M. Nunes and Sons

singsong

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We got this “Nunes” in last Thursday. It is a spectacular soprano made of some of the finest flame Koa I have seen. The only problem is, its to perfect, no dings, dents, scratches, no sign of any wear, no sign of any age with a high gloss finish. Geo does not believe its authentic. The pegs are obviously not original and the finish looks like its sprayed on. It came in a case that is built like an old steamer trunk, metal corners and heavy; about 7 pounds. It is a form fit in the case, made only for this ukulele. The case handle is made of Bakelite we thought that was the smoking gun but our research showed Bakelite came into commercial use in 1907 which would put it in the right era. We can verify the piece is over 35 years old but cannot verify its 100 years old. This is a high quality custom made ukulele with spectacular 100% flaming Koa. Has anyone heard of someone making Nunes replicas? Bev ukulele.mx
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new aquirements 1.1.13 024.jpgnew aquirements 1.1.13 025.jpgnew aquirements 1.1.13 026.jpg It could be a refinish, the label looks it's age....here is my leonardo nunes
 
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Even if it is a copy, it sure is beautiful. The bridge and saddle look suspect to me. Didn't Nunes use a one piece bridge/saddle? This looks like a bone saddle inserted into a bridge slot. Is the headstock decal missing?
 
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It's beautiful. Who cares if it's restored? I might prefer wood peg tuners if that's what it originally had, but it looks magnificent. I say we seek out and restore all the Nunes (M. and L.) ukuleles we can find.
 
The bridge and saddle are Koa but the saddle is an insert and the decal on the head is missing.
 
Real or Repo

We can verify that this piece is at least 35 years old and that it was purchased in Hawaii. We can also verify its custom made by someone who knew what they were doing and has high quality workmanship. In addition the materials are top quality, 4A Koa. If we assume its a repo then the question is who made it. The first company that comes to mind is Kamaka. They made very similar ukuleles in the early 1900s and would have the molds and expertise to reproduce the Nunes. So our next step is to call Kamaka and ask if they did a limited edition of the Nunes.
 
You can call Kamaka, but they did not make a reproduction Nunes & Son's ukulele. They have been making only Kamaka ukuleles since they started. There is no reason to believe this is a reproduction, it looks like a refinished Nunes & Son's from the 30's. It has survived so well because it has been sitting, protected, in that splendid hard case for a long time.
 
You can call Kamaka, but they did not make a reproduction Nunes & Son's ukulele. They have been making only Kamaka ukuleles since they started. There is no reason to believe this is a reproduction, it looks like a refinished Nunes & Son's from the 30's. It has survived so well because it has been sitting, protected, in that splendid hard case for a long time.

Manual Nunes quit making ukes in 1917 and died 1922. From what I've read, his Son'(s) Julius, continued making them into the 30's.

Singsong's uke looks like it's missing the heat stamp also, but not sure if and when they stopped stamping them, or if they only stamped the ukes headed for the mainland, etc..

Most likely one of the Son's ukes.
 

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