Bought A Concert Ukulele

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RSteve

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I bought a well worn handmade D & D concert ukulele for $56.00 at Goodwill. I'm debating whether to leave it as it is or use some Formby's Refinisher and 0000 finishing steel wool. I've seen these ukes sell for as much as $1000. There's a rectangular placard right behind the bridge that somebody glued on. I'm hoping that it wasn't to cover damage.

A few years ago, I bought a beautiful classical guitar at Goodwill that someone had tried to put steel strings on and tore the bridge off. I bought a larger based bridge, that covered the damage and glued it on, making sure, as best I could, that it was placed correctly. The guitar was made in Spain by a known luthier. I had it appraised at close to $3000. I donated it to the Godes String Instrument Library Trust Inc which lends mid to upper end stringed instruments to highly acclaimed students. It's a 501(c)3 so I was able to take the tax deduction at the current appraised vale.
 
I bought a Martin D-12-20 12-string guitar at Goodwill years ago for $25. Never bonded with it though; the tone was too "sweet" and didn't put a rumble in my belly like a good 12 oughta. Sold it to a dealer friend in Germany.
 
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I bought a Martin D-12-20 12-string guitar at Goodwill years ago for $25. Never bonded with it though; the tone was too "sweet" and didn't put a rumble in my belly like a good 12 oughta. Sold it to a dealer friend in Germany.
Depending on year of manufacture and condition, I see they're selling for around $1500.
 
Yeah; I think I got $900 or so but it was maybe 15-20 years ago. It was a nice guitar but it just didn't stack up to my Guild F212XL, for me anyway.
 
The Uke arrived today. WHAT! In the photos, I only saw one sticker behind the bridge and I hoped that it was just a sticker, not a vehicle to cover some damage. The GW folks were careful not to show the other two large stickers. I had to work very carefully not to do any damage while attempting to remove the stickers. All three had a thin plastic veneer over a paper backing, then lots of glue. My first impulse was to try to get under everything with a razor blade, but I feared cutting into the wood. So I spent a couple of hours just using my fingernails gently to remove the plastic veneer. Then I soaked the paper backing in Go Gone and slowly was able to remove the paper; soaked again in Goo Gone and was able to remove all the glue. What a time consuming mess! But the uke is beautiful. I bought it thinking the sticker "Loved Blessed" shown on the front was the only sticker.
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A few years ago, I bought a beautiful classical guitar at Goodwill that someone had tried to put steel strings on and tore the bridge off. I bought a larger based bridge, that covered the damage and glued it on, making sure, as best I could, that it was placed correctly.
I should have added that I consulted with a friend who is a luthier before I began. He was very explicit in what to use to fill the area below the original bridge, so as not to alter the instrument's tone. I'd have had him do the repair, but friendship is friendship and business is business and I would have expected to pay him what any client would have paid for the repair, and that was many times more than I paid for the guitar.
 
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Wish I had kept my 62 Fender Stratocaster instead of selling it after college. Needed the money then. I hear they are now going for north of 12 grand. Then again, if I had it today, would probably still be playing it instead of selling.
 
i971. winter. I get off the bus at high school in Springfield, Mass and see a friend of mine. I tell him "I'm skipping school and thumbing to Boston (90 miles or so) to buy that Martin Ukelele I saw last month when I was there wih Killy. 75 bucks. I called yesterday and the guy said he still had it and he'd hold it". We get to Boston after a typical 1971 hitch. If you were around then you get the picture. Anyway, I've got the uke in my hand and the guy says "the only thing changed was we had to repair a crack on the face". I mull it over. and over......."Thanks but I think I'll pass." Yes, I've thought about how stupid a move that was on my part many time, MANY time since but you know what? I've made even more stupider moves, and they were A LOT stupider and the money/value involved ws/is a LOT more. Still....An old Martini uke (I think it was 1930's vintage)...................I'll still kick myself
 
When we graduated H.S. one of my closest friend's parents bought him a Gibson ES-335TD electric guitar because he wanted to learn to play and another one of our friends had this model. He never learned to play, but loved cleaning and polishing the guitar. Sadly, he died in 1994. Divorced, he left everything to his daughter, who also didn't play it. I've kept in touch with her to tell her stories of her father's crazy behaviors. She finally sold her father's guitar at a Los Angeles auction, where she lives with her husband and three children. She said the bidding was crazy and her walk-away after all commissions were paid exceeded $25,000.
My guess is that it went to a collector rather than a player. I'm quite certain that a 57-year-old electric guitar, regardless of make or that it's never been played, would need most of the electrical components changed for the guitar to be playable.
 
When we graduated H.S. one of my closest friend's parents bought him a Gibson ES-335TD electric guitar because he wanted to learn to play and another one of our friends had this model. He never learned to play, but loved cleaning and polishing the guitar. Sadly, he died in 1994. Divorced, he left everything to his daughter, who also didn't play it. I've kept in touch with her to tell her stories of her father's crazy behaviors. She finally sold her father's guitar at a Los Angeles auction, where she lives with her husband and three children. She said the bidding was crazy and her walk-away after all commissions were paid exceeded $25,000.
My guess is that it went to a collector rather than a player. I'm quite certain that a 57-year-old electric guitar, regardless of make or that it's never been played, would need most of the electrical components changed for the guitar to be playable.
A dear friend of mine and a guy I used to play in a band with had a beautiful model, cherry red with ivory piping and a gold Bigsby tailpiece. He was hitchhiking with it and when they stopped at a gas station he went to relieve himself. Needless to say, when he got out of the mens room, the strangers in the van he'd hitched with were gone down the highway, along with his Gibson.
 
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