posted By: GX9901 Date: 2/9/2008 12:59:19 AM
Billyuke - Thanks for letting us know how it went. It's good to know that there are good options for ukulele repairs in the Twin Cities.