Help Identifying Two Ukes

jet86

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Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone can help me identify (and give a rough value) of two ukes for a friend. He found them recently at a relatives house. I think they are fairly old but I have no idea whether they are worth anything or just cheap ones (they're probably just cheap, but I told him I'd check). Here are some pictures of them:

Uke 1:

uke1pic1.jpg

uke1pic2.jpg

uke1pic3.jpg
 
No. 2 is a chinese made Skylark from I'd guess the 1960s. Cheap then, cheap now. The painting probably raises it above the herd a fraction. I'd guess on eBay somewhere between AusD50 and AusD100, based on UK prices.

No. 1 I've no idea about. The label might suggest a local maker, though if 4055 is the serial number it would be a huge maker and well-known. More likely it's a music shop's own label, with the maker's model number stamped on the label. Google finds me nothing, probably because if it's from the 60s the shop went out of business before the internet arrived.

For No. 1 I'd try to find a local ukulele group and take it along - someone there will at least be able to say if it's any good or not. If it is, the UK market price would probably be somewhere between AusD150 and AusD 400, for a little-known maker.
 
It looks like the Skylark was someone's starter uke, and the mystery No 1 the better uke bought as the player improved.

Have you played either of them yet? I've heard that some of the 60s Skylarks were surprisingly good, considering how cheap they were. If No 1 is a good one, that should become apparent as soon as you try it.

If it's not made by an Australian luthier (don't think there were any Australian factories turning out ukes) then it probably came from either the US or Japan. Better pictures might get it identified here if it's US. If Japanese it could be collectable there - ukes are a big thing in Japan, and this would be an early exmple I guess. However, you'd have to find someonewho reads Japanese to search out the equivalent of this forum to research it.

Or you and your friend could just play them?
 
skylarks turn up all the time on trademe.co.nz usually go cheap ($20-40nz)

just curious whats the intonation like?

Cheers

Cliff
 
Thinking uke one is a Japanese made uke circa 1960s because of the binding and tuners. However looking through the soundhole it looks like it's some kind of laminate rather than the mahogany that would be typical of 60s, which makes me think 70's - 80s?? :confused:
 
I was able to play uke 1 last night and it sounded beautiful (at least to my ears). I have a bad case of uke jealousy now :(
 
If it sounds good and you play it, it is a keeper! Who cares how much it costs. I play my Ohana's over my Kamaka most of the time honestly.
 
If it sounds good and you play it, it is a keeper! Who cares how much it costs. I play my Ohana's over my Kamaka most of the time honestly.

Problem is it's my mate's uke - it's not one that's for sale. Maybe that's not a problem at all, if I can borrow his uke and play it, without having to buy it haha. :p
 
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