martin employee uke on Antique Roadshow

khrome

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I just saw a Martin employee uke on the Antique Roadshow. It was in beautiful condition and unfortunately they didn't play it so we can hear how it sounds. I think they underappraised it at 4k. Here is the link on their site - it has the transcript and everything, but the vid clip will be available tomorrow.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200806A45.html
 
Wow. Gorgeous. :love:
 
I agree that they undervalued it. A totally unique Martin Style 3! The interview with the appraiser is very interesting too. I'd love to see all the employee-made Martins made.:)
 
I wonder what a pristine 5K employee uke would go for if this one got appraised at $4,000.
 
Roadshow Ukulele

I did not get to see it, but I heard that there was an ukulele on Antiques Roadshow yesterday. Supposedly it was a Martin employee copy. Martin apparently permitted its employees to make instruments for their own use in their shop, using Martin patterns and components. I think these are unlabeled.

Did anybody see the show? I heard that estimate for the instrument was $4000.
 
I wonder what a pristine 5K employee uke would go for if this one got appraised at $4,000.

There was a link to click for "more like this" on the antiques roadshow page. Turns out the the other uke they reviewed was in fact a Martin 5k (but not an employee uke) - $10 - $12K. On the employee model 3 they gave an extra $1000 for the fact it was an employee made uke - so if there was a 5K - what $15 - $20K?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200701A23.html
 
Those sure are some gorgeous ukuleles.
There was an episode in Hawaii where they visited the Kamaka factory, in the beginning of the piece the antiques roadshow guy pronounced it yookulele by the time they came back from commercial break he was saying ookulele.
 
I agree that they undervalued it. A totally unique Martin Style 3! :)

The appraiser said it has rosewood sides and back with a spruce top and ebony tuning pegs. He identified it as a Model 3, but also said it was along the lines of a little guitar - given the materials used.

Cool that it showed up, but too bad they couldn't find someone in the room to strum it once or twice.
 
There was a link to click for "more like this" on the antiques roadshow page. Turns out the the other uke they reviewed was in fact a Martin 5k (but not an employee uke) - $10 - $12K. On the employee model 3 they gave an extra $1000 for the fact it was an employee made uke - so if there was a 5K - what $15 - $20K?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200701A23.html

I saw that uke too, and that was exactly my thought. I'm guessing it's because they were different appraisers, and maybe this guy is not familiar with the uke market but had to say something because he was on tv. Makes you wonder about all the other numbers people throw out.
 
I just saw a Martin employee uke on the Antique Roadshow. It was in beautiful condition and unfortunately they didn't play it so we can hear how it sounds. I think they underappraised it at 4k. Here is the link on their site - it has the transcript and everything, but the vid clip will be available tomorrow.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200806A45.html

I find it very amusing that something from the 20th century was in the antique roadshow!
 
I find it very amusing that something from the 20th century was in the antique roadshow!

Yes, "Antique" definitely doesn't mean the same thing over here as it does in UK - perhaps because we don't have anything man-made that's nearly as old!
 
this just makes me think about how much i love ukes. lol.

Im probubly the only 17 year old who likes antiques road show too. haha
 
I love Antiques Roadshow. My favorite guy on there is this guy who got one of the highest appraisals ever on the show. Just love that old guy.
 
I saw that uke too, and that was exactly my thought. I'm guessing it's because they were different appraisers, and maybe this guy is not familiar with the uke market but had to say something because he was on tv. Makes you wonder about all the other numbers people throw out.

I would suspect that he's got a decent grasp of the instrument market, which is why he would put it at $4k as a Style 3 rather than as an unbranded nicely made ukulele.
I'd still take it over a Style 5 production one. It's got to be made a little nicer when the guy is making it for himself.
 
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