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I have to admit that I am a huge fan of koa fretboards on ukes, but they discolour with use and I wonder about how to best care for them. Mine are on a white label Kamaka and an early KoAloha. I have a few steel string guitars with ebony fretboards that I sometimes condition with mineral oil...

I have some Murphy Oil Soap in the house and wonder if this is useful for cleaning a uke. Google suggests that guitar players find it very useful for cleaning unfinished fretboards and electric guitars, but couldn't find info for ukes. Specifically : 1) I prefer koa fretboards and they darken...

I thought that I had more and better ukes than I ever wanted. But after four years of absence from Hawaii the air made me all giddy and as I browsed the uke stores I lost sanity and got an old Kiwaya taropatch. Back at the hotel as I looked at it in better light I noticed little gap under the...

On FB I noticed a picture of Martin C1K which looks like single piece. When I did Google search other pictures suggest two piece but possibly not bookmatched. They all look kinda hideous. When I checked for T1K pictures they are more obvious 2 piece and a bit better looking but still I would not...

I came across this article that describes some early signature ukes for the stars of 100 years ago. There were quite a few that were made of birch, and some of whitewood (tulip tree). I think many early Gibson mandolins were also made of birch, and this is still a popular wood for laminates. So...

I had to leave my travel uke in another country and am now looking for cheap alternative to take to Oahu for Kanikapila. So far I have Flight TUSL on my radar or an Enya Nova standard size. I can get the Enya for nice price as I think they are upgrading the line and pushing old stock out, which...

On FB I have come across an "Ukulele Friend" store in Honolulu that looks impressive and seems to be well connected to the community. As I have booked a trip to Oahu this winter I am contemplating to make an appointment for a visit. But my time there will be very limited and cost of trip is high...

Today I got email from Sweetwater inviting me to apply for a job there. At a younger age I would have loved to work in the music industry, but these days are gone. Here's a link to what they offer...

Regina, Saskatchewan Kanikapila. Everyone is invited to attend! Always on second Sunday of the month.

The area behind the bridge of my white label Lili'u has been a bit rough and today I noticed that the top has separated at the back. Unfortunately my local luthier has retired in May and I am not aware of other repair person in town. Is this something that can be fixed by someone who is totally...

There is a unique Guild concert uke for sale on Reverb. This is likely a unique build and probably almost 10 years old. Priced way too high for a player and probably targeted to Guild collectors, but here it is...

This is a 3 session workshop on Zoom, starting July 11 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/otbanjocmi/938721

I have owned my low G solid wood uke for at least 7 years now and it tended to stay in tune for a long time. I used oasis soundhole humidifiers and they seemed to do the job. However, in the previous winter I noticed some fret sprout and the low G had terrible buzz above the 9th fret. So I...

I have a uke friend who is travelling in Thailand now and I suggested she visit the Rebel Factory for a tour and maybe pick up a mango uke for local price. However finding the place using Google is a challenge. With some investigation I figured out that the address is shared with the Baan Uke...

There is a thread about "dream ukes" where I could not answer the question right away but it made me think about what appeals to me about uke brands. For one, we have a global economy and the big brands that have some large anonymous labour force somewhere, and source and ship their materials...

More than a year ago they sold Aklot ukes on Amazon for a price that was so low I was not sure if this was a toy or not. But many people here liked them so I ordered one for a dear uke playing relative who loves it. We finally had a chance to travel the long distance for Xmas visit and I had a...

I have looked at some old Martin catalogues, and while for standard and concert ukes a D tuning is indicated at least into the 60s if not 70s, they say that tenor will be strung with heavy gut strings one fifth below. So that suggests re-entrant EAC#F#. This is intriguing and as I have no idea...

I have played my Gretsch low-G tenor for several years now with the same strings re[placing them as they break, and was thinking about getting a different set of strings even though I like the ones that are on right now. But as I am playing it I also realize that as it is my first decent uke...

The Aquila Red low G set by default comes with a "wound red" string, but I can't find a description of what the heck this is supposed to be. Is it a red string with a silver winding, or a red string with some kind of red winding, or something else? Has anyone used these and can comment on how...

I am contemplating trying some new strings on my low G performance uke. For several years I have enjoyed Nylguts with red low G but I think that when the red breaks I want to put on a new set and try something different. There seems to be a lot of love for the polished brass low G that is...