Leonardo Nunes, Ko’olau Electric – Wallet Tempters

I go one week without talking about ukuleles on eBay and look what happens. A Leonardo Nunes goes begging for $200. Granted, it’s fairly ugly for a Nunes, but still. Perhaps with everyone on their holibobs, it’s a good time to be watching the auctions. The uke has been listed again and already has a bid with a week left.

The budding Poirots amongst you may notice that this Nunes-styled vintage ukulele has had some serious attention from me already. I’ve officially banned myself from buying a new uke until my blues ebook is finished (it’s on it’s way and it’ll be worth the wait). I’ve already broken that rule once, but I’m still tempted.

Ko’olau have a pretty fearsome reputation for the exacting standards of their ukuleles (and a price tag to match) so it’s interesting to see their electric ukulele. They put me in mind of the Pete Howlett uklectics (another ukulele that is seriously threatening my uke embargo).

The Mahalo Les Paul copies have disappeared from eBay UK, but you can still find a boatload of them on eBay Germany. Not only that, they also have an electric Mahalo Les Paul for sale. It makes you wonder who won the war.

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9 Comments

  1. Rob August 29th, 2008 10:50 pm

    Better for us Yanks you forget the ebay segment Al.The weak dollar has made it tough for an American to compete with Europe and Asia on ebay .I have been able to score 2 nice vintage ukes these past few years but its getting harder. No matter how well a new or custom uke is made,the history tied in with a vintage uke is so cool. Think of all it has seen ,and heard ,that combined with the fact that someone gave a shit about it for so long as to keep it in one piece

  2. Isaac August 30th, 2008 1:48 am

    Or maybe just forgot about it for so long that its still like new

  3. Rob August 30th, 2008 2:50 am

    Good point Isaac

  4. Woodshed August 30th, 2008 10:31 am

    Rob: The $ has gone up slightly in the last few weeks. Against the £ at least. I keep a very close eye on that and I’m very happy about it.

    Isaac: That is a good point. I do like to see a little bit of wear on an old uke. Gives it character.

  5. Nelson August 30th, 2008 7:34 pm

    I’m all about character.

  6. zym August 31st, 2008 1:52 am

    Al,

    How are you getting on with you Mahalo Les Paul? Ive heard mixed things about the over the interweb?

    An electric Les Paul sounds very tempting ;)

  7. zym August 31st, 2008 1:55 am

    *about them*

  8. Woodshed August 31st, 2008 5:32 pm

    I should be doing a review of it on Wednesday. If you can’t wait til then, I give it the thumbs up overall.

  9. John Weingart January 8th, 2009 8:07 am

    I have a nice Leanardo Nunes ukelele for sale 208-818-1865

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