Dannn
Active member
I have been very passively looking for a vintage baritone on ebay for 6 months or so. My requirements were pretty simple: old, cheap, playable (or close to it). I found this Lyra, and I was pretty fascinated. The only knock on the seller's description was a broken tuning peg. No biggie.
I could find almost no info about these.
The Tiki Kings database (http://www.tikiking.com/uke_db/Lyradb.html) said this: Made in USA, possibly by Regal. There have also been sightings of a Lyra Uke made in Japan, as well as one with a "Maxitone" headstock decal, and a "Lyra" soundhole label with a Bruno trademark in the center. That sounded promising, but not quite right.
Then I found this: http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2009/02/c1950s-lyra-baritone-ukulele.html That looked exactly right. West Germany? Interesting. Superior tone, markedly better than Harmony? Where do I sign up?
Well, I won the auction, well under budget. It left me enough to replace the tuners with a new set of Grover 85Bs and get a set of Aquila DGBEs from MGM. It arrived yesterday looking pretty shabby and, contrary to the ebay description, sporting a few cracks. I glued up the cracks, gave it a light coat of lemon oil, kissed it with some fine steel wool, and replaced the tuners and strings. After an hour or so of work, it looked quite nice. I started playing it this morning. I haven't ever played a baritone before, so I don't really have a reference for comparison. That being said, this thing sounds fantastic. Very rich, long sustains, good volume. It definitely sounds more like a guitar than a uke, but I love it. It seems a little more blonde than the pictures show. I suppose it is probably mahogany, but the back has a koa-like look to me. Incidentally, the front, back, and sides are each made of one piece. The whole neck/fingerboard/headstock assembly is one piece as well.
Has anyone seen one of these before? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.
I could find almost no info about these.
The Tiki Kings database (http://www.tikiking.com/uke_db/Lyradb.html) said this: Made in USA, possibly by Regal. There have also been sightings of a Lyra Uke made in Japan, as well as one with a "Maxitone" headstock decal, and a "Lyra" soundhole label with a Bruno trademark in the center. That sounded promising, but not quite right.
Then I found this: http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2009/02/c1950s-lyra-baritone-ukulele.html That looked exactly right. West Germany? Interesting. Superior tone, markedly better than Harmony? Where do I sign up?
Well, I won the auction, well under budget. It left me enough to replace the tuners with a new set of Grover 85Bs and get a set of Aquila DGBEs from MGM. It arrived yesterday looking pretty shabby and, contrary to the ebay description, sporting a few cracks. I glued up the cracks, gave it a light coat of lemon oil, kissed it with some fine steel wool, and replaced the tuners and strings. After an hour or so of work, it looked quite nice. I started playing it this morning. I haven't ever played a baritone before, so I don't really have a reference for comparison. That being said, this thing sounds fantastic. Very rich, long sustains, good volume. It definitely sounds more like a guitar than a uke, but I love it. It seems a little more blonde than the pictures show. I suppose it is probably mahogany, but the back has a koa-like look to me. Incidentally, the front, back, and sides are each made of one piece. The whole neck/fingerboard/headstock assembly is one piece as well.
Has anyone seen one of these before? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.