National Polychrome Triolian Ukulele (1932)

snakehips81

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Hi there !

I have recently bought an old steel-bodied National ukulele, made in 1932.
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It looks great (although a bit worn !) and sounds fairly good BUT seemed a bit chocked.

I opened up the uke and found some serious "dust bunnies" inside, on top of the cone, and a large golf-ball sized one inside the Soprano sized body !

(NB. Only do this to a vintage resonator guitar or ukulele IF you really know what you are doing !!! Try not chew up the coverplate screws with an ill-fitting screw-driver, or lose any of them, and certainly don't squash out of shape, even a little, the delicate resonator cone inside !!!)

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Yeah, filthy inside !!!

Gave the cone a clean, VERY GENTLY, with warm, soapy water with a soft paper towel, then used a baby wipe to get it nice and clean and shiny !
Minty cone !!
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I have put on a new set of La Bella soprano uke strings - and await the strings fully stretching and settling.
The original tuners slip a little so I may need to replace them.
They seem almost the same as the modern new Waverly uke friction tuners - and they have a spring inside, just like the Waverlys. I took each one apart to clean, in case that improved them, but alas it hasn't made much difference.

Hope you like the story so far !
 
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Wow, very interesting uke! It's nice that you are loving it like that. It should sound pretty good when you're done cleaning and setting it up!
 
Great story!

Once you get the tuner issues figured out, I'll bet you'll notice a HUGE difference in sound. This one really must have been stored in the proverbial barn.
 
Congratulations. Great looking work so far. I've wanted one of these models since forever.
 
The cone looks great now! Good job with dust bunny removal!
 
Where did you find such a treasure?
 
Congratulations! Lots of mojo in that one.

Have you tried tightening the screws on the back of the tuners? If they are too tight to turn, I would first suggest loosening the screws and then tightening them again. Also, it sometimes helps to take the tuners apart and clean them. If none of this helps, you can also replace the screws. You can often find miniature screws at the hardware store.
 
Like the Black Crowes sang, "Jealous! Jealous again!" Good luck with the tuners!
 
That is a really cool looking instrument. It definitely has character. :cool:
I hope you didn't have to pay extra for the dust bunnies.
 
Nice, congrats on the acquisition. Good info on cleaning it up too. Best of luck.
 
I have had good luck installing a felt gasket on my vintage National ukuleles. Some of them would come from the factory with a paper or felt gasket between the soundwell and the cone. The cone sits on top of the gasket. Each one that I have worked on has benefited from a nice new felt gasket to replace the crumbling paper one. In this Triolian I can see the remnants of a paper gasket.

If anybody needs help installing one, send me a message. You'll find your action too high afterward so be prepared to fit a new saddle. Easy enough to remove the old one with a bit of steam to soften the hide glue joint.

Try to use fairly thin felt and cut it into an 0 ring to fit the soundwell ledge. It will stretch a bit. I clean out the old glue and then use a tiny bit of hot hide glue to fix the gasket to the soundwell. Don't go up the sides or the cone won't fit.
 
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