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Original Post By:
Guest_Chris
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Date: 2/11/2005 |
| Does anyone know what brand of uke
Jake uses? I'm sure his are custom
made.Does anyone know the luthier
he used to make his ukes? A fine
instrument.Curious to find out the
cost,etc... |
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Posted By:
Guest_walrus
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Date: 2/11/2005 |
| Based on photos inside Jake's CD -
I forget if it's CrossCurrent or
Sunday Morning - it's a Kamaka
tenor, custom made for him.
Cost? Who knows - maybe he got
it for free, he's a great
advertisement!
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Posted By:
Guest_Harlan
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
On a similar note: Being a long-
time tenor banjo player (I play
mostly ukes and mandolin now), I
was a big Eddie Peabody fan in
the 60s and played full-chord
melody similar to his style
(though not quite as good, of
course). I owned all of his
records, and had always wanted a
Vega tenor banjo like the
plectrum model that he played.
There was nothing wrong with my
Gibson banjo, I just HAD to have
what Eddie played.
It was in the early
1960s, I was in high school, and
living in Chattanooga. Through my
music teacher (I think it was
him), I got in touch with Mike
Longworth and told him what I
wanted. Mike told me that he
could find me a good Vega tenor,
and would make a trade for my
Gibson tenor banjo. My 1927
Gibson Bella Voce was gold
plated, had the ‘hearts &
flowers’ inlays, carved heel,
carved peg head (backside) and
resonator, and dark wood finish
(not the less-desirable White
Holly finish). Anyway, when Mike
called and said that he had
located a real nice Vega, I had
to back out. I couldn’t afford
the difference (or ‘boot’) that
Mike wanted for the trade, so I
just forgot about it and
eventually got over my Vega
fever.
It was only a couple of years ago
that I read in some articles that
Eddie Peabody actually preferred
Gibson banjos. His Vega banjos
(which he was paid to endorse and
play) were special made, one of a
kind, unobtainable to the masses,
highly modified, worked, re-
worked, set up, and made to sound
and feel as close to a Gibson as
they could get them to.
A few months ago, I sold my well-
worn old Gibson for $5000 to a
guy who drove up here to TN from
Orlando just to get it (I never
advertised it; he found out that
I had it from a FIGA friend of
his who lives here in town). When
he told me that he didn’t care
about the wear on the neck
because he was going to convert
it to a five-string, I almost
gave him his money back! I felt
like I was sending an old friend
to the slaughter. On top of that,
the guy doesn’t even read music
(he just does the repetitious 3-
chord bluegrass stuff). I just
hoped my old Gibson could
eventually get used to its new
neck, new culture, and new home
(sniff, sniff).
The bottom line is: Don’t put a
lot of stock in the brand of
instrument that the big name
players play … you can’t get one
like theirs
anyway.
Regards, HHH
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Posted By:
Guest_jake fan
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| I don't know if Jake gets a deal
from Kamaka or not (hopefully he
does), but I have heard he works
very close with Kamaka, pushing
the design envelope to achieve
the right sound, look/trim, and
action. A comparable custom
instrument by Kamaka (with your
own inlaid intials) would
probably cost in excess of $4000.
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Posted By:
Guest_Fleabiscuit
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| I admire Martin's approach with
their Signature Series guitars.
They select performers who are
true Martin players, and then let
them help design their own
signature edition. Some of the
performers wind up playing their
sig. guitars after they get
them. For example, Roger McGuinn
is now playing a special 7 string
guitar which was just released at
NAMM this month. As far as I
know, Martin does not pay pros to
play or endorse their guitars.
Now if they would only produce
some signature series
ukes..."Ike" and "Iz" were Martin
players!
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Posted By:
Guest_Peleke
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| Kamaka gives nothing for nothing
even to the GREAT JAKE !!! BUT
they do produce an excellent
product that is custom for the
best of players...Eddie Bush
played exclusively on
KAMAKAS...Herbert Ohta used some
Kamakas...and had one desiged with
his name on it !! Many other
great players used Kamaka ukes
including Israel
Kamakawiwo'ole !! None got them
FREE but were happy and honored to
have these find ukes to perform
on !!!
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Posted By:
Guest_david talsma
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| I saw jake last summer, after the gig I
was able to check out and play his uke,
a custom tenor Kamaka made to his
specs, he said he has about five of
them, a lot nicer than the stock models
available.
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Posted By:
Guest_Meyer
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| I saw Jake two times in the last 6
months. it sure looked like a concert
uke. tuned my dog has fleas.
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Posted By:
Guest_Meyer
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| I saw Jake two times in the last 6
months. it sure looked like a concert
uke. tuned my dog has fleas.
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Posted By:
Guest_Human Uke
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Date: 2/12/2005 |
| In his recent 2 albums as well as
most live shows, Jake plays his
custom Kamaka tenor, a breath-
takingly beautiful koa uke which
he named "Buffy". Prior to Buffy,
he mainly played spruce-top tenors
(also custom Kamaka). During his
tour in Japan last year, Buffy
was "ill" so Jake played another
nice-looking kamaka tenor with
flaming koa body. He told us in a
workshop last year that he plays
exclusively tenor-size ukes now.
Here is an old article about
Kamaka, with reference to Jake:
http://starbulletin.com/2002/07/08/
features/story1.html
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