The Orange Mage
Well-known member
I've only played the ukulele for a little under a month thus far, but I think I've come across something quite wonderful. You see, when I mentioned to a family member my initial uke purchase she mentioned that my grandfather had one at some point! I asked if she remembered anything about it and she said it was one of the real small ones, dark-colored, and she thought it was a Gibson. I asked my grandfather about it and he said he'd dig around and see if he could find it, but confirmed it was an old Gibson soprano of some kind. He doesn't remember how the acquired it, which makes things a little tricky.
I did a handful of searches on Google (not much success) and here (some success) and I think I have a very basic understanding of what I have here. The headstock says "The Gibson" as opposed to just "Gibson" so my model is a pre-'34 one. The fact that it's a very plain-looking dark mahogany piece has led me to believe it's a Uke-1. Am I right in assuming these two things?
Here's two quick pictures from yesterday that show the front and the back. The back sadly has two thin cracks.
http://i.imgur.com/vJ1PA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Vcrd0.jpg
My main issues at this point are as follows:
I managed to tune it up and play about fifteen seconds before the top and bottom strings detuned enough to sound silly, but those fifteen seconds sounded LOVELY, even on the strings that are likely 20 years old! If I can get this thing playable...that would be awesome!
I did a handful of searches on Google (not much success) and here (some success) and I think I have a very basic understanding of what I have here. The headstock says "The Gibson" as opposed to just "Gibson" so my model is a pre-'34 one. The fact that it's a very plain-looking dark mahogany piece has led me to believe it's a Uke-1. Am I right in assuming these two things?
Here's two quick pictures from yesterday that show the front and the back. The back sadly has two thin cracks.
http://i.imgur.com/vJ1PA.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Vcrd0.jpg
My main issues at this point are as follows:
- Is this thing worth a lot of money, to the point where I should not do anything to it for fear of diminishing its value?
- If the answer to the first question is no, what can/should be done about the cracks on the back of the body?
- The first and last strings' tuners slip, the bottom-most string's especially. How would I go about fixing this?
- Once the tuner issues are sorted out, does anyone have an specific string recommendations?
I managed to tune it up and play about fifteen seconds before the top and bottom strings detuned enough to sound silly, but those fifteen seconds sounded LOVELY, even on the strings that are likely 20 years old! If I can get this thing playable...that would be awesome!
Last edited: