1932 National Triolian Uke, 1925 L&H Camp Uke, 1950s Vega Bari

Jake Wildwood

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Oh man, it's been uber-sweet uke Friday over here. Just finished these guys off today. I have major lust for the Nat'l. Major major major. Unsure whether I can roll enough dice to keep it, though. :D

triol-1.jpg


Click here for the full Nat'l blog post.

campuke-1.jpg


Click here for the full Camp Uke post.

vega5bar-1.jpg


Click here for the whole bari post.
 
It's a honey. The family just took a little drive+hike this afternoon and I took it along in the car to sing silly folk songs with everyone. Man, nothing beats the old stuff. I've played some good new resos, but man, every time I pick up a Nat'l it kills me!!
 
I took it along in the car to sing silly folk songs with everyone.!!
Some people want to fill the world with silly folk songs.

What's wrong with that?

I need to know.

Cuz here. Ok, I'll stop.:rolleyes:
 
Love that National - so very cool! Close up photos sure look like it's been painted - never seen one in that solid brown. Closest I've seen is walnut sunburst. Either way, I would love to own it. For now, I'd settle for a sound clip. Thanks for posting.
 
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Love that National - so very cool! Close up photos sure look like it's been painted - never seen one in that solid brown. Closest I've seen is walnut sunburst. Either way, I would love to own it. For now, I'd settle for a sound clip. Thanks for posting.

It's a weird color. I thought at first "oh, definitely a refinish..." but...

The finish is 2-layer: it has a base coat of a yellowy primer color and then it has that darker greeny-brown bronze finish, so that when it hits the light you get a deeper-looking bronzy-look going on. It's so peculiar that it's hard to imagine someone went to the trouble of refinishing it this way. Besides, what would the original color have been? I've never seen a Triolian of this body type that wasn't sprayed entirely yellow (the neck included)!
 
Jake, I am not an expert on National ukes by any stretch, my experience is more with guitars, but I have not seen a National where the bridge cover and cover plate were 2 different colors unless one or the other was refinished. If you look closely at your close up shot of the bridge cover, you can see what looks like brown paint/finish along it's edges, making me think either the bridge cover was stripped, or simply not taped up precisely enough to keep the edges from getting some paint/finish on them. I previously owned a vintage National guitar with the dark brown "piano" finish on it, and it looked much different than this and the bridge cover was the same color, although worn quite a bit.


Here is a link to some photos of a vintage walnut sunburst finish Triolian National uke for comparison of finish. Check out the bridge cover and neck finish.

http://www.om28.com/ProductDetail?product=P120606002

You may want to contact Lenny at Vintage Nationals - I'm sure he could lend some expert analysis on this uke. Again, though, absolutely no intent to denigrate this fine ukulele at all, and I would love to be wrong about the finish and would not in the least be surprised if I was all wet - would not be the first or last time.
 
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Oh, I totally have no idea whether it is or not, nor does it really matter to me (many old Nat'ls are). National, like Gibson, always surprises me with oddballs, though, like this one:

supro0001.jpg


I'd never seen that finish before (which had a pebbled texture to it) but it was definitely 100% original.

This uke -- I'm in no way going to vouch for its originality. I know that the whole thing would've had to be stripped first before a refinish since there are bare spots under the bridge cover rather than a different color.

No argument from me... :D
 
Jake, those are beautiful. How did you know I love vintage Nationals AND camp ukes?

I spotted this old camp uke on the 'bay today and wondered if you, or anyone else, might be able to identify it:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-4-S...e-with-canvas-case-/181165775599#ht_121wt_919
It looks a little bit like the L&H (shape and placement of the soundhole, shape of the headstock), and a lot not like the L&H (flared rim on the body, bridge, absence of "Camp Uke" stamp on the headstock). I don't see any identifying marks and the seller says there are none.

I might grab it if it remains cheap; if it's not a player, it'd still be a cool wallhanger for under $50.
 
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