Anyone know what this is?

Ron

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Messages
484
Reaction score
0
Location
Nelson, New Zaland
I posted this under a different thread but
Anyone?rope uke.jpgrope uke 1.jpgrope uke 2.jpg
 
There's a guy on here in the uke marketplace that has a handmade uke with a like star on the headstock.
 
Hmmm....a mystery-uke. Good eye on the Janet Klein photo inside.

At first glance I was thinking it was home-made but that level of inlay and binding is a little advanced for the home builder. Spruce top with a pretty huge bridge makes me wonder if a guitar guy built this uke. I remember the star in the headstock uke that was referred to as well. Looked very similar. I am curious to know if you figure out who made it. How does it sound/play?
 
Easy. That's an ukulele. Soprano by the look of it.

What do I win?

Heh, heh. Beat me to it.

On the more serious side, I'm not sure that's spruce. The grain looks very wide, more like pine. It looks old enough to predate the current "fad" of making ukuleles with spruce or cedar tops so I'm going to hazard a guess that it's probably from South America, where that style and softwood tops have been common for a long time.

Not that I'm an expert or anything.

John
 
Heh, heh. Beat me to it.

On the more serious side, I'm not sure that's spruce. The grain looks very wide, more like pine. It looks old enough to predate the current "fad" of making ukuleles with spruce or cedar tops so I'm going to hazard a guess that it's probably from South America, where that style and softwood tops have been common for a long time.

Not that I'm an expert or anything.

John

That's what I was thinking, maybe some kind of charango or cuatro.
 
Yes, I was thinking South America when I first saw it but it looks a lot like a uke too. How many strings do Charangos and cuatros have?
 
is it for sale Ron. If so, I'm in the queue mate. It's beautiful to my eyes.
 
Older cavaquinho (essentially a soprano uke), Portuguese or Portuguese islands (Madeira?), probably c.1940s or 50s judging on the tuners and bridge design.

Cheers for that. Turns out the bridge and tuners have been replaced. I'll have a look around and see what they're worth
 
Top Bottom