Have you ever realised that you love your Hamano to bits, but at the same time felt a bit \"disadvantaged\" by her appearance? Their makers have certainly put a great instrument together, but their sand-blasted old-stylish-meant look is just a bit too much for me. This made me choose to try and polish my one and only favourite instrument, and the result has been amazing. Instead of somewhat looking like an \"old dead trunk of a tree\" my baby now looks like a beautifully shining mahogany made instrument, that\'s covered by a reflective coat of lacquer:
(https://www.ukulelenboard.de/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flh3.ggpht.com%2F_Wiyz8McuxK0%2FSseY9fD2F3I%2FAAAAAAAAAZE%2FYtegoaHEaG4%2Fs640%2FIMG_2106.JPG&hash=604887777893063d449ff7d404789c4df4fbb085)
Isn\'t she sexy? -Just see how those strings reflect on her body:
(https://www.ukulelenboard.de/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Flh3.ggpht.com%2F_Wiyz8McuxK0%2FSseY7FWjMtI%2FAAAAAAAAAY8%2FtYaKsmmPHO8%2Fs640%2FIMG_2104.JPG&hash=5675e66c73ffdf7c665bc5311e4bad5df7a84af2)
:D
(pardon my German)
wow, looks realy great
as sonn as I ot the next Hamanos I try to do it also...
Michael
Just make sure you get the right abrasive. I\'ve used a substance for polishing cars called \'Commandant 4\'. Another word of advice is to gently use your hands, and don\'t use any electrical machinery. Just pieces of cloth. You should also take out most of the pegheads (since one bit is glued to the wood), and might tape off the holes of your bridge. If you want to get it right, it takes about 5 evenings of work.
Good luck!
Looks very beautiful, but would be even more interesting to see a picture of the uke before work has started.
OK found it: http://www.ukulele24.de/product_info.php/info/p817_Hamano-Sopran.html
I found one too:
http://elderly.com/images/new_instruments/180N/H100U_heel.jpg (http://elderly.com/images/new_instruments/180N/H100U_heel.jpg)
The finish from the factory is rather plain, and becomes smooth in places (like the back of the neck) over time by normal wear. After polishing the grain of the wood is much more pronounced.
The surface looks quite similar to my Mainland Tenor, which I bought with a non shiny finish, because there was only this one model available in europe.
But it´s looking much more beautiful with a shiny finish. So I´ll try out your polishing method in long winter evennings.
What\'s good for a Hamano can\'t be that bad for a KTS-4
(https://www.ukulelenboard.de/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs239.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fff281%2Fn6kvH938z67Rg%2FKTS-4_headstock_back.jpg&hash=f9f7ae22526649c9b6431aa3239e40b5d20d28e5)
Regs
Mike
PS: Be aware that buffing is an abrasive procedure and will instantly remove all decals sitting on top of the satin lacquer (e.g. branding decals on headstock) I\'ll guess that the Hamano branding decal went same way the ugly Kiwaya logo on the front of the headstock of my KTS-4 did.
That Kiwaya looks like a mirror, great job! After polishing it\'s such a greater joy to watch the instrument in sunlight.
The decal on the front is still on my Hamano, since it\'s underneath a layer of coating. Headstocks are a thing to be careful with though, especially towards the edges of the sides. It\'s easy to take too much off there because the pressure is applied to a small area.
Buffing my latest victim was also no problem as the logo of the KA-ASAC-T is lasered into the upper layer of the headstock veneer so the grain of the rosewood layer below becomes visible.
(https://www.ukulelenboard.de/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi239.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fff281%2Fn6kvH938z67Rg%2FKA-ASAC-T-headstock-detail.jpg&hash=fc42b8e0969ab1a808128fd594676b8aa0672b25)