Jddewitt81
Well-known member
I recently picked up two Laughlin soprano ukuleles. I have admired Tim Laughlin’s work for a while now but until recently I haven’t had the pleasure of playing one. My friend Colin Barnes was selling a Koa soprano a while back but sadly it was out of my price range. I have often thought about that ukulele and wished I had bought it at the time it was for sale but over time I kind of wrote it off and focused on ones I could actually acquire and afford!
Life has been treating me pretty well and I haven’t been buying as much as I once did. Other than my new Dave Talsma soprano I hadn’t really made many big purchases.
Recently I came across a Laughlin style 2 on eBay and decided to put in an offer on it. My offer was accepted and it was soon in my possession. I have to admit upon first strum I wasn’t overly impressed but a quick string change solved that problem!
It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the style 2 and I quickly emailed Tim Laughlin to find out more information about it. Tim replied back telling me when it was made and that it was previously owned by the late ukulele player and collector Travis Harrelson. A quick search of Travis and you may find videos of Eddie Montana and him on YouTube. They put a CD out together. I was really enjoying the stories I had read about Travis and have admired Eddie as a musician. I have to say that I never knew Travis but felt a bit closer to him through my searches and really grew to admire him and his playing. I thought “Wow I hit the jackpot, this seller must not know what they have!” I quickly bought Eddie and Travis’ CD as well.
Not long after this I saw the same seller I bought my Laughlin from list another Laughlin! This time it was a concert. Sadly I didn’t buy this one but my friend Tracie Anderson decided to buy it for herself! We both had a hunch that it was probably also from Travis’ estate. She emailed Tim Laughlin once hers arrived and it in fact was.
I messaged the seller asking if they had any more Laughlin’s and they said they were going to list a few more. I wound up picking up another soprano that Tim confirmed to me was actually Koa instead of mahogany as it was listed. This one was built custom for Travis and has “Travistone” inlayed on the headstock. It is a work of art and Travis’ strum marks are apparent that he played it a time or two!
After this purchase I found out that the seller was actually Eddie Montana himself and that he is selling them to help support Travis’ wife. Eddie still has two more Laughlin’s on eBay and a Martin that was owned by Travis. Someone should really consider buying them before I do!!
If anyone remembers Travis I would love to hear any stores you are willing to share. He sounds like he was one heck of a man! I will certainly cherish these for years to come!
- Jon
Life has been treating me pretty well and I haven’t been buying as much as I once did. Other than my new Dave Talsma soprano I hadn’t really made many big purchases.
Recently I came across a Laughlin style 2 on eBay and decided to put in an offer on it. My offer was accepted and it was soon in my possession. I have to admit upon first strum I wasn’t overly impressed but a quick string change solved that problem!
It didn’t take long for me to fall in love with the style 2 and I quickly emailed Tim Laughlin to find out more information about it. Tim replied back telling me when it was made and that it was previously owned by the late ukulele player and collector Travis Harrelson. A quick search of Travis and you may find videos of Eddie Montana and him on YouTube. They put a CD out together. I was really enjoying the stories I had read about Travis and have admired Eddie as a musician. I have to say that I never knew Travis but felt a bit closer to him through my searches and really grew to admire him and his playing. I thought “Wow I hit the jackpot, this seller must not know what they have!” I quickly bought Eddie and Travis’ CD as well.
Not long after this I saw the same seller I bought my Laughlin from list another Laughlin! This time it was a concert. Sadly I didn’t buy this one but my friend Tracie Anderson decided to buy it for herself! We both had a hunch that it was probably also from Travis’ estate. She emailed Tim Laughlin once hers arrived and it in fact was.
I messaged the seller asking if they had any more Laughlin’s and they said they were going to list a few more. I wound up picking up another soprano that Tim confirmed to me was actually Koa instead of mahogany as it was listed. This one was built custom for Travis and has “Travistone” inlayed on the headstock. It is a work of art and Travis’ strum marks are apparent that he played it a time or two!
After this purchase I found out that the seller was actually Eddie Montana himself and that he is selling them to help support Travis’ wife. Eddie still has two more Laughlin’s on eBay and a Martin that was owned by Travis. Someone should really consider buying them before I do!!
If anyone remembers Travis I would love to hear any stores you are willing to share. He sounds like he was one heck of a man! I will certainly cherish these for years to come!
- Jon
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