The Cape Cod Flea

When amateur luthier Mike Gillihan found an old well-worn Blueberry Flea ukulele for sale online he grabbed it, knowing that with his instrument repair skills he could surely customize "This Old Flea" to make it something special, and we think he was right!

Here's what Mike said when we asked him to tell us about it:

It all started when I purchased a used Blueberry Flea ukulele online. As evidenced by the well-worn paint, this Flea had obviously had a long history of making wonderful music, and I felt sure that if I just performed a little "Flea.P.R." on it I could resurrect it and rescue her from the ukulele scrapheap.

My first step was to carefully scrape all the old Blueberry paint off and sand the soundboard smooth. My original intent was to repaint the soundboard, but when I saw what it looked like after sanding, I changed my mind. You see, some of the blue paint had remained in the grain, and it looked so good that I just finished off the soundboard with two thin coats of clear polyurethane, which I then polished with super-fine 0000-grade steel wool. The poly, if you've ever used it, cures smooth and hard, and the Flea sounds great now.

So, if I do say so myself, I think the results turned out great! The new look is a little subtle though, so photos just don't do it justice. [Click the pic to see it bigger] The wood now has a beautiful creamy color and a visual texture that resembles old ivory, or perhaps driftwood. In fact, it somehow reminds me of the northeast New England coast, and so therefore I’ve christened her the "Cape Cod Flea."

You'll find her posted on my webpage, along with a few of the other instruments I've built, too, including my latest creation, the ZZ Flea, which you'll find elsewhere in The Flea Museum!"