Selling a 1940's-50's Favilla Sporano ukulele. It is a U3 model, which is different than the U2. The U3 has actual inlays for the fret markers, instead of the painted on fret markers on the U2 model. I emailed pictures of this uke to Thomas Favilla who dated it to the 40's-50's and verified the model, and stated that it is the more rare, higher end model.
Uke has an amazing set up with very low action and plays wonderfully. There are no cracks splits. The only thing missing is a thin piece of purfling that ran along the inside edge of the soundhole that is mostly gone now. Apparently this what how Mr. Favilla dated the instrument, since they only put the purfling on the inside of the sound hole in the 30's and 40's, later changing it to an inlay 1/8" in from the sound hole. I have a picture attached further down that shows a remaining piece of inlay. I asked Mr. Favilla about gettinf it replaced and he advised against it, and told me it has no affect on the sound.
Here are the emails I received about the ukue from Thomas Favilla:
"You have a model U3 ukulele (better model) built in the late 1940's (possible
very early 1950's). A better model ukulele, not very many were built over the
years. It was in prduction from the late 1930's to 1963.
You can quickly tell the difference between the U2 and U3 by looking at the
fingerboard. The position marks are painted on the U2, but are inlaid on the U3."
"Always good to go to the source for information. In all fairness the story of the black and white buttons
is a generalzation and not 100% true. In general black buttons up to WWII and white buttons after that.
I would say that holds about 90% of the time. The give-a-way on your ukulele was that the inlay was
at the edge of the soundhole and not 1/8" of in inch in. That was discontinued in the 1940's."
Only reason I am selling it is because I came into a 40's Martin in a trade recently, and can't justify have two ukes since I also play a few other instruments and have a big move coming up, so I'm thinning my herd of instruments.
Asking $340 or best offer, which includes the uke, brown corduroy bag and hard case, shipping and insurance. PayPal accepted and will only ship to the continental U.S. / Lower 48.
Uke has an amazing set up with very low action and plays wonderfully. There are no cracks splits. The only thing missing is a thin piece of purfling that ran along the inside edge of the soundhole that is mostly gone now. Apparently this what how Mr. Favilla dated the instrument, since they only put the purfling on the inside of the sound hole in the 30's and 40's, later changing it to an inlay 1/8" in from the sound hole. I have a picture attached further down that shows a remaining piece of inlay. I asked Mr. Favilla about gettinf it replaced and he advised against it, and told me it has no affect on the sound.
Here are the emails I received about the ukue from Thomas Favilla:
"You have a model U3 ukulele (better model) built in the late 1940's (possible
very early 1950's). A better model ukulele, not very many were built over the
years. It was in prduction from the late 1930's to 1963.
You can quickly tell the difference between the U2 and U3 by looking at the
fingerboard. The position marks are painted on the U2, but are inlaid on the U3."
"Always good to go to the source for information. In all fairness the story of the black and white buttons
is a generalzation and not 100% true. In general black buttons up to WWII and white buttons after that.
I would say that holds about 90% of the time. The give-a-way on your ukulele was that the inlay was
at the edge of the soundhole and not 1/8" of in inch in. That was discontinued in the 1940's."
Only reason I am selling it is because I came into a 40's Martin in a trade recently, and can't justify have two ukes since I also play a few other instruments and have a big move coming up, so I'm thinning my herd of instruments.
Asking $340 or best offer, which includes the uke, brown corduroy bag and hard case, shipping and insurance. PayPal accepted and will only ship to the continental U.S. / Lower 48.
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