Anyone have any idea what kind of uke this is?

aljanny

aljanny

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My boyfriend has this old uke lying around his house (I think he said it was his grandmother's?). It's probably in need of new tuners, and needed new strings, but it sounds pretty good anyway.
I've been dying of curiosity about it, so I had him take some pictures so I could post them.
The only hint at a logo is on the inside, where there's a worn diamond shape... there might be words inside it, but it's so worn I can't tell.

Any ideas?
 
Yeah, it's definitely soprano sized.
Hmmm, well, it doesn't have any marking on it saying Martin - Paul says the logo mark inside it appears to have a 3 and an E on the far left corner of the diamond, but beyond that he can't tell anything.
 
The neck, frets, fretboard, bottom of the fretboard shape, tuners and headstock shape as well as body size and shape overall look very Martin-esque. It might be a marque that was made by Martin for another maker. There were several. The bridge and saddle don't look like Martin though.
 
Teek said:
The neck, frets, fretboard, bottom of the fretboard shape, tuners and headstock shape as well as body size and shape overall look very Martin-esque. It might be a marque that was made by Martin for another maker. There were several. The bridge and saddle don't look like Martin though.
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I'm thinking the same thing as Teek - Martin-made but for another brand, like this Ditson. Looks like a 1920s mahogany soprano. Wish I knew what the diamond was all about!

Apparently Harmony also made unmarked, Martin-esque ukes.
 
Last edited:
The headstock and bridge look like Harmony to me---perhaps one of the "fancy" Harmony ukuleles?
 
The Martins had that style bridge but with an ebony saddle. I can't tell for certain from your pics if you have an ebony saddle but it doesn't look like it. BUT yours has a little flare on the sides of the bridge at the bottom that is distinctive. The Harmonys like my circa 1928 have a one piece type bridge with the saddle built in.

Check out this circa 1926 style 0 Martin at Gryphon here and compare with yours. Not quite the same bridge but look at the rosette on the sound hole. I thought that could be Martin trim, so I guessed the date and Googled for one. Doesn't help with the diamond stamp though.
 
It's not a Martin at all. This was made by Regal. Body/neck look like their typical highly-flamed Cuban mahogany. Headstock shape is downright Regal, as is the bridge. They made ukes like this for resale by mailorder and big-box music stores from the time. It's c.1925 or so.

For reference, here's a similar one that I worked on recently marked SS Stewart, also with the same muddy finish:

http://antebelluminstruments.blogspot.com/2010/09/c1925-regal-made-ss-stewart-soprano.html
 
Pippin said:
The uke has severe "bag damage" and if you want to play it, it can be refurnished. As for collector value, it is not worth much because of the extensive bag damage.
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What exactly is bag damage?
 
itsme said:
What exactly is bag damage?
Click to expand...

I've heard the term used when an instrument is damaged while in a gig bag. Most gig bags offer very little protection resulting in a lot of broken instruments, but I'm not sure how it relates to this Uke.
 
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