Broken uke blues... Treholipee, i wanted you so bad...

tburkhart

tburkhart

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So this is just me looking on the internet for a shoulder to cry on... I have been wanting a swagerty singing treholipee for a long time. My wife found one that we could afford on our currently low income (im back in school seeking a post grad degree, so she is supporting us both right now) to surprise me with, a beautiful one in perfect condition! alas, it arrived today with a broken head... i didn't find out about the surprise until today when she received it via USPS and was so sad... If the seller doesn't have us send it back do you think it can retain some of it original tone glued? she is looking for another one, but they aren't easy to find. Its ebay so she will get the money back, it just sucks... and my birthday is on the 24th... vent vent vent cry cry cry

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Wow, that sucks. They are incredibly cool looking.
There are a few Polk a lay lees on ebay right now for about $100 so they're a lot cheaper than the treholipees I've seen. And they have an even swoopier neck.

If the seller doesn't want it back and you don't try to fix it, I'd be willing to buy the bridge and possibly the body to help you fund another one. You could probably make some good money selling the tuners on ebay too.

I just picked up a treholipee last weekend at an antique store for $20 that I'm working on fixing up, but it's missing the bridge, and the body needs a lot of work. I'm not sure if I can make it playable, but at least it'll look good on the wall if nothing else.
 
oh, man that sucks! Looks like a pretty poor job of packing. I would think a decent luthier could glue that back together and it would be fine, especially for such a rare item.
 
I'd ask around. That's fixable.
 
If you can't fix will buy the plastic tuning pegs. I have one with a broken peg. May sell mine, perhaps. Yep, nothing like a Treholipee. Sing to your surfer girl on the beach, stick it in the sand head down and head for the waves.
 
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Those look pretty hard to pack and ship. So sorry it is broken. Heart.break. I hope there is a way to have it fixed. Definitely worth keeping if possible.
 
I can see a cool looking custom metal (brass? stainless? aluminum?) brace along the side of the headstock that could look like a custom touch instead of a "fix"
 
Looks poorly packed, anything that long and delicate should have been at minimum double boxed for strength. Bubblewrap in a single Priority Mail box isn't enough, look how squished the box is. You need to open a case with eBay and at least get a big partial refund from the seller while you have them over a barrel. You can find out what it would cost to fix and get that much refunded. It's only good to the seller now as parts and eBay will make them eat all the shipping to boot.

I'm a seller who had 8K feedback before they removed duplicates. I also buy. I feel bad for both you and the seller, but it is on the seller to pack properly and to insure!

Also I like Phil's idea. It will never look the same even if glued. Aluminum wouldn't add much weight, and maybe you could Steampunk it out while at it.
 
I am sure the post office handled it as fragile....(sarcastic remark) it is both sender and Post Offce faults...I hope you paid with Pay pal..
 
Sorry it took me so long to get back on here and update on the treholipee situation!!! We ended up sending it back. The EBAY sellers were apparently upset because they are not whole sellers, in fact they were selling from there own private collection, and thus there less then friendly initial response. We got our money back, and had to send it back. Now back to the hunt for my dream instrument! Thanks for all the great replies, it's always nice to be able to vent and have some good responses :p my wife is hunting hard to find one we can afford (but is a little sad i now know what im getting lol) so wish us luck!
 
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