c.1930 Royal Hawaiian by Kumalae Ukulele

This is the Kumalae-built Royal Hawaiian from the last post, but now you actually get to see it in detail. As I said before: this one has to-die-for sound, a nice springy playability, and a wide, very thin neck. Its top was broken in three sections along the grain and required filling and stabilization. I've installed an additional brace diagonally from the bass lower bout to near tan inch below he waist on the treble side.

Here's the Royal Hawaiian decal. This uke was made in Hawaii by Kumalae for sale in the Royal Hawaiian Hotel and features typical Kumalae construction, though the waist is abnormally wide. Usually these are more figure-8 looking or peanut looking. This one has increased depth of sound, I think, because of this. Sounds more like a pineapple uke. Here, take a listen:

Very shallow, wide frets of nickel-silver. New Martin fluoros.

Here's the front. The color on this uke is perfect orange-red koa. Here you can see my two filled/repaired top cracks. Notice another crack on the treble side of the soundhole: it's stable and glued, but has slight relief, much to my annoyance (I didn't want to rip the kerfing out to remove that, though!).

I also filled in some missing inlay around the soundhole.

Here's some more color for ya.

Sides have beautiful amber-red coloring.

And nice grain! The original finish was in very good shape on this uke, but I went ahead and rubbed in a light coat of varnish to seal my repair work and bring back even more shine.

The back has a lovely wave effect in the light, almost flamed, but not as visible. You can see it a bit here.

...and here. Note a few more repaired cracks on the back.

Original bakelite tuners. I've added some plastic rings (leftover parts from newer Grover tuners) to their basses to save the bakelite some stress against the wood. Bakelite gets more brittle as it ages and this cushion not only improves function but saves the tuners, too. It also makes them a little longer which I think improves the looks.

Spanish heel and nicely carved neck. Flat and wide and thin.

Side again.

Nice grain!

Here's an upsy-daisy. Good side join. Also, you get to see the bling of the finish, too.

Detail of the fill. It'll darken with age as more sun hits it.