Gibson TU-3 Ukulele Help

[Brian Hart]

A longtime and very good customer of mine just brought me a little gem of a uke that he has had since he played talent shows as a kid, and he's in his early 70's now.  He is usually super meticulous about his gear and everything he brings me is usually immaculate no matter how old it is.  This of course is the exception.  He has had a few other quotes and indicated that they were a little too high for him to want to pay right now.  What he is asking for is more of a "help it along" approach: get it playing, find tuners, fix the crack in the back, and seal the missing finish in the side even if it means not preserving the burst fade in that area.  My questions are how I should approach these repairs. Finish work isn't my strong point, but I have lots of assumptions on how to proceed.  Correct me if i'm wrong on the following observations / questions:

-The tuner screw holes aren't original and should be filled.  It originally came with friction pegs in a nickel finish.

-Its a nitro finish?  Should I use nitro or something that cures in a more predictable manner like Shellac?  Is it pretty difficult to execute some form of burst replication in the side in such a small area?

-It will be pretty tough to make the crack on the back invisible without some major intervention.  Thin ca will at least make it stable and prevent further cracking.

[Frank Ford]

I say find him some nice gears that fit the screw holes, hide glue the cracks.  Does he really want to try to return to some other, less useful tuners after having geared ones on for all those years?  

Get it playing for him without doing irreversible work and let him decide how much he wants to continue using it so he can go to a more complex level if he really needs to and wants to spend the dough later.  I'd try to talk him out of the finish work altogether until that time.

[Ned Knepp]

I know some people that swear by friction pegs in uke's but I don't get it. Not that he needs it but I agree with Frank. I might consider a bit if shellac to seal the side where the side is warn but nothing else.

 One thing I see that you might want to took a closer look at is the screw hole on the 4th string tuner. It's almost in the neck rather than the head and it appear to be a little bit split. I think I would consider filling the screw holes and finding some tuners that weren't on so long  a base then remember to drill holes for the screws rather than just twisting them in.

[jbbancroft]

I'd forget the finish work, as generally original finishes are more desirable, wear and all.

I like friction pegs on a small uke like this. Stew Mac sells some high end Waverly's that are very nice, and even the less expensive friction tuners work fine. Then it's a simple job to fill the old screw holes.

Then glue the cracks with hot hide glue. Should be structural strong to play for years to come.

Jim