Lynn's dad, Charlie Maiolino, bought this uke in the 30s so he could play and sing pop tunes of the day. It's not a spectacular instrument, but the sentimental value makes it precious.
Lynn bought this flamey little beauty for me in the mid 80s on one of her work trips to O`ahu. A local friend took her to the Kamaka factory for the weekly sale and helped her pick out a gorgeous soprano. It's taken me years to get around to playing it, but it is a terrific sounding ukulele.
We bought this on our trip to O`ahu in June of 2002, after visiting numerous builders and shops. Tenors were hard to find, but John Kitakis had three in stock and they all had the same terrific rich sound and great workmanship.
Lynn's baby, made of spalted flamed koa back and sides. Koa neck. Spruce top with honu inlay. Abalone rosette and purfling. Pau Ferro fretboard and bridge. Open geared tuners. By Andy Berard, O Kona Ukuleles and Guitars. Completed in October, 2002.
Who can resist, especially when these show up on Ebay for such reasonable prices. The neck is a little beefy, and the tuners are marginal, but this is not a toy, it's a real sweet musical instrument.
Martin ukes are the standard of excellence, so when someone wanted to trade for a guitar I couldn't resist. This uke is about as old as I am, but in much better condition (sweeter too).
Joe Souza builds beautiful ukes on the windward side of O`ahu. This is his super concert model, with a tenor scale length and a concert body size. It's my first uke with built-in pickup. Completed in 2004.