Ukecaster
Well-known member
I was looking at these 2 vintage Martin Style 0 ukes today, and noticed some differences. #1 is an early 40's Style 0, which was retopped in spruce by Joel Eckhaus in Maine, with tort binding added, originally with wooden pegs, due to wartime metal shortages (came to me with UPTs). #2 is a stock late 40's Style 0, with what I believe are T frets, and Keystone tuners.
The headstocks shapes looked different, the early 40's headstock is bigger, and more rounded, and when I measured point to point at the crown, it was 63.2 mm. The later 40's uke has a slimmer looking, less rounded headstock, 59.4mm point to point, so the earlier one was almost 4mm wider. The logo is also applied higher on the earlier uke.
Finally, the heel shape is different too, with the early 40's uke (bottom) having a beefier heel, which flares out more.
I've never had 2 vintage Martins together in the same room before, but thought they would be almost identical, but I guess with handmade vintage ukes, you get these little differences. BTW, both sound great, but different, the spruce is slightly brighter, the hog top is sweeter, and fuller sounding.
The headstocks shapes looked different, the early 40's headstock is bigger, and more rounded, and when I measured point to point at the crown, it was 63.2 mm. The later 40's uke has a slimmer looking, less rounded headstock, 59.4mm point to point, so the earlier one was almost 4mm wider. The logo is also applied higher on the earlier uke.
Finally, the heel shape is different too, with the early 40's uke (bottom) having a beefier heel, which flares out more.
I've never had 2 vintage Martins together in the same room before, but thought they would be almost identical, but I guess with handmade vintage ukes, you get these little differences. BTW, both sound great, but different, the spruce is slightly brighter, the hog top is sweeter, and fuller sounding.
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