New (used) Uke - keep it or take it back

A couple of days ago I unpacked a used Godin Multiuke shipped from a Guitar Center in Massachussets.

I was immediately disappointed by 4 things. The "leather gig bag" that it came with is more of a cheap faux leather dustcover without any padding. The headstock finish was cloudy, and the instrument smelled suspiciously of air freshener. And finally - the set of spare strings they threw in was an Aquila nylagut concert set (the Multiuke is a tenor) and they had loosened the existing strings for shipping and one of them had come off the tuning peg and was impossible to get back on.

So I made a quick trip out to get a set of tenor uke strings at the local Guitar Center (my favorite local music store was already closed for the evening), and set about restringing (I left the low G from the set that it came with on the uke).

After playing it for a couple of days, I can say that I really like the uke - the neck is comfortable and the plugged in sound is pretty amazing. At first I didn't notice much difference with the radius fingerboard, but then I tried using my ring finger to stop two strings in an E minor chord - I've never been been able to do that cleanly before...

But - I'm not crazy about the way it smells, I need a good gig bag and I can't decide if the hazy headstock bothers me or not.

I can return this to the local GC - I think for a fairly full refund (not sure if they'd refund the shipping), and I can buy a brand new Godin multiuke (including gig bag) for about $95 more than I spent. Getting the Godin branded gig bag is about $85.

The only minor hitch is the good price on the new one is for an anticipated ship date about 10 days out (they are out of stock but expecting a shipment).

Any thoughts?

I would return. I have received on two occasions instruments that had odors to them. One, the air freshener odor you're describing and one with a heavy smell of cigarette smoke. I cleaned them both with instrument cleaner and stuck dryer sheets in the sound holes for a few days, but the smell never truly went away and I ended up re-homing them.

I don't know what you paid for yours, but Musician's Friend is offering 15% and Guitar Center 10% off the Godin Multi Uke. I'm sure if you show GC the MF ad, they'll honor it since they're both the same company.

GC LINK:
https://www.guitarcenter.com/Godin/Multi-Ukulele.gc

MF LINK:
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/fol...ts/godin-multi-ukulele?rNtt=godin uke&index=3

Godin offers 25% off your first order of accessories and if GC/MF carries the bag, they might also match the Godin's discount.
https://godinguitars.com/product/gig-bags-vbga8-023929/

YMMV, but for me, this is a deal breaker and I'd politely request to speak to the manager upon entering GC and explain the full situation and see what they can do for me.

Either way, I wish you the best of luck and hope you find the most lovely ukulele

If the $95 is within your means, I'd return and get the new one. You KNOW you'll be happy; whereas, with the current one you may or may not ever get past the cloudy headstock. I'm assuming the smell eventually goes away.

Return it. You didn’t go shopping for a problem.

Just rebox it and bring it in and tell the first person you can speak to that it’s a return for refund. They may not want to refund shipping you paid when you bought it but you can argue that there or by e-mail.

They are very used to returns and don’t care. Keep it simple just state cover up smell and headstock blemish not revealed.

I had multiple returns to them before I realized that they just don’t care.

I paid $629 for mine from TheUkuleleSite and that included the "Deluxe" gig bag and setup. Return it. If there is an odor they are trying to disguise it

I sent an email to Godin asking if they could recommend a hard case that fit it. Their reply was: "We don't make a hardcase for it." Ah well. It's a great electric uke. I hear that it fits pretty well in Baritone cases.

I too suggest to return it, a $95 difference seems very much worth having a new fresh one. I got very lucky last year and saw a used Godin Multiuke in the Marketplace here that was listed for a few weeks, the seller brought down the price to $400 with a Godin gig bag. It's in excellent condition. The Multiuke is an amazing instrument, sounds great plugged in, but also sounds much better than I expected unplugged, and very comfortable to play.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos

So I took it back to the local GC and got my money back - they said they would refund the shipping as well, but I haven't seen the email confirmation on that.

Will probably order the new one tomorrow...

kohanmike said:

I too suggest to return it, a $95 difference seems very much worth having a new fresh one. I got very lucky last year and saw a used Godin Multiuke in the Marketplace here that was listed for a few weeks, the seller brought down the price to $400 with a Godin gig bag. It's in excellent condition. The Multiuke is an amazing instrument, sounds great plugged in, but also sounds much better than I expected unplugged, and very comfortable to play.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos

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That is one of the nicest looking sunburst finishes I've ever seen. Just enough without looking cheap. Beautiful.

I bought the "Natural" Cedar topped version.

Kenn2018 said:

That is one of the nicest looking sunburst finishes I've ever seen. Just enough without looking cheap. Beautiful. I bought the "Natural" Cedar topped version.

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Yes, the sunburst is one of the reasons I bought it. A couple of weeks earlier I put in a bid of $295 on eBay for a sunburst Ovation cutaway tenor uke that I had been wanting to buy for a couple of years, lost out and kicked myself for not doing the Buy-It-Now price of $400. When I saw the Godin, I didn't hesitate and jumped on it. Once I got it, I realized how much better the Godin is and have no regrets.

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8 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 7 mini electric bass guitars

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children's hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/videos

PTOEguy said:

So I took it back to the local GC and got my money back - they said they would refund the shipping as well, but I haven't seen the email confirmation on that.

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Excellent! Refunding the shipping cost is unusual.

And now I have a brand new one on order (with included Godin gig bag) from Musician's friend. By signing up for voluntary identify theft (AKA the "Backstage Pass") I got another 5% off for a total of 20% off. Total cost difference from the original used uke is right around what a new gig bag would have cost had I kept the used one.

They really worked hard to sell me the "gold coverage" plan. I'm not convinced - I haven't destroyed a uke yet....

PTOEguy said:

And now I have a brand new one on order (with included Godin gig bag) from Musician's friend. By signing up for voluntary identify theft (AKA the "Backstage Pass") I got another 5% off for a total of 20% off. Total cost difference from the original used uke is right around what a new gig bag would have cost had I kept the used one.

They really worked hard to sell me the "gold coverage" plan. I'm not convinced - I haven't destroyed a uke yet....

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Good for you on returning it and getting a new one. Those couple issues would have bothered you and diminished a great instrument. I have one of these with the cedar top and it is the best ampilfied uke I own and I own some really fine tenors with LR Baggs pick ups too. The original gig bag is very nice and you will be glad you have that as well. Enjoy it.

Oh.........no pictures, it didn't happen. Just sayin'

DownUpDave said:

Good for you on returning it and getting a new one. Those couple issues would have bothered you and diminished a great instrument. I have one of these with the cedar top and it is the best ampilfied uke I own and I own some really fine tenors with LR Baggs pick ups too. The original gig bag is very nice and you will be glad you have that as well. Enjoy it.

Oh.........no pictures, it didn't happen. Just sayin'

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this is the used one - you cant really see - or smell the issues, but I'm pretty happy with where I ended up. Except for the fact that I have to wait another two weeks or so to get the new one..

And I get what you mean about the best amplified uke - My Blackbird Clara is an astounding uke, and it has a nice K&K pickup but the Godin is an entirely different experience. My ten year old twins said they like the sound of the Clara plugged in better, but I disagree. The Clara is a little "boomy" and prone to feedback while the Godin is focused and very clear in articulation. All my kids play uke and when one of the ten-year olds tried it out he loved playing it - particularly his ability to make a nice "chunk" on it. This makes me wonder if part of the appeal of the Godin is that what comes out of the amp is quite true to what the player puts in. The Clara is like that unplugged, but plugged in feels a lot more precarious.

OK - I'm beginning to doubt my sanity. The new ukulele arrived today. It is beautiful, and the headstock is definitely clearer than the previous one. However, the smell from the previous one is now identified - the air freshener smell is apparently what a brand new Godin uke smells like (who knew?).

And - after playing for about 10 minutes, I'm picking up a buzz on the E string when I'm in the first fret. I called Musicians Friend and they have sent me a label to ship it back and they'll send out another. I'm starting to lose faith that this whole Godin thing is a good idea. Of the two I've had now, one played perfectly, but had a cosmetic flaw. The other is perfect cosmetically, but buzzes.

I may go back to my prior policy that I'm not buying anything unless I can play it first. The only uke that I've ordered online that came without any problems were the various Fleas and Flukes, and the one I bought from Mim.

For me it's a reminder to only buy instruments from stores that do a setup and check before sending out. MF will just grab another box off the shelf and send it to you. I like MF for getting accessories but forget buying an instrument unless I plan on taking it somewhere for a setup after receiving it.

I had a problem with the Godin Natural MultiUke I ordered from HMS theukulelesite.com. I unpacked it and looked it over and noticed that the edge around inspection cover on the back was scraped. As though someone had taken a screwdriver and tried to pry the cover off. (Weird, because it has screws that hold it on.) I notified the folks at tus.com about the problem immediately and sent pics. They got back to me within a couple of hours saying they checked all of their stock and couldn't find any others with the problem. The tech apologized profusely for missing it when he setup the uke. They sent me a label to return it. Then they expedited the setup on the replacement and sent it out to me. ''

It was perfect.

Great setup. Great condition. Great sounding.

HMS stands behind the products they sell. They do their absolute best to send out only excellent instruments. I have bought several ukuleles from them. They have all been terrific. I've been quite impressed with the company.

Oh, and my Natural MultiUke did not have an air freshener smell to it. My guess it is either a recently made instrument with a finish outgassing going on, or the warehouse has a moisture problem and the odor is trying to mask a musty smell. But that just a WAG.

I'm toying with the idea of going to the nearest Godin dealer (its about a 40-60 minute drive depending on traffic) to see if they can correct the buzz. My concern is that once they start working on it, I can't return it. Alternately, return it and keep trying until they send me one that happens to be set up well from the factory.

Or perhaps the third option is to do it as a return for refund and buy one from HMS. I'm not thrilled by that idea because my one HMS experience wasn't great (for which I share a good portion of the blame). I got a Pono from HMS that was perfectly set up, but as a newby uke player (at that time) it took me some time to recognize that the uke I had was a complete dud in the tone department - thin and harsh. I called HMS and they talked me through a string change, but it took another 6 months for me to realized that when my $400 Pono was being outperformed by my $180 flea regardless of strings it was time to move on.

Or maybe I'm just too picky and should stop buying ukes and play the one I have. (nah - UAS is too much fun - most of the time)

Ukulele Eddie said:

If the $95 is within your means, I'd return and get the new one. You KNOW you'll be happy; whereas, with the current one you may or may not ever get past the cloudy headstock. I'm assuming the smell eventually goes away.

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I agree with Eddie. In addition to what he says, the smell will be gone for sure, and you will have a new instrument warrantee, "If the $95 is within your means".

Heres' an update on my continuing saga. I returned the new uke to Musician's Friend. They are back ordered so I didn't get the next one until today. It buzzes worse than the last one. This time Musicians friend is offering to send a new one Monday, even without receiving the prior one. I also called a local (sort of) Godin dealer and they said that buzzing on these is common - it is something loose in the electronics and doesn't take much to fix. My problem is that the dealer is 40 minutes one way in good traffic, and I'm not sure what they might charge to fix it, and if it doesn't get fixed can I still return it?

So should I take it to the dealer and hope? or try a third one?

I'd take it back & get a full refund.

Then buy one from HMS, Uke Republic, Mim's (though she doesn't carry Godin), or any place that you trust to do a proper setup. I know for a fact that HMS' theukulelesite.com will not send out a ukulele that doesn't pass inspection or isn't properly setup.

The Godin has 4 individual pickups that also act as the saddles for each string. Whilst Godin claims that the pickups can be slightly adjusted there aren't many shops that are willing to take that task on. It's just too easy to damage the pickup. And I've been told the improvement is pretty small.

So, unless the buzzing is a fret, neck being too convex, or nut-related problem, it isn't likely to be fixable.

I personally would buy from HMS. Explain to the tech in the instructions area what you have experienced and that the setup needs to be right, w/o buzzing. Joel & crew are pretty easy to work with. And are very accommodating. They will bend over backwards to give you what you want.

That being said, we are into the Christmas season. I imagine that the standard 2-week full setup time may be a little longer to handle the demand.

My Godin Multiuke "Natural" arrived with a great setup & action. Joel said he didn't have to do much. Just smoothed some frets. Treated the fretboard. & changed the strings to Low-G for me. (I think he used GHS strings.) Told me it was really well setup out of the box.

So, if you have the time, it might be the way to go.