Budget "vintage" style ukulele

Get a Martin soprano . Any Martin soprano . Look on Ebay , look here , spend a bit more and get an awesome uke you will love. Sounds like that is what you want.
 
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Thanks again guys! Through this search I've found that the simpler the design, the more it traces back to original (Martin style) ukes. It's very hard to find a modern made mahogany soprano without some design around the sound hole, white trim, or something like that. Really just looking for something as barebones as possible.

If you are looking for new then you might like to consider a Kiwaya KSU-1. They are plain and they are, I believe, well thought of. Price wise I’m fairly sure that they will be well within your budget and if not easily available in the USA then IIRC some folk have imported then easily form Japan. The tuners are geared types but replacement with friction types, if that’s the look that you want, should be cheap and easy.
 
You could have a proper vintage for that price so long as you avoid the ones collectors fight over. Harmony, Favilla, Vega, Kay, Regal and more. They all turned out thousands of instruments, and you can get one for very little on a certain auction site.
 
Do your research and decide if you want an all solid wood (better sound) or a newer laminate (easy care) uke.
Because you're not clear on this, recommendations here are all over the map.

A new cheap Kala 15S or Gretsch laminate is amazingly playable for the money (if set up properly). A new solid wood Ohana under $200 sounds great and will come set up if you buy from someone like Mim.
And a solid wood vintage Favilla or Gretsch (or even a vintage Martin with a few cracks, if you're lucky) for not much more will sound fantastic.
 
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