Vintage Kamaka value?

Howdy.

A buddy of mine (professional guitarist) lives in SoCal and his mother died recently. He found his Grandmother's ukulele going through belongings recently. It's a Concert Kamaka, and the cloth case says she got it (her handwriting) September 1, 1927.

It is PERFECT, undamaged, and has rope binding around the sound hole and top. I will post a couple pics.

Any ideas on value? He has no intent on selling it, but he is curious for sure. It's a real beauty.



Thanks for any knowledgeable input,

Scott

1937Scott said:

Howdy.

A buddy of mine (professional guitarist) lives in SoCal and his mother died recently. He found his Grandmother's ukulele going through belongings recently. It's a Concert Kamaka, and the cloth case says she got it (her handwriting) September 1, 1927.

It is PERFECT, undamaged, and has rope binding around the sound hole and top. I will post a couple pics.

Any ideas on value? He has no intent on selling it, but he is curious for sure. It's a real beauty.



Thanks for any knowledgeable input,

Scott

Click to expand...

Take some better pictures. Something other than cellphone picts. The headstock emblem looks mangled, and it looks like there's a crack in the top from the sound hole to the neck.

It's great he has no intention of selling it. It needs to stay in the family if it will be properly taken care of. That means a humidifier in Nevada

I gave the same advice. (humidifier) He is keeping it in SoCal for now. No crack, but that's the best pics I can get from him.

He sent me 21 pics of it, those are the only ones I posted here. I was just hoping to get a value, he will be keeping it for sure.


Scott

Ive seen ones like that sell around $500 on ebay

what a treasure!!! Hopefully it will inspire him to learn to play it!

1937Scott said:

I gave the same advice. (humidifier) He is keeping it in SoCal for now. No crack, but that's the best pics I can get from him.

He sent me 21 pics of it, those are the only ones I posted here. I was just hoping to get a value, he will be keeping it for sure.


Scott

Click to expand...

Nobody can put value on it by looking at lousy pictures. He could find out the true value by posting it on ebay starting at 1 dollar, but if my Grandmother had passed this down to me, it would be next to priceless.

Yes the pictures are almost worthless as far as putiing a real price on it.The concert size of that time period is not that common.As far as perfect condition,just by the way the peghead decal looks I would say well used,not perfect.But what the hell he is going to keep it,so tell him it is priceless as a family hierloom.

No matter what the pics look like, knowing what it is, if it were mine, I wouldn't take 500 for it!

It a 20 - 30 kamaka super rare concert...not many of them(concerts) ever build way back then....I'd say with no cracks, it's worth over 2000 easy depending on condition from there the
price can go very high....for the right collector... this is not a common made uke and it is even more rare than the 5K...

Value is tough to judge because someone may pay more than someone else. Someone might pay $2k, someone might pay $1k. The best way is to go on ebay and check the completed listings and find out the average amount the ones like it sold for. But if it's rare like someone said, you might not find any that are in the same condition that have sold. So yeah, you can't really put an exact number on it. Your friend could just put his own value on it and that value = priceless

Best way is to listen to MMStan, he's the vintage Kamaka expert on value and rarity.

Patrick Madsen said:

Best way is to listen to MMStan, he's the vintage Kamaka expert on value and rarity.

Click to expand...

And that's the way it is...

Yes these are ultra rare and you don't find many concerts built by anyone in the 20's..I have not seen a 20 concert kamaka on ebay yet...but there is a rare martin concert style 2 for over 7 grand
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-UKE-19...403&&clkid=4020350561595982749&_qi=RTM1562569 if you have or find a 20 kamaka or martin concert and would like to sell it to me for 500, let me know...thank you

mm stan said:

It a 20 - 30 kamaka super rare concert...not many of them(concerts) ever build way back then....I'd say with no cracks, it's worth over 2000 easy depending on condition from there the
price can go very high....for the right collector... this is not a common made uke and it is even more rare than the 5K...

Click to expand...

Stan is right...a Kamaka from the 20's to 30's WITH cracks, missing tuners, strings easily goes for close to $1000! No joke!! Send it to Kamaka and let them LOVINGLY restore it then play it!!! It is a treasure

molokinirum said:

Stan is right...a Kamaka from the 20's to 30's WITH cracks, missing tuners, strings easily goes for close to $1000! No joke!! Send it to Kamaka and let them LOVINGLY restore it then play it!!! It is a treasure

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unless you have some major connections with Kamaka, the wait is about 2 years for a repair....

I know Stan just had some work done by Ki-lin Reece on his vintage Kamaka(very rare one too)
did it come out ok Stan?

I would opt to have Kamaka fully restore it too. What a treasure!

I am old...and just may have had a memory flashback....this uke may be closer to a soprano scale I believe I heard long long ago...can you measure the scale length and let me know..

Stan,

You are truly my friend. I agree. I have been cruising ebay for vintage ukes for three years now. I've never seen an old concert Kamaka, much less with binding like that. Thanks, I'll relay the information. I will get a scale length and get back to you.

Also, my friend (the owner) is not only a professional musician (as in, he makes a living playing a Fender guitar), but he totally gets the sentimental value of this piece. He sent me the pictures after telling me about it when we visited Christmas Eve. He lives in SoCal, so I haven't had the privilege of seeing it in person, I wish I did! I am his only uke friend, so he asked me to see if I could get any info on it, just so he would know. I didn't mean to offend or draw scorn from my fellow ukers by my pics or statements.

First; I didn't take the pics, my friend did with his Droid phone. My iPhone would have been better. (But in his defense, he sent 21 pics, probably smaller size. Half were of the case…) Second; I might have used the word perfect and offended some of you, but my context and use of the word was in reference to the fact that the uke is a least 85 years old!!! The headstock sticker/paint is a little scratched, but that's it!! I have zoomed on the top above the sound hole, it looks more like a crack in the finish, not the wood. I will clarify asap.

I will try another reply to the thread with some more crappy Droid pics to tease...

He's working tonight, but I just sent him a note asking for better pics and the scale length. Again, thanks MMStan for the info. I appreciate it.

If he's crazy enough to sell it and I don't buy it, you'll be the first person I let know.