Martin Centennial Ukuleles, very limited

If you read through this thread it might make you wonder why Martin made the 100. It makes me wonder.

I wonder why you said this , the thread didnt seem negative to me,
just a bunch of Martin Fans discussing the new ukes. That's why we are here .
" No soup for You ! "
 
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I wonder why you said this , the thread didnt seem negative to me,
just a bunch of Martin Fans discussing the new ukes. That's why we are here .
" No soup for You ! "

It's just my perception after reading through. I could be wrong. It's not so much that it was overly negative, it was more that it showed that there was little support for their solid wood, higher end models.

It's a little odd that at least 4 posts have been deleted? Three were from Bill1. So if you look back through it does not seem so negative anymore. I am curious why Bill1 removed his posts. Lots of fun and games on the internet.
 
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Elderly now has both for sale.
 
Thanks, wish I was there. What did you think of the Martins?

They were very nice, as one would expect. My personal opinion is they are significantly overpriced at list price. A Series 3 for $2,995? Figure street price of $2,400? That's still $800 more than a Kiwaya KMS-K and TWICE the price of a KTS-7.

And Takumi offers a really sweet soprano in either Honduran mahogany or koa. It has a larger, more rounded lower bout so it's not a true vintage sound, but it has an amazingly sweet tone. And superbly finished.

There was a sinker mahogany custom soprano that was one of those "wow" ukes. But it was over $4K. Gulp.
 
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It does not has fret markers but it does have side markers
 
Martin most likely only made 100 because that is their perceived market, and because it is enough to create some promotion, like this thread.
I regularly delete posts when they reach their use by date. It is a great way to pass the time when there are no posts that interest me.
From memory I made these points:
1. Centenary ukes are for collectors and are about collectors. You buy them because they are collectors items, and forget about the price, whether it is high or low. You don't buy them to be your number one playing uke. If you cost them like a uke that you buy to play, you will mostly be disappointed.
2. If you want to buy a uke to play, forget about the little 100 sticker on the headstock and buy a uke to play, within your budget. If it turns out the best player for you in your budget has the 100 sticker that is a nice bonus, not much else. Don't pay more for a uke you are buying to play just because it has 100 sticker on the headstock.
3. Over the last ten years I have seen plenty of supposed Martin fans complain about lack of product, and they seem to mostly run down any recent Martin products. If you want Martin to make more ukulele products, lead with your wallet and buy the products. It started with the re-introduction of ukes back earlier in the Century. Very few posts at the time had a good word for Martin, the company was always doing something wrong. And it continues right up to recent posts in this thread. Just to reiterate, the way to get a company to produce more products you like is to vote with your wallet, buy the products and you will create a market. Complain and you will create a memory of when the company made ukuleles.
I will probably delete this message when I feel like it.

Just a note, deleting messages confuses the crap out of me when I go back and try to read a thread. Part of the purpose of forums (at least in my mind) is to have the collective wisdom archived for later review (ie, if I want to buy a uke, I go searching for reviews on it before posting a new topic). Please don't delete posts unless they're incriminating or otherwise need to go for a very good reason.
 
Let's see...new centennial 2017 Martin mahogany Style 3....approx $2400 (why making only 100...with current Uke popularity and that price tag, they're likely to sell...well, about 100. Lol)

Or the currently listed excellent condition 1920s Martin mahogany Style 3 with original case from Elderly with $2750 asking price (and they do negotiate reasonably)

Or either of the two truly rare Martin KOA Style 2s on ebay right now--the lovely 1919 model, or the clean as a whistle 1920s model with original case--for $1700 and $1999, respectively. (Wait, that same $1700 Koa Uke is on Reverb for $1250...now even I'm thinking about it although I own two already...lol. Just looked it up: in 1919 Martin made 618 mahogany Style 2 ukes...and only 50 Style 2 KOA ukes!)

Hmmm. Why get a recent build that looks like a 100 year old vintage collectible when you can get the actual 100 year old vintage collectible for the same price or less? Some decisions are difficult. This is not one of them :);) YMMV
 
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Let's see...new centennial 2017 Martin mahogany Style 3....approx $2400 (why making only 100...with current Uke popularity and that price tag, they're likely to sell...well, about 100. Lol)

Or the currently listed excellent condition 1920s Martin mahogany Style 3 with original case from Elderly with $2750 asking price (and they do negotiate reasonably)

Or either of the two truly rare Martin KOA Style 2s on ebay right now--the lovely 1919 model, or the clean as a whistle 1920s model with original case--for $1700 and $1999, respectively. (Wait, that same $1700 Koa Uke is on Reverb for $1250...now even I'm thinking about it although I own two already...lol. Just looked it up: in 1919 Martin made 618 mahogany Style 2 ukes...and only 50 Style 2 KOA ukes!)

Hmmm. Why get a recent build that looks like a 100 year old vintage collectible when you can get the actual 100 year old vintage collectible for the same price or less? Some decisions are difficult. This is not one of them :);) YMMV

Heehee........As you know I am a staunch vintage Martin fan and that will never change. But I was so impressed with the Martin 0XK I bought a while back that guess what I did on this one Steve? I have a couple of very good reasons for doing so though! Two exactly. 2017 is the birth year of my first 2 grandchildren. My Grandson Liam was born February 3rd, and my granddaughter Kyle is due on May 3rd. For each of them I have reserved a Martin Centennial Style 1 uke. One day (many years from now) I will gift them.....but in the meantime I will play the heck out of them. Along with these if they show interest I "might" include a couple of ukes that are 100 years older :)
 
Heehee........As you know I am a staunch vintage Martin fan and that will never change. But I was so impressed with the Martin 0XK I bought a while back that guess what I did on this one Steve? I have a couple of very good reasons for doing so though! Two exactly. 2017 is the birth year of my first 2 grandchildren. My Grandson Liam was born February 3rd, and my granddaughter Kyle is due on May 3rd. For each of them I have reserved a Martin Centennial Style 1 uke. One day (many years from now) I will gift them.....but in the meantime I will play the heck out of them. Along with these if they show interest I "might" include a couple of ukes that are 100 years older :)

Dear Rick,

You have just outlined a rational (the only rational?) reason to buy a new Martin. Two reasons, as you say. Congratulations! Freshly minted babies deserve freshly minted ukuleles. What a stupendous Gift! Be certain to play a couple quickie tunes on YouTube on each of them dedicated to Kyle and Liam so that they can always look back and say "That's my grandpop playing the ukulele he gave me back when I was a couple months old." Now there's a gift!!

And those ultra-rare Ditsons...something tells me you're going to have someone to rake the leaves in your yard for you every autumn for life! (Modern teen picks up lawn rake and remarks while scratching head:"So, how do you start this thing?")

Great to hear from you, my staunch vintage friend. Steve.
 
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Just my two cents... but the style 3 Centennial seems awfully like my new style 3 mahogany uke (without the kite headstock) that I purchased at a much lower price years back.

I prefer the S1 with fretboard dots to the style 1 Centennial.

0X Bamboo in lime green would be my preferred next Martin purchase actually!

I own and have owned the new Martins: sopranos: S-O, S1, style 2, 2k, 3 cherry and style 3. concerts: 2k and style 2. tenors: T1K, style 2 and 2k.

It was never about the Martin name for me. It was about the jangly sound and playability that mixed well with my singing voice. Still haven't found that elsewhere in a uke.

Petey

Yes on all counts, Peter. Agree with your every line. I smell a soon-100k views video review of the Martin bamboo jobbie coming from the most thorough and funniest Martin reviewer on the interwebs.

I wish we lived closer...man, I'd love to pick your brain.

Steve.
 
The quantity is a bit of a shame, but 100 each of a 100 year model makes some sense I guess. Elderly told me that dealers will be chosen by lottery. It is too bad that they didn't make 100 of a very special model and then a larger quantity of a Centennial branded, more standard model. I guess that this will make the 100 more special in 50 or so years.

Don't you mean sham? It's all a game. A lottery?! Thats BS. That's why I stay away from this sort of company.
 
Don't you mean sham? It's all a game. A lottery?! Thats BS. That's why I stay away from this sort of company.

Call it what you like. Martin still has a lot of respect from professional and every day musicians. I am not sure why some here seem to display anger toward Martin. If you don't like Martin, don't play a Martin. I would rather buy from a company that offers 100 special anniversary instruments than from one that ups the price across the board because they are all anniversary instruments. There are 100 style 3 Centennial Ukuleles and many more dealers, so a lottery seems fair. What wouldn't be fair is to provide special treatment for your largest customers. Thank you Martin for 100 years of great ukuleles.
 
Call it what you like. Martin still has a lot of respect from professional and every day musicians. I am not sure why some here seem to display anger toward Martin. If you don't like Martin, don't play a Martin. I would rather buy from a company that offers 100 special anniversary instruments than from one that ups the price across the board because they are all anniversary instruments. There are 100 style 3 Centennial Ukuleles and many more dealers, so a lottery seems fair. What wouldn't be fair is to provide special treatment for your largest customers. Thank you Martin for 100 years of great ukuleles.

Completely agree!!!
 
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