Old Kamaka ukulele

revdocjim

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I am very excited with today's find in my late neighbor's attic. A gold label Kamaka Soprano in reasonably good condition! I have several questions. I should preface this by saying I am just a very mediocre hobbyist ukulele player.
1. There is some separation of the wood where the front panel meets the side panel, and also where the left and right side panels meet each other. Do you think I should get this worked on... or just leave it the way it is.
2. I've never owned or used a ukulele that has peg tuners and I am surprised at how incredibly sensitive they are compared to geared tuners. Would it be complete sacrilege to put geared tuners on an instrument like this?
3. Were all Kamaka ukes from this period made of solid koa wood?
4. I've read about date stamps on the interior of the instrument. Where are they located?
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You can send it to Kamaka to repair. it will take some time and money, but who better than the manufacturer to fix those issues. Also, you can ask them to swap the tuners and return the originals to you
 
Did you know they played?
Play it a bit first gently and find whether you are going to appreciate its qualities. Would be a shame to put big-eared tuners on this - perhaps use some planetary tuners which look like the current ones (or whatever they fit on Kamaka).
 
That all looks very repairable, just a seam that has opened up. Some hide glue and clamping. The top crack at the bottom bout can hopefully be mended in the same procedure.

In your shoes, I would leave the tuners alone. You get the hang of them soon enough. No need to change them, imho.
 
Congrats on the find, but sorry to hear about your neighbor.

1. Depending on where you live, it might be more cost effective to find a reputable repair shop that works on vintage instruments. (The background in your pics look like Japan 🤔) Might also be faster than shopping to Kamaka.

Also, maybe play it for a bit and see if it's stable... if you're considering how much money you want to put into it.

2. I also just got a vintage Kamaka with peg tuners and agree that they're quite sensitive, but I'm with @DuckyI and would leave em and just get used to it.

To answer your question, sacrilege only depends on your plans. If you want to keep it and play it all the time and you wanna change em... it's yours and you should do what you want with it! Who cares what others think. Buuuuut if you might eventually want to see it, you would probably want to keep it original.

3. From what I understand, Kamaka only makes solid instruments. Their saying is "don't make junk" 😁

4. I've read that they don't all have date stamps, but if it did, it would be inside on the neck block. Some old posts on vintage Kamakas had a UU'er who was a Kamaka expert and could identify mfg dates by the build. I just got here 2yrs ago... not sure if he's still around.
 
You can send it to Kamaka to repair. it will take some time and money, but who better than the manufacturer to fix those issues. Also, you can ask them to swap the tuners and return the originals to you
While the question might be rhetorical, I will actually answer it. Who is better and cheaper? Jake Wildwood. He worked on my white label and gold label Kamakas, and now both are fantastic players.
 
While the question might be rhetorical, I will actually answer it. Who is better and cheaper? Jake Wildwood. He worked on my white label and gold label Kamakas, and now both are fantastic players.
+1 on this advice. Looks to be easily repairable with some glue & clamps. Also, give the tuners a chance, geared/eared tuners on that one would be a shame. I had one in similar condition, and had a luthier fix some much worse cracks; it came out great. Also, my tuner buttons had crumbled, so I installed a set of inexpensive Ping friction tuners, which worked well, and looked the part.

Edit: the holes for the tuners on the headstock of my gold label Kamaka soprano were tiny, the smallest I've seen. Most all replacement tuners, even frictions, had posts that too wide, or bushings that were too wide on top. Not sure what your tuners are (how about a pic?), but the hex nuts on top look like Waverly, they may already have been replaced. Mine were the stock tuners that Kamaka used, with cup washers, which sat on top, not bushings that required drilling. The Pings were the only ones that would fit without mods (drilling or reaming the existing small holes).
 
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I agree that friction tuners aren't the easiest to use. But, IMHO it would be sacrilege to put eared-geared tuners on this lovely uke. If you decide to replace them try Gotoh planetary tuners. They are awesome and they won't spoil the vibe of this vintage beauty. If you don't care about looks or resale value then do whatever you need to to make this uke enticing for you to play.
 
Congrats on this find. This is a beautiful white label and I don't think exact dates are easily found. But from shape of fretboard may be an early white label. Also the fretboard looks quite evenly dark so I suspect it may be Rosewood instead of koa which may indicate a custom order. Definitely get this repaired by experienced luthier or send to Kamaka. Friction tuners may take some practice but should be good once you get used to them, for replacement only get Kamaka planetary don't get cheap stuff.
 
If you send pics to Kamaka, they can give you an idea of the date, at least within a few year range.
 
Hello,

1. Regarding the tuners.
Don't touch 'em. They do need a bit getting used to but they work just fine and pro players from yesterday were using them all the time.
Drilling holes would be a SHAME. That includes planetary tuners (UPT), which need the holes enlarged to 9 or 10 mm (don't remember exactly).

2. Regarding the cracks.
They could be easily fixed by someone with the skills. First, I would try to determine whether it was glued up with hide glue or white glue.
If hide glue was used, I would ask a luthier used to using this type of adhesive to do the work. It could be your local violin luthier.

Please keep in mind it's a vintage piece with a life of its own. If you don't like it or don't feel like paying the right guy to make it play, pass it along to someone who'll appreciate it for what it is.
 
Double K headstock with white interior label started in1969. The seam separations were probably from being in the hot attic and the hide glue loosened up. Looks like a really simple fix for any luthier, no Guitar Center. Jake would be a great luthier to fix this or perhaps contact one more local to you.

Doesn't seem to be any cracks other than the simple fix seam separations. Personally, I'd keep it as stock as possible as it's in really good shape and just get the seams reglued. Looks like it was hardly played.
 
Double K headstock with white interior label started in1969. The seam separations were probably from being in the hot attic and the hide glue loosened up. Looks like a really simple fix for any luthier, no Guitar Center. Jake would be a great luthier to fix this or perhaps contact one more local to you.
If you post where you are located, there may be someone here who knows a good local luthier in that area
 
My impression is that the Gold Label from 50 years ago sells for less than a new Kamaka. Since this is not a mint copy and it needs repair work, it is not worth being concerned about resale value or collectibility. Find a good luthier to do the repair work if you want to play it and own an old Kamaka. Same with the tuners. Change to Gotoh planetary tuners if you want a smooth and easy set that will not "uglify" it the way geared rabbit ear tuners might.
 
Wow! Thanks for all the great replies and tons of helpful information. I am located in Japan, so I'll probably have to find a luthier on my own. The original owner is long gone, but his son was my neighbor. He passed away about a year and a half ago in his seventies, with no will and no family members to inherit stuff. After months of legal procedures, the lawyer assigned to his estate has given me the go-ahead to take anything I want. Right next to this Kamaka was a black case containing a vintage Fender Deluxe 6 Steel Guitar which I also brought home. There was also another cheap Japanese ukulele and there is a banjo still sitting in the house. I've heard that years ago (in the 50s and 60s) these guys were really into Hawaiian music and had a pretty decent band.

This Kamaka has black strings on it which were loose. So I tuned it up and after a day or two it has settled down and I'm getting the hang of the peg tuners. I love the woody tone of this uke and look forward to playing it more. The A-string tends to play rather sharp, but I guess that is common with sopranos. Eventually I'll put new strings on it, but I am rather amazed that these decades old strings are working. I really do want to get the cracks fixed.
 
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