Conrad vintage walnut soprano? Heard of that before?

pootsie

pootsie

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I found a Ukelele for sale locally that is described as a vintage Conrad walnut soprano.

I was wondering if anyone knew of this name?

It is going for cheaper than any uke I have found sold anywhere, new or used. I'm buying it because for the price it is going for I get either:
1) a good deal on something special
2) an OK deal on something decent
or
3) could not sound worse than what is selling for the same price for something new at retail

But I would still like to know if anyone has heard of this brand or knows of walnut as used for ukes. Google has found some Conrad baritones out there, but no sopranos that I could see that do not have plastic fretboards. This one does not appear to have a plastic fretboard. I'm going to pick it up right now so I'll post pix soon
 
I've never heard of them, but now I'm very curious! Please do post pics when you can.
 
For $25 you can't beat that with a stick! Well......only if it is bad.
 
I have heard a couple of Conrad ukes in the past years. They are cheap ukes, about like cheap Harmony's. I doubt very much it is Walnut, more like birch or mystery wood.
 
BlackBearUkes said:
I have heard a couple of Conrad ukes in the past years. They are cheap ukes, about like cheap Harmony's. I doubt very much it is Walnut, more like birch or mystery wood.
Click to expand...

I'd be happy to get a Harmony-quality old uke for $25!
 
Well, it turns out I got exactly what I paid for!

Strings are old & squeaky. The front is bowed in from tension on the bridge. The bridge is separating from the front. The finish is uneven. Old yes, vintage no, LOL.

And the friction tuners ... well, they would be nice if they had some, um, friction. When you tune the A string up and keep plucking you can hear it going flatter and flatter.

That said, I am happy for a little crud-box that I can put new tuners and strings on and keep at the office to practice on lunch break. Learning curve, here I come!

Pix to come, so stay tuned (unlike my Conrad crudbox)
 
pootsie said:
Well, it turns out I got exactly what I paid for!

Strings are old & squeaky. The front is bowed in from tension on the bridge. The bridge is separating from the front. The finish is uneven. Old yes, vintage no, LOL.

And the friction tuners ... well, they would be nice if they had some, um, friction. When you tune the A string up and keep plucking you can hear it going flatter and flatter.

That said, I am happy for a little crud-box that I can put new tuners and strings on and keep at the office to practice on lunch break. Learning curve, here I come!

Pix to come, so stay tuned (unlike my Conrad crudbox)
Click to expand...

Conrad Crudbox??? Yeah, I remember now...didn't he play opposite Groucho Marx in 'The King and the Chorus Girl'? :p
 
Here are pix of my new-to-me Conrad CRD-BX, circa 19-something-er-other.

You can see that "walnut" refers to the color of the stain, applied with the care and skill of a fourth-grade art dropout.

The tuners are not tapered so once the wood was worn just a little, slipslipslip
front.jpgNeck.jpgsoundhole.jpgFriction-less-tuners.jpg
 
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Here is the headstock and the inspection by the world's cutest little luthier

Head-1.jpgCutest-luthier.jpg
 
Still, for $25, it's a deal! Get a set of tuners for $20 and you're still doing good.
 
25 bucks is a great deal for that, shoot if you wanna get it super cheap buy a set of violin pegs for 80 cents or so a pop. wish I could find fun deals like that round here....Ohio is like the Ukulele bermuda triangle...
 
ejnovinsky said:
Ohio is like the Ukulele bermuda triangle...
Click to expand...

Seriously, why does every other region have weekly uke jams and Ohio is bereft of ukulation?

I found some geared tuners for cheapo online so I am going to go with that, and some decent strings.

Anyone have an idea of whether Shelby $#!+bag makes good strings for the Conrad Crudbox?
 
That is the cutest Luthier. congrats.

Why is Ohio without ululation? I trust Chrissy Hynde's analysis:

 
I have just been updating the entry for Conrad on my Database of Ukulele makers if you are still looking for information
here is the link to it Lardys Database Conrad Page

Lardys Ukulele database is always a good place to look for information on Ukulele brands (I spend a lot of time doing research)
 
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