1923 Martin 5K at Arington, TX Guitar Show

1923 Martin 5K at Arlington, TX Guitar Show

I was at the big Arlington Guitar Show yesterday. There were thousands of guitars but only a handful of ukes. One booth did have an original Martin 5K that looked to be in very good shape with case. It was marked as a 1923-1924 and priced at $9000.

My wife is the ukulele player and she got to play it for a bit. Really big sound for a soprano. At the time I didn't realize that the 5K was so rare and that this opportunity was so fortunate for her.

The vendor was Willie's American Guitars. Here is their web listing for the instrument.

http://www.williesguitars.com/index.cfm/martin_acoustics/4/inventory/2

Wow, what a treat. Thanks for sharing.

it has some major scratches for the price...i think its a later 20s model... as I got a mint condition one..

etzeppy said:

I was at the big Arlington Guitar Show yesterday. There were thousands of guitars but only a handful of ukes. One booth did have an original Martin 5K that looked to be in very good shape with case. It was marked as a 1923-1924 and priced at $9000.

My wife is the ukulele player and she got to play it for a bit. Really big sound for a soprano. At the time I didn't realize that the 5K was so rare and that this opportunity was so fortunate for her.

The vendor was Willie's American Guitars. Here is their web listing for the instrument.

http://www.williesguitars.com/index.cfm/martin_acoustics/4/inventory/2

Click to expand...

Willie's still has my 1925 Martin 2K ukulele shown on their site:

http://www.williesguitars.com/index.cfm/laps_resos_ukes_mandos/9/inventory/2

I will have to go look at this ukulele you mentioned. I won't be buying it, but I will probably not get a chance to see such a rarity again. The owner, Nate, is an avid and very accomplished fingerstyle ukulele player, so it is no wonder that he will stock ukuleles. I bought all three of mine from Willie's, but only the Martin is "vintage". My understanding is that the Martin 2K, 3K, and 5K from the mid-20s will all have "that sound", just differing levels of bling. The case that mine came with is original and looks identical to the one with the 5K. You can see the pictures of mine on the link I provided.

Tony

I am also a privileged caretaker of a Martin 5k which I bought in the 1980s. They were hard to find back then too. I was ready to give up when a guy I know called me with the beauty I ended up with. I have had it ever since along with a 3k and a few other Martins. Of course lately I have been mostly playing concert scale and had sold my tenor and concert Martins years ago. Back then there was not as much interest in ukes BION and few people who played even bothered with tenors, concerts and baritones.