c.1920 Kumalae Koa Soprano Ukulele

This gorgeous, curly-koa soprano is owned by a customer of mine and it's now all set to get back to her. Work included a bridge reglue, some crack repairs, a fret level/dress, and setup. I also added a new set of pegs to replace the mismatched wooden friction ones that were present on it.

It plays great, now, and has that chipper, bright, but mellow Hawaiian tone... but you sort of expected that from a koa, teens/20s, Hawaiian-made instrument anyway, huh?

Gotta love that peanut shape!

I flipped over the original koa nut and reslotted it for better string spacing.

The brass frets leveled and dressed-up nice and easy.

Like most Hawaiian ukes, the back is sort of "domed" and the neck joint is a Spanish type where the neck and heel block are one piece.

What's amazing about this uke is how clean it is -- just a light wiping-off and the finish was gleaming.

The original canvas carry-case is actually in good shape and bears its original owner's name.