Ukulele De-Acquisition Sale! *UPDATED* New Ukes added: U-Bass, Pocket ukes, Vintage

Hello! I recently posted in the New Member section. In my intro thread I told about my experience with UAS, and mentioned that I'd be starting a For Sale thread in the marketplace to purge some of my collection. So here it is! All of these prices include FREE shipping to the lower 48, add $25 to Hawaii.

I'll only accept payment via Paypal or local pickup with cash..

These are unbranded, but they're made in the same factory as several of the big brands, and with the same quality. So you can buy one of these, or pay almost twice as much for the same uke with a brand decal. Here we go..

U-Bass (Brand new) - Solid spruce top, solid maple sides and back - electric under saddle pickup - steel strings - $290 including shipping



U-Bass photo gallery: http://minus.com/mnjyEMib3H8dy


Pocket ukuleles (Brand new) - Tuned and played on the same scale as soprano, but at 17" they're about 3/4 the size and a lot of fun. Admittedly, they won't actually fit in a pocket. I have 2 of these I'll let go for $55 each including shipping



Pocket ukulele gallery: http://minus.com/mmGQGF63EdJ90


And another oldie..

Regal - Very special! This tri-color herringbone wood inlay/binding was an early signature of Regal's. There are several pretty well known models like the Wendell Hall Redhead from about 1925 into the 1930s. The "Fancy Pants" which had the tri-color inlay around almost every edge. Mine has the same binding, and appears to be made of the same curly/flamed cuban mahogany which looks a lot like koa. I searched for many hours trying to find any info I could on this thing. I bought a vintage guitar guide which is supposed to be the best reference we have for vintage ukulele values (useless) to no avail. The one and only reference I found to this uke is here: http://database.ukulelecorner.org.uk/p-q-r/regal (Titled "3 colour inlay" c. 1919 first picture on the second row) with no actual info, and just a date of 1919. The reason I believe this date to be true is because it looks like something that these later, fancier variations would have evolved from. The tuners stay where you put them. I strung it with martins to keep a more traditional sound, and it sounds incredible. The only thing I've found is a very tiny crack at the top of the soundhole. It would take you a while to notice it if you didn't know it was there. It shouldn't grow because there's a brace just above it. I don't think it's going to be a problem. Considering it's age, this uke is in amazing condition.

The case is an "Economo" made by GEIB. It's in "Good" condition but is showing a bit of age. I did a bit of research on this case and it looks to be pretty sought after. It seems like a lot of the early martin ukes came with these and I see them sold together often.

I really don't know how to price this uke because I have nothing to reference. I know that the Wendell Hall Redheads sell for $400-$500 pretty often, and they are not as old, or as rare. If you're interested in this, shoot me an offer (really!), but the price I'll set is $450 with the GEIB case, including shipping.



Regal gallery: http://minus.com/mR2WJAJ5tJAEK

Here are some links:

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2010/07/c1925-regal-wendell-hall-red-head.html

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2011/03/c1925-regal-fancypants-soprano-ukulele.html

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2011/12/c1925-regal-flamed-mahogany-soprano.html


Vintage Harmony Baritone - SOLD

Barclay Soprano - SOLD

Harmony Soprano - SOLD


Still available. This uke is beautiful, buy it!

Harmony Roy Smeck Soprano - $79 Shipped

This is a super clean example of a Roy Smeck uke. From the 1950's to 60's. It's been strung with a new set of LOW G Worth Brown strings, which sound amazing on this. No Cracks. Straight Neck. The soundhole is offset to the left (toward G) a bit on this, I’m not sure if it’s intentionally designed that way or if the factory allowed for some variance, but either way, it looks, plays and sounds great.



Click here for the album

Wow, nice ukes, extremely nice prices

the ubass doesn't look exactly the same?. is it tuned like a reg bass. what kind of strings/ pickup. is it a modified tenor. who makes this? tuners?

Sent you a PM concerning your Smeck

strumsilly said:

the ubass doesn't look exactly the same?. is it tuned like a reg bass. what kind of strings/ pickup. is it a modified tenor. who makes this? tuners?

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It's a modified baritone body with a much thicker bass guitar-like neck. There are several brands offering UBasses now. This was produced at the same factory that manufactures them for at least 1 of those brands, and this exact uke lists for $500. I won't say more than that to protect these brands. In any case, it's constructed of solid spruce and solid maple, and is a proper UBass with a huge sound. Kala uses poly strings which some people don't like. This uses steel strings which are tighter and less floppy. It has die-cast geared tuners. The electronics are pretty basic. It's an M-1 preamp equalizer with undersaddle pickup. This is tuned and played like a bass guitar.

kenikas said:

Sent you a PM concerning your Smeck

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Replied!!!

chris24global said:

It's a modified baritone body with a much thicker bass guitar-like neck. There are several brands offering UBasses now. This was produced at the same factory that manufactures them for at least 1 of those brands, and this exact uke lists for $500. I won't say more than that to protect these brands. In any case, it's constructed of solid spruce and solid maple, and is a proper UBass with a huge sound. Kala uses poly strings which some people don't like. This uses steel strings which are tighter and less floppy. It has die-cast geared tuners. The electronics are pretty basic. It's an M-1 preamp equalizer with undersaddle pickup. This is tuned and played like a bass guitar.

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protect the brand from what?

strumsilly said:

protect the brand from what?

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As consumers I think most of us know that the things we buy are often made in other countries. Similar products are often made in the same factory. Brands work hard to cultivate an image and we as consumers make our decisions based on that image. I don't think any of this is top secret info, but I'd rather not be throwing brand names and factory names around. So I'll just leave it at this: If the brand is important to you, buy the brand you like. If function and price are your primary concerns, then buy this. It's a brand new, solid wood, proper U-Bass for almost half the price.

what do you have to lose that you won't just spill it? plenty of us are curious about what is manuf where. the QC and post setup are per brand still.

bnolsen said:

what do you have to lose that you won't just spill it? plenty of us are curious about what is manuf where. the QC and post setup are per brand still.

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There's really nothing to spill. I'm not hiding anything.. These ukes were made in a factory that makes ukuleles for a lot of brands. I think it would be in bad taste to list them all even if I knew them all. They were built in China just like some of your Lanikais, Mahalo, and Makala. Whoever buys the UBass will get a very good deal. If you decide instead to buy a Kala UBass or a Kamoa E3E Bass, you'll get the peace of mind that comes with buying a reputable brand.

Just a quick testimonial - I bought a soprano from Chris - made in China as discussed above. The instrument has nice tone, quality construction and very good set up, it even came with Aquila strings. I easily paid a third of what I would have paid from a retailer, $70 instead of $200. And the best part is that my 12 year old daughter is thrilled with it.

Thanks,
Russ

I sent a PM about the pocket ukes.

I tried to respond to your PM but you're inbox is full. The answer to your question is that's fine. No problem at all. Thanks for going above and beyond.

RWHowe said:

Just a quick testimonial - I bought a soprano from Chris - made in China as discussed above. The instrument has nice tone, quality construction and very good set up, it even came with Aquila strings. I easily paid a third of what I would have paid from a retailer, $70 instead of $200. And the best part is that my 12 year old daughter is thrilled with it.

Thanks,
Russ

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I bought the vintage Harmony baritone from Chris. I am in AZ and he is in So. CAL, so the shipping was quick. Nice uke as described. Very good price. I can recommend him too

chris24global said:

As consumers I think most of us know that the things we buy are often made in other countries. Similar products are often made in the same factory. Brands work hard to cultivate an image and we as consumers make our decisions based on that image. I don't think any of this is top secret info, but I'd rather not be throwing brand names and factory names around. So I'll just leave it at this: If the brand is important to you, buy the brand you like. If function and price are your primary concerns, then buy this. It's a brand new, solid wood, proper U-Bass for almost half the price.

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"U-Bass" is a registered Trademark of Kala.

But similar to what your talking about is the Giant bicycle company. They are outsourced to make spec frames for many famous brands like Specialized & Trek, and several others. The only difference is, Giant won't undercut their customers by selling as a no-name discounted copy of a Specialized.