Southern Ukulele Store: Window Shopping

I, and many UK ukers, have been at a bit of a loss since the demise of The Ukulele Shop. But it looks like the Southern Ukulele Store is stocking up nicely with ukuleles from Kala, Ohana, Eleuke and Lanikai. Although the high end, Hawaiian makers obviously still don’t our funny foreign money. They don’t have much of an eBay feedback rating yet so I may have to test purchase a new ukulele. Damn! The Spruce top Kala looks quite tempting.

1920’s Martin 5K? Yes please.

Looks like eBay might be cracking down on annoying sellers who use ‘Martin 5K’ to attract eyeballs. This O.M. Tibbs ukulele, despite being a long way removed from a Martin 5K and having ‘L@@@@K’ in the title, is still worth a glance.

An Aaron Keim made Beansprout ukulele made from a salvaged train trestle and cast-off bits of porch.

This is how I should be spending my summer.

The photographer called her the ‘Hawaiian Butterfly’. The eBay seller was less kind.

Martin, National: Ukulele Window Shopping

Quite a number of Martin ukuleles on eBay this week. Particularly catching my attention are this Style 3 Taropatch, this 1926 Tiple and this Daisy 5M.

I’m going to have to buy a Le Domino one of these days.

This week, shame on me, I’ve a g**tar catch my eye. A 1930s Slingerland Songster from Jake Wildwood.

National are the resonator makers. So it’d be interested to hear what their bottom of the range resophonic ukulele sounds like. That one looks like it’s been used to hammer nails into a barn door. But people seem to be bidding on it enthusiastically.

Brand names that don’t suit the ukulele #1: Conqueror. Save it for your range of condoms.

It’s July. Where are people selling ukulele Christmas ornaments?

Ukulele Window Shopping

Ukulele Friend has this interesting Martin 2M from way back in 1916. It’s interesting to see the things that aren’t set in place yet: such as the sideways stamp in the soundhole and the bright white binding. You can see the differences against this later Martin 2M.

Dolphins seem to be the sea creature of choice for ukuleles, but this French piranha styled ukulele is more my speed.

Wailing resonator ukulele.

Ukulele photo of the week.

Ukulele kitsch: Uke lamp.

Oscar Schmidt OU7, Ohana Deluxe TK-70CG

Oscar Schmidt go one louder with the OU7. It looks cool, but if they’re going to keep jacking up the price they’ll have to switch to solid ukes pretty soon.

A ‘deluxe’ and ‘limited edition’ Ohana TK-70CG. Sexy cutaway, but not sure about the pink tuners (and I usually love pink).

One uke that might want to think about adding a cutaway is this Mike Chock Mango ukulele. What’s the point of 23 frets if you can only reach 12 of them? But I do quite like the pear shape.

Every time a vintage Martin 5K crops up on eBay I do a quick ‘pros and cons’ list of selling one of the kids. And in this case the uke has a lovely battered case – making the list dangerously close to even.

We’ve been total idiots. Practicing when all we had to do was learn to play the ukulele subliminally.

Easel style ukulele stand: classy solution.

Ukulele Window Shopping: Gibson and Martin

After last week’s Tiny Tim heart attack ukulele, this week sees a bunch of ukuleles with rather more modest claims to fame. But they’re very nice ukes. And plenty of very nice, none famous, ukuleles too. I should get a job as a banker so I can be incompetent and walk away with millions because I need all of these:

- Martin Tenor ukulele signed by Chris Martin. No, not that Chris Martin. Chris Martin as in C.F. Martin IV.
- Gibson Tenor once owned by Harry Von Zell: Yes, THE Harry Von Zell.
- Martin once owned by Al Hendrickson: Off of Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw.
- 1920s Gibson Style 3: Love the colour of it.
- 1920s Koa Taropatch: Restored by Jake Wildwood.
- 1930s Dobro
- Tangi Violin Ukulele: Why did they stop making something that cool?
- Balalaika adapted to play like a ukulele.
- Photo of a guy playing the uke whilst hanging off a horse.

Vintage Martin Ukuleles, Kala Travel Uke

Someone’s going to be lucky this Christmas. There’s a whole bunch of lovely looking vintage Martin ukuleles on eBay this week. At the top of the range, there’s and this Martin Taropatch, this Martin Style 3 and this 1K on eBay UK. If vintage isn’t the way you want to go, there’s also a brand new Martin 5K.

If you want a bit of vintage ukulele action but can’t afford a Martin, cross your fingers and add this Leonardo Nunes to your watch list. It’s listed in the ‘Hula’ section which might explain why, at the time of writing, bidding stands at $11.

Kala have taken ukulele portability one step further with their new, wafer thin travel ukulele.

Ukulele photo of the week.

Ukulele Stands, Bushman Baritone Ukes

Dedicated ukulele stands a few and far between. Usually you have to make do with a mandolin stand. But now there are these ukulele cradles. They are more expensive than any ukulele I own. But, still, very pretty.

If you’ve got a few low level luthiering skills, this set of five Bushman baritone ukuleles could be a good investment. They’re factory seconds and are just the body. But stick on a bridge, a nut and tuners and you shouldn’t have trouble selling them on for a profit.

Despite some ferocious bidding, this Custom Martin Style 5 failed to reach its reserve. It’s very unusual: mahogany, black and monogrammed.

I’m not a big fan of pictures on ukuleles. The obvious exception is the ultra sexy Le Domino. But sometimes they work when they’re hilariously naff or on the back (as with this Gibson Royal Flush).

Ukulele Kitsch of the Week is a fiercely fought title this week. Any other week the ukulele sushi set and the Hawaiian Santas would have triumphed. But there’s no competing with a necklace covered in pink flamingos playing the ukulele.

eBay UK Ukes, Mahalo Les Paul

There are quite a few interesting ukes for sale on eBay UK right now. Hank’s Guitar Shop has a bunch of interesting ukuleles including Martins, Kamakas, KoAlohas, Fleas and Flukes.

Mahalo have been making Gibson Flying V style ukes for a while and now they’ve moved on to Les Pauls. You can buy them in Cherry and Black .

Also on eBay UK is this Gibson which has been attacked with a drill, but might still be worth watching.

Still in the UK, but confusingly on ebay US, is this strange “Trad Jazz Special” plastic ukulele.

There seems to be even more photos of topless ukulele girls than usual this week, but the photo that really caught my attention was this photo of a German boy from 1866. As well as the distractions of the hat and thrown, that’s a very interesting instrument he has there.

Ukulele Collection Sell Offs

Three cheers for the credit crunch. Hip, hip. Hazzah!. Hip, hip. Hazzah!. Hip, hip. Hazzah!.

While the papers are full of doom and gloom about job losses and repossessions, the real story of the credit crunch is that eBay is crammed with people selling off their vintage ukulele collecions. Duane Hielman is selling off a pile of vintage ukes from a private collection. All ukes start at $1. Pick of the current crop are a LeDomino and an unnamed koa concert ukulele.

This seller is also selling off the family jewels including a Kumalae 3K.

This seller is flogging a friend’s instrument collection. A number of tenor Martins have already been and gone, but there’s a soprano and a baritone still left.

Of course, if the credit crunch isn’t biting you at all, you could spend a few hundred dollars on a Hello Kitty ukulele. How can they charge that much?

You don’t see K Wave ukuleles on eBay very often, but there’s one up for sale right now here.

Gibson, Plastic Ukuleles and Koa Martin Ukuleles

I think working on Buy a Ukulele has started to drive me stir crazy. I set up a section on Ukuleliana and, gosh, there’s a lot of ukulele-shaped tat out there. A ukulele shaped sushi set? Lighter? Recipe holder? Or an inflatable ukulele?

Also, a lot of plastic ukuleles seem to turn up in the Collectibles section rather than the Musical Instruments section (which means there might be less competition for them). There’s this this Lisa ukulele (as used by Gus) with no bids, a few hours left and only $15 starting bid, a Carnival with its original packaging, and this Maccaferri currently at $10. Out-kitsching them all is this plastic uke which must be overpriced at $200. Back in the musical instruments section is a Baritone Maccaferri Islander. I love that the baritone has the same shape as the Maccaferri guitars (as made famous by Django Reinhardt).

For those of you who prefer the more refined tone of koa ukuleles, there’s a delicious Martin 3K currently attracting plenty of bids. If you’re on some sort of Brewster’s Millions type mission, you could always buy this Martin 5K and this 5K for firewood.

This Swagerty Trehopipee has got me wondering. How do you find strings for a Treholipee? The Worth double length strings might do the job.

I’m only guessing, but could the scratches on the back of this Gibson Uke-3 be caused by storing it in a pine tree?

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