Swiftsailor98
Well-known member
The postman delivered my Martin C1K this Saturday. I was so excited, but I wanted to give it a day to let it settle into the Florida environment before I really evaluated it against my other ukes.
Hometown-fueled UAS: Having grown up in Allentown, PA (a stone’s throw from Nazareth) and learning of C.F. Martin’s ukulele history, I’ve been eyeing a Martin ukulele. This C1K fits the bill and stays within the budget while adding an all solid Koa to the family.
Aesthetics: As you saw in my recent post, I bought this one from Mim and I picked this one specifically for the Koa grain pattern. The C1K as a style/line is not normally figured or curly in its Koa, but I loved the look of the back. I’m using Mim’s photos because they really show off the figuring.
Specifications from MartinGuitars.com and observations:
Sound: I tested my three main ukes by strumming and picking through a couple songs with a Tascam DR-05 recording from my music stand—sorry no sound posts (kids in the background and the playing’s not ready for public consumption). The strings are as listed in my signature. After listening to the recording to get an audience perspective rather than what I’m hearing, here are a few observations:
Concert to Concert:
Baggage: The C1K comes with a great C.F. Martin embroidered padded gig bag. That will be great for around town and careful storage in a house full of kids and dogs. And while the C1K fits well in my Eddy Finn Concert Hard Case, I think I’m going to look for its own hard case for when I want to take it on road trips or carry it on flights.
What’s next: I’m headed to one of my local TBUS events to enjoy the C1K sound in a group.
Images:
Hometown-fueled UAS: Having grown up in Allentown, PA (a stone’s throw from Nazareth) and learning of C.F. Martin’s ukulele history, I’ve been eyeing a Martin ukulele. This C1K fits the bill and stays within the budget while adding an all solid Koa to the family.
Aesthetics: As you saw in my recent post, I bought this one from Mim and I picked this one specifically for the Koa grain pattern. The C1K as a style/line is not normally figured or curly in its Koa, but I loved the look of the back. I’m using Mim’s photos because they really show off the figuring.
Specifications from MartinGuitars.com and observations:
- Concert Ukulele
- All Solid Koa Top Sides and Back
- Dovetailed neck construction and Sitka Spruce bracing
- Sipo** bridge and fretboard
- 15 in scale - 12 frets to the body / 17 frets in all
- 1-13/32 in (36 mm) width at the nut - approx 1-3/16 (31 mm) from G to A
- Hand-rubbed natural finish
- Open-back Grover tuners
- Tusq Nut and Compensated Saddle
- Strap buttons on the neck and lower bout installed by Mim
[**I had to look it up… Sipo (entandrophragma utile) is typically reddish in color and aesthetically close to mahogany. It is harder than its African Mahogany (Khaya) cousins, but not as hard as genuine Mahogany (swietenia macrophylla). It is also similar to Sapele (entandrophragma cylindricum), but more porous and richer in color.]
Sound: I tested my three main ukes by strumming and picking through a couple songs with a Tascam DR-05 recording from my music stand—sorry no sound posts (kids in the background and the playing’s not ready for public consumption). The strings are as listed in my signature. After listening to the recording to get an audience perspective rather than what I’m hearing, here are a few observations:
Concert to Concert:
- The C1K has sustain ‘for days’
- As you would suspect, the C1K sounds more open, and complex — I look forward to how it sounds two years from now
- Volume seems about the same, but that may be because the Blacklines on the laminate spruce top really project on the Eddy Finn.
- I’m anxious to explore strings on C1K. I’ve had a couple members suggest the Martin Premiums (M610’s).
- Obviously the Kala Tenor is deeper and more full, but the solid koa on C1K sounds warmer than the solid spruce.
Baggage: The C1K comes with a great C.F. Martin embroidered padded gig bag. That will be great for around town and careful storage in a house full of kids and dogs. And while the C1K fits well in my Eddy Finn Concert Hard Case, I think I’m going to look for its own hard case for when I want to take it on road trips or carry it on flights.
What’s next: I’m headed to one of my local TBUS events to enjoy the C1K sound in a group.
Images:
