Hi, just wondering what kind of ukulele i have.

Hello, im a noob as you can see. great website name. glad i stumbled across it...

My grandpa (auto) died back in the early 80's before i was born and he had this silvertone. just wondering what kind and year it is. my cousin says she remembers him playing it for her all the time when she was little.

i think it's a silvertone Soprano from the 50's or earlier??? any info would be greatly appreciated.

If you scroll down here you'll find a bit of info on Silvertone, including a photo of a similar uke to yours. Silvertone was Sears' store brand. When I was a kid I had a Silvertone guitar and it was pretty low-quality IIRC, but the Silvertone ukes seem to have been a step up - solid mahogany, made by Harmony.

You should put some good strings on it and see how it sounds!

Looks like you have three tuning pegs there. Unless you are concerned about historical accuracy (I hope not) then you could get a guitar shop to install friction tuners. Pegs require more tuning (in my humble opinion) and who really wants to tune after every song? They cost 2 bucks each. I think the friction tuners would have a larger diameter than the pegs, so somebody has to get a drill out.... But then again, it was purchased at Sears, so we're not talking about repainting the Mona Lisa.

Don't refinish or strip it though. Clean it up. My prediction is that this will open the door to a new passion, if you let it.

Aloha LarryC,
Check this out http://www.tikiking.com/uke_db/Silvertonedb.html
Welcome to the UU and our forums, and the ukulele..Have fun and enjoy...Happy strummings...
here's where you can get the friction pegs for period correct.. http://www.ukuleleworld.com/tuning-pegs-tuning-machines/
I hope it helps and you get it back into playing condition....good luck!!!

Looks like a great old Silvertone! I would say it is older than the 50's for sure....more likely the late 30's or 40's. I think the sunburst Slivertones like yours are really cool. I have a Silvertone that is fun to play, it is somewhat quiet compared to higher end uke's.

Do you want to play it? If so, the suggestion that you install modern friction tuners is easier than having to try to replace that peg. I am one of the few people around who LOVE peg tuners (like what you have), especially because they are so much lighter, and I love they way they look and work.

If you get tuners from the site Stan suggests, I recommend going with the Ping brand tuners as the shaft is thinner as compared to the others for sale. The shaft may fit right through the current holes. It comes with a countersink washer for the top of the headstock but I changed it to a flat stainless steel washer because I didn't want to countersink holes on the vintage uke I put some on. You can get flat stainless steel washers which match perfectly at any hardware store.

So, do you want to play it? Welcome to UU!

thanks for the info everyone. its still hanging on my wall.

i hope to get the parts for it soon and try to play. i have been watching youtube video's on how to play. (finger's crossed. )

Welcome! You have a uke with some history-embrace it, you will learn lots from great folks here at UU and enjoy it more!

Congrats! There is nothing like having a family heirloom that you can play!

RyanMFT said:

Looks like a great old Silvertone! I would say it is older than the 50's for sure....more likely the late 30's or 40's. I think the sunburst Slivertones like yours are really cool. I have a Silvertone that is fun to play, it is somewhat quiet compared to higher end uke's.

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just recently saw one on ebay which had the original instruction sheet and it was a 1931, it looks exactly like mine. which makes sense cause my Grandpa got his when he was a kid.

Oh man, it just fell off my wall. Have not touched it in 10 years.

Any ideas where to find a wood tuning peg?

A violin repair shop? But I have no idea whether violin pegs share the same taper - I can't tell from the photos.

You may be biting off more than you will want to chew. Fixing up an old instrument is enough of a challenge. Learning to play at the same time is a whole other thing. I suggest you invest in a decent modern instrument (Ohana and Kala are examples) and learn to play using that. And, at the same time, if you wish, have your Uncle's Uke fixed up. It sounds as if you want to keep the old Uke as original as possible, wooden pegs, etc. That's great, and probably what I'd do. But, learning to play on an old instrument with wood pegs is a LOT harder than learning on a modern Uke with machine tuners. I'm an experienced player, and even I find the old style friction pegs to be a real pain.

larryc said:

Oh man, it just fell off my wall. Have not touched it in 10 years.

Any ideas where to find a wood tuning peg?

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I have an old Uke that my Hawaiian Godmother gave me a long time ago. I went to local music store and bought some violin pegs. They fit and worked okay.

Whilst I love using modern steel and plastic friction tuners I would echo what George says above about the difficulty of using old style wooden friction pegs. There’s an acquired skill to it - or rather doing it well - and if I were doing it then I’d make myself a peg turner. Having said that why not have in mind the idea of playing that old Uke later and learning on something else now? Something like a Kala KA-15S would be a cheap and effective Uke to learn on and whilst you’re learning and understanding more about Ukes you could slowly sort out the old Silvertone.

Grampa’s Uke. I’m maybe sentimental but to my mind it’s good to pass instruments and possessions down through the generations, and I feel sure that your Grandpa would have been well pleased with the thought of his Uke being a used by his Grandchild. When they get old enough to do so then I hope that my Grandchildren will play my Ukes .