Vintage Martin Concert

I figure it was made between 1947 and 1953 based on the frets and the retailer label, as I believe Bergstrom went out of business in 53, from what I can gather. Note the wicked cool Honolulu TH (Territory of Hawaii) address

It's got plenty of wear, but all the various dings, dents and cracks have remained very stable through 3 seasons in my care. None of them catch on my clothing when playing...it's as if there weren't any problems at all. The pic in the soundhole is to show the center brace, which appears to have been shaved down at some point, to a flat, low brace. Again, any problems this might have caused seem to have happened already, as it's clearly been that way for years. The tortoise shell binding on the top shows some fading from sunlight, I guess. But it's all there and it's not coming away from the top anywhere.

It's been my "go to" uke throughout most of its time with me. And if I were a performer, I wouldn't hesitate to perform with it.

It is a very easy playing and very sweet sounding ukulele, warm, mellow tones, excellent strummed or fingerpicked. The tuners hold well - tenaciously, in fact

The next owner can have work done on it, or not - it's fine as it is, IMO, and if cared for properly, I don't think any of the cracks, dents or dings will be a bother at all.

I'm asking $550 shipped to CONUS paypal included.

Pics at https://photos.app.goo.gl/Vim26eppPvGSCs7Z7

... sold pending payment

And it’s sold. Thanks UU!

I was going to ask how the intonation is up the fingerboard... Am still curious even if it is sold...

There is a used vintage Martin concert listed at Guitar Center if anyone is interested

EDW said:

There is a used vintage Martin concert listed at Guitar Center if anyone is interested

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That exact Martin has been hanging on a MN GC store wall because I bought it on line and then returned it locally due to condition issues. (GC photos on used instruments can be awful.)

There are multiple cracks on the back, mostly cleated.
There is one unrepaired crack on the front.

However, price is now pretty competitive: I bought it for $599 + tax + shipping, it has since been gradually marked down, now $450.

Just last night I asked a staff member to run it by their luthier to see what he thought. The answer was apparently a little vague: “well, it's a relic, so no guarantees!“
LOL.

Wukulele said:

I was going to ask how the intonation is up the fingerboard... Am still curious even if it is sold...

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FYI. I'm planning on listing my 1940s Martin which has UPTs and was recently setup by Jake Wildwood. Price will be $650 shipped CONUSA (I have over $750 in it). It will come with a decent but generic yellow tweedy looking case. Intonation up the neck isn't as good as a modern uke, but Jake set the action nice and low and added a bit of compensation to the saddle for me. Its the kind of the thing where it doesn't sound out of tune playing up the neck but a tuner will show that it pulls a little sharp mainly on the C string and maybe the E.

This is Jakes blog post about it: https://jakewildwood.blogspot.com/2019/09/1940s-martin-1c-concert-ukulele.html

I haven't gotten around to posting it yet, but if you or anyone else is interested shoot me a PM and I can send some pictures taken with a flash under raking light that show the condition really well (but make it look way worse than it actually looks in person).

ukeinfused said:

That exact Martin has been hanging on a MN GC store wall because I bought it on line and then returned it locally due to condition issues. (GC photos on used instruments can be awful.)

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Yeah the pics on their site are often pretty worthless

Wukulele said:

I was going to ask how the intonation is up the fingerboard... Am still curious even if it is sold...

Click to expand...

I don’t get up the neck too often past the 7 th fret, but I never heard anything “off” in my few forays up there. I’m pretty sure, however, that a digital tuner would probably show variations that my ears couldn’t detect.

I can say it has a beautiful voice and plays more than well enough for me.