Laughlin 2m soprano

Decided to remove. I really don’t need the headache.

Sold) uke is going to a new home

Thought I had a trade but deal didn’t go through. Back up for sale.

Cannot believe this hasn't been snagged. I am not a soprano guy but am finding it hard to resist nevertheless. A Laughlin in great shape for $600? That's just an insane deal!

It almost angers me the lack of love these Laughlin’s are getting, ha. Tim makes a beautiful soprano. I see other ukuleles selling for much higher and just can NOT believe the lack of interest. Perhaps because he has been a bit of the radar for a while.

I have too many mahogany sopranos and can't have that wonderful Laughlin without letting go of at least 2 first. Laughlin, maker of a martin copy that might be better than the original? I do not know why it is still here and at such a grab it now price.

Jddewitt81 said:

It almost angers me the lack of love these Laughlin’s are getting, ha. Tim makes a beautiful soprano. I see other ukuleles selling for much higher and just can NOT believe the lack of interest. Perhaps because he has been a bit of the radar for a while.

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I am thinking it is because there is a small market for such an instrument. Most people who are after a vintage Martin are probably going to purchase a vintage Martin. Why buy a “copy” when you can easily get the real deal? Right now, for around $600, you can find yourself a very decent vintage Martin. Furthermore, wood changes for the better as it ages. Wood consists mainly of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose, and all wood gradually loses hemicellulose (a soluble polysaccharide) to evaporation over a long period of time. The significance is that wood loses some weight along with some strength as it ages, but it does not lose stiffness as fast as it loses the tensile strength. As long as the tensile strength remains sufficient to withstand string tension, there is a net gain in one of the most important features of tonewood: the stiffness-to-weight ratio, which is known as Young’s modulus. This means aged wood equals good volume and tone. Lastly, a vintage Martin will most likely appreciate in value.

This is a beautiful instrument. I have heard lots of praise for these Laughlin instruments. Makes me wish I had the cash. Good luck with the sale.

Milwaukee Matzen said:

I am thinking it is because there is a small market for such an instrument. Most people who are after a vintage Martin are probably going to purchase a vintage Martin. Why buy a “copy” when you can easily get the real deal? Right now, for around $600, you can find yourself a very decent vintage Martin. Furthermore, wood changes for the better as it ages. Wood consists mainly of cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose, and all wood gradually loses hemicellulose (a soluble polysaccharide) to evaporation over a long period of time. The significance is that wood loses some weight along with some strength as it ages, but it does not lose stiffness as fast as it loses the tensile strength. As long as the tensile strength remains sufficient to withstand string tension, there is a net gain in one of the most important features of tonewood: the stiffness-to-weight ratio, which is known as Young’s modulus. This means aged wood equals good volume and tone. Lastly, a vintage Martin will most likely appreciate in value.

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How nice of you to chime in. :/

Jddewitt81 said:

It almost angers me the lack of love these Laughlin’s are getting, ha. Tim makes a beautiful soprano. I see other ukuleles selling for much higher and just can NOT believe the lack of interest. Perhaps because he has been a bit of the radar for a while.

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Don’t take it personally. Any number of us, myself included, are drooling over it, but lack the funds right now.

Oh haha I wasn’t taking it personally it just surprises me. Even if you “can buy a Martin”. Martins are great but there are loads and loads of Martins and I believe I said in my opinion these sound better. While it looks fantastic it is about 20 years old. I think the wood had opened up a bit through the years. If I didn’t have sentimental attachment for my Martin I’d keep it but I really need to cut back. We all know there are different types of collectors and anyone that truly knows about Tim Laughlin knows how great this is even if you can buy a Martin. I understand money is the deciding factor. Anyone that really knows though knows. Ah well one lucky person will snatch it up eventually.

My two cents.... You can certainly buy a vintage Martin at a good price, and you might hit the jackpot and get a fantastic one. However, buying vintage often amounts to a roll of the dice. Vintage Martins can have problems with intonation, neck straightness, cracks, etc., etc. Buying a Laughlin is like buying a vintage Martin in new condition. You'll be guaranteed to get excellent tone, playability, intonation, and structural integrity. I've owned several Laughlins and several Martins, both new and vintage. I can say that Tim builds ukuleles better than Martin does today, and his are as historically accurate as you could possibly get. I currently have a Laughlin 5K, and if it wasn't stamped with "T. Laughlin & Co.," inside the soundhole and on the back of the headstock, you'd think it was a mint condition Martin 5K from the 1920's. It's badass, and one of the best ukes I've ever owned. And the model 2's from Tim - just as sweet.

-Steve

Telperion said:

My two cents.... You can certainly buy a vintage Martin at a good price, and you might hit the jackpot and get a fantastic one. However, buying vintage often amounts to a roll of the dice. Vintage Martins can have problems with intonation, neck straightness, cracks, etc., etc. Buying a Laughlin is like buying a vintage Martin in new condition. You'll be guaranteed to get excellent tone, playability, intonation, and structural integrity. I've owned several Laughlins and several Martins, both new and vintage. I can say that Tim builds ukuleles better than Martin does today, and his are as historically accurate as you could possibly get. I currently have a Laughlin 5K, and if it wasn't stamped with "T. Laughlin & Co.," inside the soundhole and on the back of the headstock, you'd think it was a mint condition Martin 5K from the 1920's. It's badass, and one of the best ukes I've ever owned. And the model 2's from Tim - just as sweet.

-Steve

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"roll of the dice". You are "rolling the dice" with every ukulele that you purchase that you haven't had the chance to play first. You are not "guaranteed" anything. Vintage Martins were very well made. Other than the inherent intonation issues of a soprano ukulele, the intonation on a vintage Martin ukulele shouldn't be any different than that on a copy. I am sure that some examples exist, but over the years I’ve had to have had close to 100 vintage Martin ukuleles go through my hands and I have yet to personally encounter any with unacceptable intonation issues. Maybe you are thinking of vintage Gibson mandolins? However, some of the ukuleles were in need of a setup. A new to you instrument will most likely need to be setup to your liking, so just keep that in mind when purchasing an instrument. Unlike most steel string instruments, like guitars, which are under a lot more tension (and because of scale length), there isn't as much string pull on the neck of a soprano ukulele. Therefore, there are seldom issues with neck straightness on a vintage Martin soprano ukulele. As far as cracks go, any instrument can be cracked. If you are worried about an instrument being cracked, just ask the seller if the instrument that they are selling is cracked. Also, if you purchased the instrument from a site like eBay or Reverb, and the seller left out any details about the ukulele you just purchased from them, you can return the instrument at the seller’s expense. Just ask any questions before purchasing or placing a bid on an instrument. I was not saying that a Laughlin isn't a good ukulele. I don't know, as I have never played one. They look as though they are nicely built. I was just stating that the market is small for such an instrument and then backed up my reasoning.

I will be willing to bet that it would be impossible to find a vintage Martin in this kind of condition for anywhere near this price.

Yes but why do it on my post? You don’t see me on your posts telling everyone that I prefer VHS to DVD. I have bought from you and have been very happy but it seems every time I turn around you are totally getting off topic on MY post. While what you say may be of valuable information to a small group of people your opinion really is not that helpful to me. While it may not be your cup of tea why don’t you let the market decide without you perhaps influencing someone who doesn’t know any better? Unlike you; a few of us have played these instruments and I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone say a bad thing about them. While you did not say they were horrible I really think your opinion may be of more value had you actually played one. There are many builders selling Martin copies for much more. This is not an outrageous price. This is VERY fair for what you are getting. Even if it wasn’t I would still appreciate it if you would keep your opinions to other parts of the forum where they will be of better use and or debate.

Sorry that this has taken a bad turn. Marketplace posts are no place to be airing out differences in opinion. I was hoping in my post above to pump up Laughlins for those who don’t know how great they are. Good luck with your sale. Someone will be getting a gem!

-Steve

I've been thinking about a soprano for weeks now. I sure wish I had the dough for this beauty. Someone's gonna get a great uke.

Jddewitt81 said:

Yes but why do it on my post? You don’t see me on your posts telling everyone that I prefer VHS to DVD. I have bought from you and have been very happy but it seems every time I turn around you are totally getting off topic on MY post. While what you say may be of valuable information to a small group of people your opinion really is not that helpful to me. While it may not be your cup of tea why don’t you let the market decide without you perhaps influencing someone who doesn’t know any better? Unlike you; a few of us have played these instruments and I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone say a bad thing about them. While you did not say they were horrible I really think your opinion may be of more value had you actually played one. There are many builders selling Martin copies for much more. This is not an outrageous price. This is VERY fair for what you are getting. Even if it wasn’t I would still appreciate it if you would keep your opinions to other parts of the forum where they will be of better use and or debate.

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I never said the ukulele wasn’t my cup of tea. I never said anything about what the ukulele was worth. I never said anything about the quality of Laughlin ukuleles. I was commenting on other people's opinions that were expressed previously here ON YOUR POST: "It almost angers me the lack of love these Laughlin’s are getting, ha. Tim makes a beautiful soprano. I see other ukuleles selling for much higher and just can NOT believe the lack of interest. Perhaps because he has been a bit of the radar for a while." -=AND=- "I have too many mahogany sopranos and can't have that wonderful Laughlin without letting go of at least 2 first. Laughlin, maker of a martin copy that might be better than the original? I do not know why it is still here and at such a grab it now price." It was not my intent to sway people from buying your ukulele. I doubt I would sway anyone anyway. As I was previously attempting to convey, the buyer for this type of instrument is generally of a different mindset than one who wants an actual vintage instrument. An awful lot of misinformation has been perpetuated when it comes to vintage Martin ukuleles. I could go on about this ad nauseum here, but I won’t.

Great; thank you.

At the risk of further derailing the OP’s for sale thread, I’d suggest taking this discussion to a different thread, or preferably a different forum. I think the mods here would agree that a Marketplace listing should be allowed to run without this kind back and forth. Again, sorry Jddewitt, that this happened. Good luck with your sale.