Kolomana, Hawaii, "Hawaiian Troubador"
Hubert Vos, 1898
Above: (L) 1930's Regal Ukulele Lady, (R) 1930's Harmony Singing Cowboy
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KITAKIS STRINGED INSTRUMENT REPAIR Kitakis Stringed Instruments, makers of the Ko'olau Guitar and 'Ukulele, offer complete Repair and Restoration of all Stringed Instruments, performing the largest volume of 'Ukulele repairs in the world. Services Include:
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Ko'olau Guitar & 'Ukulele Company
STRINGED
INSTRUMENT REPAIR Lutherie can be divided into two related, but separate fields. One is building, or the construction of stringed instruments, and the other is repair and restoration. Professional repair is a special art, and should be respected as such, and in many ways different from building. A good repairman and restorer of musical instruments (in this case, stringed) must, as a prerequisite, be a good builder. However, a good builder is not always a good repairman, and/or does not choose to be such. Repair requires extreme patience and perseverence, with a different attitude, both toward the instrument and the owner of it. It's much like restoring an old house; new home construction utilizes new wood, level floors, and plumb walls. For the repairman there are no "blueprints" so to speak, making do with what remains. So, each day has its sucesses and frustrations, thus adding to his fund of knowledge and experience. The dedicated repair specialists goal is recirculating the millions of useful instruments. "Luthiers" (especially hobbyists) who are not proud of repair, doing it simply out of necessity, quite often "destroy" more often than restore. Musicians are skeptical of those who repair their instruments, and rightly so. Most of them are concerned with fine quality craftsmanship, rather than finding a "cheap" good deal. If you are a professional repairman, be proud of that, strive to be proficient, overcoming the challenges of each new repair and remember what the late master builder/restorer Irvine Sloane wrote, "There are many good guitar makers, but first-class repairmen are discouragingly hard to find." A
DAY IN THE LIFE ... As various instruments come into my shop each day, I look woefully at certain ones, seemingly destined for the "basket". The customer apologetically asks the usual "can you do anything with it?" I find myself going through a similar drama each time, possibly out of habit, but probably due to my continual state of "awe". The procedure goes something like this: we take it out of the case, look it over, and I give my usual first comment, "hmmm". I continue to make quiet, groaning noises, but my lack of initial commentary is not a conceited, theatrical attempt at causing undue worry. I just don't know what to say, short of "throw it away". Here the customer has a valuable early 1950's Martin guitar, subjected to the ultimate of abuse. I notice some goopy, opaque "crust" oozing out of the bottom edges where the binding on one side is missing, he says his son tried to fix the loose back several years ago. I look out the window, pretending someone's coming, to hide my dismayed facial expressions. The top has ten to twelve cracks, the bridge is peeling up, part of the spruce top is missing under the bridge where it was reglued years ago with the same epoxy cement (but lifted slightly before setting up good and hard). The back has five or six cracks with part of the lower bout missing completely, the rest secured with good old duct tape. Some of the cracks were epoxied together (but not flush). Taking a mirror into the interior is what it must have been like walking in the dungeons of the middle ages; spider webs, casings, even a dollar bill. I find several braces broken loose, and others glued down with more cement, and one brace had a piece of wood about one by one by four inches glued next to an X-brace as "support". I think he said a carpenter friend helped him out with this repair. This must have been accomplished by taking the back off, because it was reglued with another type of thick caulk, probably "liquid nails", so whatever kerfed lining remained was destroyed when I took the back off again. All the while I make notes and occasionally glance at my customer who seems to be psychologically bracing himself for the bad news. Added to the list is refretting and resetting the neck. Yes, the total repair bill was high, but at this point (especially due to the previous repairs performed) I am indifferent as to whether I even want the job. Nonethless, I give him the estimate, he says OK, go ahead, mentions that it's worth it, it means a lot to him, and says he likes it better than the new ones anyway. Happily, after major surgery, his beloved, though not so gorgeous, is structurally sound, and plays as sweet as birds in a bath. And aside from payment, there is a sense of satisfaction at performing the near impossible, and receiving a smile of approval from another happy customer. The stories of "what happened" could fill volumes of books. Guitars, mandolins, and ukuleles falling out of trucks (and even canoes), sat on, stepped on, left in house fires, used as weapons in bar brawls or shot leaving bullet holes; one returned from the Vietnam War with shrapnel embedded throughout the top and neck, an upright bass run over by a truck (and actually restored), and even a guitar soaked in salt water for a week during a hurricane. Yes, the work of an instrument repairman is fascinating, frustrating, and never boring. |
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Ko'olau Guitar & 'Ukulele Company
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