Complete uke makeover

ok, well maybe not complete....

I'm hoping to spiff up my Makala concert a bit and need some advice.

First- there's a decal around the soundhole, makes it look kind of cheap frankly, I'd like to get it off w/o messing up the wood (it's a very matte, almost unfinished finish on it). any suggestions on how to do this? A little hot water on a rag? alcohol maybe?

Second, the finish is like I said, quite dull. Is there a type of oil or polish that will make the wood not glossy, but more like an eggshell or satin type of finish?

thanks for any advice!

I have the same uke, and the decal around the sound hole started coming off by itself. When I cleaned it, about half of it peeled off, and slowly I've been able to peel most of it off myself.

I think that's a matte finish which is supposed to look sort of dull or flat.
You could try a little Old English Lemon Oil on it. Let us know how it works... I might try it on my Kala Flame Mahogany soprano

Things with oils are good for removing adhesive in general.

Try a little Goo be gone to remove the rosette sticker. Any good guitar polish should be fine and not change the luster of the finish.

Brewerpaul said:

I think that's a matte finish which is supposed to look sort of dull or flat.
You could try a little Old English Lemon Oil on it. Let us know how it works... I might try it on my Kala Flame Mahogany soprano

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I know -but I had noticed that the parts of it that receive a lot of contact (back of the neck near the top, and the top of the body- from strumming) have a bit of a gloss to the wood now and looks much nicer (to me anyhow) than the matte wood that it comes as. I'm thinking that some sort of light oil might do the trick. I tried a little wood polish (spray) on a spot and it didn't do much to the wood...

Howard Feed n Wax is great stuff.


I use it on my fretboards and it seems to nourish them beautifully. It might give your matte finish a little more lustre.