Vintage Gibson NUD

My family wanted to get me something special for my 40th birthday, and what better than a new uke. So, a few weeks ago I began my search. I didn't want to go to crazy with the price, but wanted something unique, special and fun. I started off asking around, looking for handful of customs such as Kepasa, Pohaku and Blackbear.

While on the hunt, I endedlooking at a few vintage ukes. I started my musical path as a guitar player and fell in love with the old blues of Robert Johnson, Son House, Blid Boy Fuller, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James... I'd always wanted a vintage Gibson from the 20s or 30s, but could never justify the $$$. The idea came that I could finally have my vintage Gibson and I was on the hunt. Found a lovely 17 fret style 2, but while I was waiting for a response on my offer it sold at a higher price. Thoroughly disappointed, I happened upon an incredible resource (I'll post another thread on that later) and found the most pristine vintage Gibby to celebrate my 40th.

It is in better condition than anything I could imagine. The back has two nearly invisible small cracks, but hardly any other marks on it. The top is absolutely dead mint. Not even any strum wear. It plays incredible and has that raspy vintage tone, which is both rich and lively.

-josh

Congratulations on this very fine find!

Not sure why the pics posted sideways. Likely something with the iPad?

Here's a quick vid. It's also done on the iPad so it doesn't capture the tone, but you can see just how clean this uke is. Hard to believe it is approximately 88 years old.

I'm playing a bit of two Robert Johnson (4 to Late & They're Red Hot) songs since he really inspired my desire for a vintage Gibson.


http://vimeo.com/115921340

edit... and vimeo doesn't want me to embed the video for some reason. Sorry but for now you'll have to click the link to watch. Thanks for taking a look.

Congratulations Joshua! That is a real beauty, what a terrific find!

That's a stunning little uke! Beautiful! Enjoy

Good choice, Josh! Glad you found your Birthday Uke! Are you still going to order a Kepasa?
Btw, I have a '39 Gibson and it is my favorite soprano!

Wow, that's a honey. Congrats and Happy Birthday. Have to play "Ain't She Sweet" on her.

Congrats on the successful hunt. What a nice birthday present from your fam.

Y'know when your video started, my thought was "that uke wants to be played fast." Then you kicked it in at the end. It sounds great!

Congratulations, on the birthday (foremost!), the ukulele and your playing (last, not least).

Gibsons are great and rather underestimated, and it seems almost every single one has a quirky detail different from all others.

Yours looks like a very good uke-2 from 1926-1940, but if you find a number on the inside it could help dating (that's not a unique number, but a Factory Order Number or FON used for calculating the production cost of the batch of ukuleles it was built in - numbers are repeated, but there are lists that allow for approximate dates of production).

Thanks all.
I started a thread about Legendary Ukuleles where I purchased this uke.
http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?103395-Legendary-Ukuleles

I should have mentioned that the tunes in the vid are bits of Robert Johnson's songs, who inspired my desire for vintage Gibbys. I edit my post to reflect this.

A little more about the uke. Based on what the seller told me, and my research, I pretty confident that it is a 26 or 27. Of course it is a "The Gibson". Generally the "The" is thought to have been dropped in the mid 30s. In 28, all catalogues I've found start showing the Uke-2 with the 17 fret finger board. It appears that the 12 fret uke-2 don't come back until the "The" is gone. Also, into the 30s, the script of "The Gibson" starts to get a little tighter and less round.

Also, I need to thank Steve (Coolkayaker) for his thoughts and feedback during this process. I initially reached out to him to see if he had anything for sale. He ended up sharing a great deal of knowledge and insight that he has gained from his experience with vintage ukuleles.

Far too litle definite info is known, but for those who are intereseted, here's some helpful links on vintage Gibsons.

https://books.google.com/books?id=M...e&q=The gibson uke-2 production dates&f=false

https://books.google.com/books?id=f...e&q=The gibson uke-2 production dates&f=false

https://sites.google.com/site/ukulelemakers/ghij/gibson

http://www.acousticmusic.org/userfiles/file/pdfs/historical-data/Gibson/Gibson 1930-31 Catalog.pdf

Agree on your "raspy, vintage tone", my TU-2 (w/Martin 620's) has that to my ear also,....
Cheers,
R

Really nice find! And happy 40th!

Thanks for the heads up on Legendary Ukes! He has the nicest Harmony Vita uke I've seen but my next purchase is going to be a Martin 3M.

Concerning the Gibson catalogues, they are far from reliable: old pictures were reused, style designations switched around, very strange verbal descriptions given... But 1926 was the earliest for any Gibson ukulele in a catalogue, and uke-2 disappeared in 1940 (when they were simply renamed uke-3 and continued until the early 1950s!). Logos and tuner give a better clue, FONs (rare on sopranos) give the best ones. So do take a look inside...

Thanks for the info. I know its all guess work. Before playing a note a examined the uke inside out for any clues. I even took a light to the inside of the old drop bottom case looking for something. Unfortunately there is no FON or other markings. There is a scratched out name on the case that I keep trying to make out.

Hi, Josh.

Thanks for your PM and--oh, goodness, that's a sweetie! So well played, my friend. So well played. I sure wish we lived closer to one another to do some duets a la Jano et Krouk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6BN_OZPI7M

Your new instrument looks downright pristine. The gentleman that sold it to you seems to only buy and re-sell near mint ukuleles. The photos on his website will make a grown man put the wife out and kick the dog.

That's great of you to add the links so that when this thread comes up (heck, I might even have to search for it as a future reference), the info is right here.

I am lucky to now have a Style 2 "The Gibson" extended fretboard, and one with a shorter fretboard (like yours). Neither is in as good a condition as yours, Joshua. They all sound quite like yours.

I assume you have the Walsh and King The Martin Ukulele book, which is mandatory. What a lovely paperback "coffee table" quality book.
http://www.amazon.com/Martin-Ukulel...=1420498599&sr=8-1&keywords=walsh+king+martin

Martin concerts, 1925-1965, vintage, are uncommon. According to said reference, there were only 9102 made, in total (of which 8959 were Style 1s). That is compared to 16,018 vintage tenors, and--hold your breath!--160,749 vintage sopranos!!

I'm lucky to get a near mint concert Martin two years ago--it might be the most pristine vintage uke that I own--and it's a keeper. They are uncommon, Josh.

You are a true UU friend. Thank you. (BTW, now you need a Gibby 1 & 3! I'll keep my eyes peeled.)

coolkayaker1 said:

You are a true UU friend. Thank you. (BTW, now you need a Gibby 1 & 3! I'll keep my eyes peeled.)

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Right back at you Steve. A Martin concert or one of those sweet little Ditsons are high up on my list. And yes, a uke-3 is a must.

lakesideglenn said:

Good choice, Josh! Glad you found your Birthday Uke! Are you still going to order a Kepasa?
Btw, I have a '39 Gibson and it is my favorite soprano!

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Unfortunately, a Kepasa is not in the card right now. I'll just have to wait until you sell yours.

jwieties said:

Right back at you Steve. A Martin concert or one of those sweet little Ditsons are high up on my list. And yes, a uke-3 is a must.

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Maybe sell a kidney and buy that gentleman's ultra-rare Gibby 3 with unique inlays as owned by Uncle Rufus Yells!