My "new" Vintage Martin

Tigeralum2001

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Messages
1,195
Reaction score
6
Location
Bay Area, CA
I went to the Bee-3 Vintage Guitar show today. I'd never been and didn't know what to expect. I play guitar very badly and have essentially abandoned it. However, my friends convinced me to go and I'm glad I did! Not only did I see some very cool guitars, I also got to see many other stringed instruments.

There was a guy there selling ukes. He had about every Martin, but they were all beat to hell & overpriced. All had cracks & gouges. He was selling soprano 0s for $750, Tenor 1s for $1650 and Baritone 1s for $1850. Another dealer had a beat up soprano 0 for $500 and a decent soprano 1 for $1250. Another vendor had 3 Tipples. They were in good shape. He wanted $750 for the Martin and a $450 for one of an unknown maker that had binding and inlays similar to this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220555783338&ssPageName=STRK:MEDWX:IT

Anyhow, I saw a friend at a guitar vendor and he asked if I found any Martin ukes and I said "nothing good at a reasonable price." Then the vendor said "I have a Martin uke." And he pulled it out. In its original case. A practically cherry style 1 concert. He wanted $1000, but that was too rich for my blood. It was so beautiful, though. A few MINOR surface imperfections, no chips, cracks, dings, etc. Looked to have the original strings still on it. He said "I have no idea what to do with it. I think it is a style 1, but you probably know more about it than I do. Tell you what, I don't want to deal with it. I have $800 in it, I'll sell it to you for that." I looked it over, pondering it hard. It appears to be a pre-1963 as it has no "Made in USA" stamp in the sound hole, but it also doesn't have the mark on the back of the head. After 2 minutes or so I said "deal!"

I hope it is a good deal. I took it home & restrung it with Aquillas (the only strings I have right now) and it sounds GREAT! It is in the case being humidified right now.

So... never having ventured into the realm of vintage or Martin, how did I do? Did I get caught in show hype or did I do good?
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3857.jpg
    IMG_3857.jpg
    86.8 KB · Views: 62
  • IMG_3846.jpg
    IMG_3846.jpg
    106.8 KB · Views: 43
  • IMG_3845.jpg
    IMG_3845.jpg
    101.4 KB · Views: 86
  • IMG_3847.jpg
    IMG_3847.jpg
    92.3 KB · Views: 46
  • IMG_3850.jpg
    IMG_3850.jpg
    92.9 KB · Views: 53
Another pic

I wish they would let us post more than 5 pics per post...
 

Attachments

  • IMG_3848.jpg
    IMG_3848.jpg
    91 KB · Views: 25
wow. i know ZERO about vintage ukes, but it looks nice to me.

can i have it?;)
 
I played one in a music store the other day. '30s or so. They wanted $1,500. It was a beautiful concert, but the action was a bit high and I figured that for less than that, a new Koaloha would give me more frets and comparable sound. I tell you, though, it was hard to put down. Nice uke. Sounds like a good deal at the price. I'm still in love with my old Martin sop after all these years. Nothing touches it.
 
Good point about the action. I measured this one's at about 1.5mm at the 12th fret with a cheap, plastic ruler.
 
Isn't that a tenor? The concerts I have seen don't have bridge pins....only the tenors.

Either way, I think it is a great deal, Enjoy!
 
Isn't that a tenor? The concerts I have seen don't have bridge pins....only the tenors.
You know, I thought it was a tenor when I bought it. There was another vendor with many Martin ukes, so I went to his booth to compare it and it seemed smaller than his tenor and baritone. His tenor also had 2 fret dots twice where mine only has that once.

I just performed a quick Google search and see most people's Martin concerts have 12 frets and no bridge pins. This model has 18 frets & bridge pins. I used concert strings on this uke with no length problems.

So... did Martin make tenors of different body sizes/fret dot positions? Or did they do this with baritones? I wonder why his tenor was different. (As I said, I am new to Martin & vintage ukes.)
 
Congrats Tiger on your new purchase. Don't know much about the price of the old Martins, but the important things are that it is in great shape and that you are stoked about your new uke!
 
Go to Fleamarket music and "ask Frets" or ask Chuck. Send him pics and he will identify it for you.
 
That's a very nice tenor and you got a good deal. If you still have your Lanikia concert, the size difference should be obvious.
 
What is the scale length, measured from nut to saddle?
 
Wait a second....
Jan 26th 2010- KoAloha Pineapple Sunday
Feb 27th 2010- 1950s Martin style 1 Concert

You have a bad case of UAS.....and I like your style!
 
What is the scale length, measured from nut to saddle?
Nut to saddle is 17 inches

Wait a second....
Jan 26th 2010- KoAloha Pineapple Sunday
Feb 27th 2010- 1950s Martin style 1 Concert

You have a bad case of UAS.....and I like your style!

You have NO idea! I have a old KoAloha (round sound hole) soprano coming, too. It should be here Wednesday. I was going to buy a Sceptre, but got these two instead.

However, I will not be getting another uke until Christmas. I now have the only known cure for UAS-- poverty. (Hopefully I'll get a sitar-lele for Christmas!)
 
Woot! It is a TENOR! I think the vendor must have thought a baritone was a tenor and a tenor guitar was a baritone.
 
Woot! It is a TENOR! I think the vendor must have thought a baritone was a tenor and a tenor guitar was a baritone.

That is awesome!!! Good for you.
 
Top Bottom