I just got home from Hawaii. I spent a few days in Kauai (at the Castle Makahuena in Poipu) and four days in Oahu (at the Hilton Hawaiian Village). I'll do a quick review of the Castle in the upcoming days...in short, it was nice to be next door to the Point (where I always stay) and it definitely had some advantages and disadvantages...
It was pretty hot, and I didn't plan well (turns out it is pretty hard to sit on the ground for that long). But it was completely worth it, as in addition to the superstar artists, there were also a number of ukulele groups from everywhere from Cerritos, CA to Japan. Each of the major ukulele manufacturers had a booth at the festival (I made sure to stop by the Kamaka, KoAloha and Kanile'a booths).
It amazes me that both Joe Souza from Kanile'a Ukulele, and Paul Okami from KoAloha Ukulele remembered me. I have met Joe on two occasions, and yet when he saw me, he came over with a broad grin and stopped to chat. (By the way Joe, you look fantastic! Keep it up!) And I saw Paul Okami (who I only met once) walking around and mentioned to my Mom that was him, but truthfully, I didn't think he would remember me so I didn't stop to talk. Instead, he smiled and said, "Hey, I know you!" and then we talked story for a few minutes. I was also standing at a booth only to have someone else come up and say hi, and was Aldrine Guerrero from Ukulele Underground...again, a guy I met only twice before in the past. The ukulele world is so small, and so very welcoming. It really does feel like we are all one ohana.
It was at the Kamaka booth that I first discussed refinishing my Kamaka ukulele with Fred Kamaka, Jr. My ukulele was a satin finish tenor...it was quite beautiful but it had some battle scars (from an unfortunate accident with scissors while changing strings) and I felt the satin finish didn't do justice to the curl in the koa wood. I asked Fred if I could have it refinished in a gloss finish, and he said to bring it by the factory the next day and that for $50 they would re-finish it for me, hopefully completing it before my flight home on Wednesday.
I ended up taking it down there, and left it in the very capable hands of Chris Kamaka. I then spent the next two days as a nervous wreck, unable to sleep or concentrate on anything other than the status of my beloved "Pele." On Tuesday I called the factory and was told that Chris would have it ready for me on Wednesday, but possibly not before my flight.
So on Wednesday morning, I jumped on the #42 bus from Waikiki, and headed to the factory. Even though I was told to call first, I had a very short window of time before I had to be back at the hotel to check out and catch my shuttle to the airport. I figured it was worth the risk on the off chance it was ready. Lo and behold, just as I got off the bus and was walking the couple of blocks to the factory, my phone rang and it was none other than Chris Kamaka telling me the ukulele would be ready in a few minutes.
I was then presented with a newly finished, now unmarked, beautiful ukulele. The gloss finish does seem to make the curl in the koa pop more, and while it does have the smell of lacquer still, that only adds to the new feeling of my uke. The best part is, those horrible gouge marks are now gone. Chris was able to remove them, leaving a pristine Kamaka in my hands. I almost jumped across the counter to hug him I was so happy.
I need to take some photos and I will update this with the before/after pics -- hopefully tomorrow, but I do have the inlaws coming over for a barbecue, and some furniture being delivered so if I don't get a chance to do it then, I will be sure to do so on Tuesday or Wednesday.
All I can say is, while people often speak of the customer service of Kanile'a and KoAloha (both of which I completely agree with), the guys at Kamaka really went out of their way to make me happy. Chris worked incredibly fast, even though they don't do rush jobs, to ensure that I wouldn't leave his island without my beloved Pele in my hands. I can't thank them enough. Mahalo nui loa.
No comments:
Post a Comment