Road worn ukes

Nigelapp

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I have come across a few images of road worn guitars recently. Obviously the most famous of which is Trigger but Dierks Bentleys guitar is looking a bit worse for wear and Glen Hansard seem to have attacked his with an axe.
Does anyone own such a 'road worn' uke or have pictures of one. I have a 1960s Martin Soprano and while I dont know its full history it only has a few dings and some crazing on the finish so looks in good nick compared to these examples.
 

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I think this counts, though it was never used on the road. At the risk of incurring the wrath of Martin lovers I bought this in 1987 from a store in Amherst MA while in college. I have vague memories of the shop telling me it was from the 50's but I'm not sure because at the time that didn't mean anything to me. I just wanted a uke that wasn't plywood to bang around on. I had a lot of fun with this one before I moved on to the larger sizes.

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I think this counts, though it was never used on the road. At the risk of incurring the wrath of Martin lovers I bought this in 1987 from a store in Amherst MA while in college. I have vague memories of the shop telling me it was from the 50's but I'm not sure because at the time that didn't mean anything to me. I just wanted a uke that wasn't plywood to bang around on. I had a lot of fun with this one before I moved on to the larger sizes.

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What was the condition when you bought it? I'm sure you can find a brown marker to color that blue tape. :)

For a laugh, send it to Martin and get an estimate for a restoration. :D
 
I don't know if this qualifies as road worn or not. These are pictures of my first ukulele, a Makala. When I bought it I promised myself that I would play it for a year before I bought anything else, just to make sure that I was going to stick with it. That first year I dragged it to New York City and played it in Washington Square, I hauled it down to Puerto Rico and back to Iowa twice, and in Iowa I took it in my bicycle panier out with me two or three times a week. After my year, I upgraded, but continued to use my Makala as a knock around. After a couple of years, the Makala stayed in Puerto Rico. It became my beach uke, although even when I hauled down my other ukulele, I still played the Makala a lot. I just like it. It was my first ukulele. You gotta love your first one.

In September of 2017 my wife and I were at our home in San Juan. For over a week we had been getting hurricane warnings and we tried to get out, but we couldn't get a flight for less than a thousand dollars each. On the afternoon of September 5th, the winds picked up. At 3:00 we lost electric and running water. Our condo in San Juan is like a bunker and so when we lost electricity we went out into the atrium and I started strumming my Makala and singing some songs. After a while, other residents on our floor came out of their apartments to listen and some to sing along. Someone suggested that we should empty the refrigerators and have a party, as we might not get electricity for a long time and we wouldn't want our food to spoil. As Irma roared overhead, we were all snug. We sang songs and visited until it got dark, then we all retired to our apartments. Later people would tell me that they were worried at first, but then they figured that if their crazy neighbor was out there playing his ukulele, it couldn't be that bad.

After Irma we were without water for three days, electricity for five. My ukulele was about all the entertainment we had. That, and playing board games until it got too dark to see. Eight days after Irma we were able to get a flight out of San Juan, and I left the Makala, which everyone had named Irma, behind. Ten days after Irma, Maria hit and destroyed much of the island. They were without electricity and water for nine weeks. When we finally came back in December to clean up, there was Irma sitting up on a shelf where it wouldn't get wet waiting for me, none the worse for it.

That is the story of Irma. I played it out on the street during the San Sebastian festival just this last weekend.

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Rllink, that's a terrific story, and speaks to the power of music to help out in difficult situations. Thanks for sharing that.
 
Rllink. An excellent story and exactly the kind of thing I was after. I like the idea of Ukuleles being used as tools to do a job (tell stories, make music etc) more than being ornamental and this is lovely. I think i could have picked a better phrase than road worn. I didn't want to limit it to just being toured by a profession musician but more a Uke that has all the scars of being taken and played everywhere.
 
jelow1966 yep that counts. It looks like it has some stories to tell.....
 
Rllink - I loved that story and thank you for sharing it.

My favorite part was this:

...Later people would tell me that they were worried at first, but then they figured that if their crazy neighbor was out there playing his ukulele, it couldn't be that bad...

Which made me laugh out loud for sure. I can totally visualize the events you have recounted, almost like having been a fly on the wall.

I needed that. Not sure why, but I really needed that right now, like to be lost in and consumed by those moments you described, so again thank you for your story here. :)
 
I think this counts, though it was never used on the road. At the risk of incurring the wrath of Martin lovers I bought this in 1987 from a store in Amherst MA while in college. I have vague memories of the shop telling me it was from the 50's but I'm not sure because at the time that didn't mean anything to me. I just wanted a uke that wasn't plywood to bang around on. I had a lot of fun with this one before I moved on to the larger sizes.

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Was it Amherst Music? I was going to college in the area in 1987 as well. Bought an electric guitar from them.
 
Check back in a few years. My Martin T1k is headed that way. The logo sticker on the headstock fell off. I think the pressure of the tuner clamp did that. The finish is very soft; easily marked with a fingernail. So that is taking place all over. There are two patches above and below the strings where the finish has completely worn off. So is in stealth mode. Occasionally someone will peer at it critically and then look in the soundhole at the label and murmur, 'oh a Martin.'
 
Was it Amherst Music? I was going to college in the area in 1987 as well. Bought an electric guitar from them.

I bought a couple of plywood ukes from Amherst Music along with some cables and a guitar pickup (I turned one of the plywood cheapies into a solid body steel string for fun) but the Martin came from the Fretted Instrument Workshop. I remember it being just a hole in the wall on the second floor of some building. A neat place though I'm sure they thought I was crazy, buying a Martin just to run thru a bunch of pedals :) I knew next to nothing about ukes or music at the time but did know that I wanted something decent to play.

John

PS which of the five schools were you going to? I was at Hampshire at the time, might help to explain the experimental nature of my uke playing :)
 
Love this thread! I grew up in Amherst myself and can think of a couple of stores you probably bought that uke at...one has since bit the dust but I think the other one is marching on.

My contribution to this is my 1928 Johnny Marvin signature. Bought off of an eccentric man dressed in a loincloth in the dead of summer in Columbia, MO, I worked my way slowly cleaning through 40+ years of dust to find a beautifully figured Cuban mahogany soundboard. 91 years old this year and it is exceptionally loud, full and rich sounding.

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I bought a couple of plywood ukes from Amherst Music along with some cables and a guitar pickup (I turned one of the plywood cheapies into a solid body steel string for fun) but the Martin came from the Fretted Instrument Workshop. I remember it being just a hole in the wall on the second floor of some building. A neat place though I'm sure they thought I was crazy, buying a Martin just to run thru a bunch of pedals :) I knew next to nothing about ukes or music at the time but did know that I wanted something decent to play.

John

PS which of the five schools were you going to? I was at Hampshire at the time, might help to explain the experimental nature of my uke playing :)

Not OP, but I grew up there and bought a few guitars over the years from both Fretted Instruments and Amherst Music. Amherst Music lost the magic a few years ago but was a great place while I was in high school, and Fretted Instruments still has a 1920's Martin 5k uke on display that the owner (Tony?) will let you hold if you're lucky. The quality and spectrum of his vintage collection was the best in western Massachusetts for years and I would imagine it still is if he's still in business.
 
I have added a note in my diary! I actually like the idea of a worn uke. What are your thoughts on the uke getting worn?
 
Love this thread! I grew up in Amherst myself and can think of a couple of stores you probably bought that uke at...one has since bit the dust but I think the other one is marching on.

My contribution to this is my 1928 Johnny Marvin signature. Bought off of an eccentric man dressed in a loincloth in the dead of summer in Columbia, MO, I worked my way slowly cleaning through 40+ years of dust to find a beautifully figured Cuban mahogany soundboard. 91 years old this year and it is exceptionally loud, full and rich sounding.

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That looks amazing!
 
I wonder how many well used, dirt encrusted, Johnny Marvin ukes there are out there. I took this photo some years ago while viewing a private collection in England. It was said to have come from Tasmania, where it had been owned by a busker.

John Colter

Johnny Marvin uke-Busker Tasmania.jpg
 
I wonder how many well used, dirt encrusted, Johnny Marvin ukes there are out there. I took this photo some years ago while viewing a private collection in England. It was said to have come from Tasmania, where it had been owned by a busker.

John Colter

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Wow, that's fantastic! The lower bout is nearly identical to mine even though the upper bout shows more wear. It's a wonderful instrument; I always thoughts they must have been great busking partners for a lot of working musicians back in the day because they are very well made, made out of AAA material, were a concert size, but they were also retailing for about 30% less than comparable Martins of the era.
 
I wonder how many well used, dirt encrusted, Johnny Marvin ukes there are out there. I took this photo some years ago while viewing a private collection in England. It was said to have come from Tasmania, where it had been owned by a busker.

John Colter

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That is a brilliant example! The wear on the lower bout from just holding it is amazing.
 
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I wonder how many well used, dirt encrusted, Johnny Marvin ukes there are out there. I took this photo some years ago while viewing a private collection in England. It was said to have come from Tasmania, where it had been owned by a busker.

John Colter

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Before I was drawn to become a uke player, I found a Johnny Marvin uke with the lovely airplane bridge in a flea market and told my friend John about it. He bought it without hesitation and has made good use of it. It has a few minor battle scars, but is in great condition for an old ukulele. Here's a phot of John with a couple of photogenic ukes. John is a writer and this is from the dust cover of one of his books.

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