Can anyone suggest an age for this Gibson Ukulele?

YogaJen

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Aloha from Jen in Oz :)

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The uke has a serial number which looks like DG-2889.
It has an inbuilt pick-up and lead, haven't tested as yet
Does one call it a vintage uke?
Is it uncommon to come across one?

Thanks very much for your help.
 
Thanks Steve, I appreciate your thought. I would LOVE to say that really helped, but noooooo :(
I have put my 20yr-old musician son onto the job - he's read that file end to end.
He's a guitarist, but right now he's tearing his hair out over a ukulele - I can't believe it, but I love it!!!
My yoga student handed this to me today - it is mine, but the job of setting a fair price is also mine.
Damn, can't just hand over $20 and run!
The electrics don't work, but it has a great sound - loud and bright and resonant.
I can't believe it really. I'm just glad that everywhere I go I make a lot of noise about My Love of the Uke. You never can tell when someone will drop a little cutie on your lap. You'll get to meet 'it' soon.
See ya
Jen
 
Aloha YogaJen,
Congrats on that wonderful score of the Gibson Ukulele. Thank God it was only the pick-up and not the other way around.
You can always put in a new pick-up, but may not fix the sound...In the past I came across the gibson numbers chart
for identifying the age of the vintage gibsons ukuleles not sure if it's the same as this one, but I can't seem to remember as it was really long ago. Good Luck!!!There's a fellow
member with a vintage gibson ukulele too...maybe better condition than yours in the UU marketplace selling his for $460.00
it's member..PDXUKE....You're such a lucky one to have it fall in your lap,,,,I'm sure you're going to give him
a decent market value on it....Jus soo happy for you....thanks for sharing the nice story!!! Cheers, MM Stan...
 
Thanks very much Stan for adding your thoughts to this discussion, and sharing in my joy :)
It's been a Gibson uke kind of day. I posted an album of pics of it on my facebook page and uke players from all over have contributed their thoughts and reactions - mostly gushing with excitement along with me. One of the folks I met at the last Ukulele World Congress advised me to get in touch with Uncle Rufus at Ukulele Cosmos.
This is him here in this video made by Bosko & Honey from Oz on their World Uke Safari 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQRz4M0E-gY

So I've written to Unkle Rufus in the UK and hope that when they wake up over there he might grace me with a reply.
In one day and with the help of ukers across the planet I have learnt a great deal about the my new old Gibson, now named Ginny.
It's going to be a wonderful journey of musical discovery - I feel I need to put in even more time to develop my uke skill now!
Cheers
Jenny :)
 
So the news is in ! My new Gibson uke is now officially my ooooold Gibson uke.
Uncle Rufus says "a very late 30s Gibson Style 2 soprano (they only used that headstock logo on sops for a very short time - if forced, I'd date it as 1938 or so), and the person who put a pick-up in it should be strung up. Fortunately, you can remove it without too much hassle."
Facebook friends asked me to strum it for them, so I posted a quick impromptu video. I like my new oooold uke - her name is Ginny :)

[video]http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=1453440467502#!/video/video.php?v=148084151872822&ref=mf[/video]
 
So the news is in ! My new Gibson uke is now officially my ooooold Gibson uke.
Uncle Rufus says "a very late 30s Gibson Style 2 soprano (they only used that headstock logo on sops for a very short time - if forced, I'd date it as 1938 or so), and the person who put a pick-up in it should be strung up. Fortunately, you can remove it without too much hassle."
Facebook friends asked me to strum it for them, so I posted a quick impromptu video. I like my new oooold uke - her name is Ginny :)

[video]http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages&tid=1453440467502#!/video/video.php?v=148084151872822&ref=mf[/video]

YogaJen.... I've been trying to follow this thread, but have no facebook account. Any way you can post photos we all can see here? :confused::eek:
 
Joy of new uke to you! You really hit the jackpot with that one! It's absolutley gorgeous. Uncle Rufus is the most knowledgable Gibson man I know so you can pretty much take his assesment to the bank. It's always nice to see a lonley classic find a loving home!
 
Aloha Jenny,
Gee, the news keeps getting even better eh!!! a style two and a 38....so happy for you!!
And thanks for posting the Bosko and Honey video, as it also enlightens me more on these rare Gibsons..
I'm afraid it has made me search even harder for an elusive Gibson tenor..Happy Strumming!!!MM Stan..
 
Nice score! Someday I'd love to have a Gibson uke.
 
YogaJen.... I've been trying to follow this thread, but have no facebook account. Any way you can post photos we all can see here? :confused::eek:

Hi Mailman - sorry about the delay, I’ve been figuring how I could show you the pics. Then in order to create an album on here I had to compress the files one by one.
All good to go now so let's see if this works.
By the way, the album order is not what I’d like, I just don't know how to change the sequence on UU.
Enjoy :)

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/album.php?albumid=1070
 
Nice score! Someday I'd love to have a Gibson uke.

I admit - I wasn't looking to buy a uke, and certainly not a vintage one. You could say it pretty much fell in my lap, and I am definitely not complaining.
It has been a great joy so far :)
 
Joy of new uke to you! You really hit the jackpot with that one! It's absolutley gorgeous. Uncle Rufus is the most knowledgable Gibson man I know so you can pretty much take his assesment to the bank. It's always nice to see a lonley classic find a loving home!

Hi there - thanks for your message.
Oh yes, I'm feeling that Joy of the new ... old ... uke loud and clear. I did indeed hit the jackpot - I don't know that I have ever been so lucky!
It was brilliant to receive the expert opinion of Rufus, he nailed it so easily!
Ginny will have a happy life with me here in Sydney Oz :)
 
Aloha Jenny,
And thanks for posting the Bosko and Honey video, as it also enlightens me more on these rare Gibsons..
I'm afraid it has made me search even harder for an elusive Gibson tenor..Happy Strumming!!!MM Stan..
Good luck with that search Stan - you just never know when and where these things will show up.
All the best
Jen
 
Aloha Jenny,
And thanks for the encouragment to look even harder....I think you and Ginny were meant for each other.
You both will give each other years of enjoyment and take care of each other as well. Also many thanks for
the photo's, i appriciate it very much..BTW- have you changed and or upgraded the strings as of yet???
Have Fun and take Care!! Cheers MM Stan....
 
Jen, congrats from half a world away! I have been following this thread and I have to tell you I am really happy and excited for you!

One thought, you said the pickup doesn't work. Any chance you used that old chord to test it out? I find that old chords have frequently gone bad, and you may want to try it out with a chord that you know is good. if that old pickup does work maybe you want to leave it in as part of the history of that particular uke?

My secret hope is to find a beautiful Gibson uke to add to my humble collection. What a great thing that uke has found its way to you!
 
Jen, congrats from half a world away! I have been following this thread and I have to tell you I am really happy and excited for you!

One thought, you said the pickup doesn't work. Any chance you used that old chord to test it out? I find that old chords have frequently gone bad, and you may want to try it out with a chord that you know is good. if that old pickup does work maybe you want to leave it in as part of the history of that particular uke?

My secret hope is to find a beautiful Gibson uke to add to my humble collection. What a great thing that uke has found its way to you!

Hi Ryan
Thanks for your thoughts :)
Re the pick-up - it turns out that the pick-up did not come original with the uke - it was a later add-on - the Gibson expert says "the person who put a pick-up in it should be strung up. Fortunately, you can remove it without too much hassle."
So yes, in time the pick-up will be removed.
Good luck with your secret quest - I hope a lonely Gibson looking for a home finds its way to you too :)
 
Aloha Jenny,
And thanks for the encouragment to look even harder....I think you and Ginny were meant for each other.
You both will give each other years of enjoyment and take care of each other as well. Also many thanks for
the photo's, i appriciate it very much..BTW- have you changed and or upgraded the strings as of yet???
Have Fun and take Care!! Cheers MM Stan....
Hi Stan
Yes Ginny & Jenny were definitely meant for each other !!
As for the strings - no, not yet. I will probably have Ginny checked out by someone more knowledgeable than myself to see what is best for her ongoing maintenance and health.
I'll be seeing some members of my ukeclub on Tuesday and I think they'll have some ideas.

Cheers to you :)
 
Hey Jen,
I could see the pickup wasn't original but it has obviously been there a long time.....I was just thinking that since it is there already, no more damage is being done....and if it works you may want to play electrified sometime.....just a thought.

I know purists want things strictly original in vintage instruments, but in my humble opinion, when the pickup was installed, that uke was likely not worth a huge amount of money, and usually people weren't thinking of future owners down the road, say forty years or more, who would value these instruments so much. For me, it just says that it was loved and enjoyed by someone!

It's your uke, remove or not, I just hope you play the heck out of it!
Enjoy!
 
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