3 ukes comparison

My 3 best ukes:

1) Late 40's Martin Style 0, all original, T-frets, Kluson tulip style tuners. Great shape, aside from finish crazing. Classic Martin soprano tone, sweet & woody, great bell tones. Nice action, only 2mm at 12th fret. Worth CM strings

2) 40's Favilla U2, Grover 4B tuners. To my ear, the loudest and warmest/woodiest of the 3. Martin M600 strings.

3) Early 40's wartime Martin Style 0, re-topped in spruce. Bar frets, originally had wooden peg tuners. Great tone & jangle; the spruce is a bit brighter sounding to me than the other 2, even with the Worth Brown strings. I think it will excel at fingerstyle, when I get there.

Just a 1-take, quick & dirty cellphone video, please pardon my clams. I hope you can hear the differences?

It’s hard to get that classic Martin sound out of your head when comparing these. However unfairly, I found myself using that as a baseline while listening to the others. On second listen through I was better able to allow myself to hear more of the true nature of each uke, and I have to say that each of these instruments is wonderful in their own right. I’m really surprised how much I like the spruce re-top; probably my second favorite of the three. Great comparison, thanks for posting!

That Favila sounds great. I have heard them referred to as "the poor man's Martin".

EDW said:

That Favila sounds great. I have heard them referred to as "the poor man's Martin".

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Yes, I'd have to agree with that assessment. They have a great sound, just a bit less bell tone and jangle, and not quite the high level of workmanship as a vintage Martin. But when they sound so good, and are 1/3 to 1/2 the cost, they are a true bargain.