NUD: C.F. Martin S1 All Solid Mahogany Soprano

Swiftsailor98

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While I visited home over the holidays (Allentown, PA), my son and I took the opportunity to visit the C.F. Martin factory for the museum and tour in nearby Nazareth. I’d highly recommend the stop if you’re in the area or passing through. They do a fantastic job of showing you everything step by step from solid wood billets to finished instruments.
[A random unrelated comment from the experience: I found it odd one of the other tour takers was wearing a Fender ball cap. I thought it was akin to wearing a Pepsi shirt and visiting World of Coke in Atlanta, or is it a generational thing that I’m more brand loyal.]

As you worked your way around the factory, they had a display representing their plant in Navajoa, Mexico, where they produce all their strings and several ukuleles and guitars. The three Navajoa-produced ukuleles they had on the display were a T1K (Solid Koa Tenor), an S1 (Solid Mahogany Soprano) and an OXK (HPL Soprano). These same ukes were hanging on the wall in the 1833 Shop where I got to play each one.

Recently, feeling my collection was not complete, I’d been looking at solid mahogany ukes, but mostly in the concert scale. However, picking up the S1 felt so good, and it made that sweet jangly ukulele sound with every strum. I was hooked. I wasn’t even too bothered by the friction pegs which I’ve avoided to date.

That S1 stuck in my mind as we returned from our trip. Enter Reverb…. I found a great deal that I couldn’t pass up.

So, yesterday was New Ukulele Day for my Martin S1!
I spent some time cleaning and conditioning the fretboard, cleaning the neck and body, and installing some Martin M600 clear fluorocarbon strings.

As I cleaned up the fretboard, it looked more like Rosewood than Sipo (the fretboard material listed for current Martin S1’s) which made me think this is older than I thought. I found several discussions talking about the lack of dating/tracking of Martin ukulele serial numbers. Then, I found AustinHing’s post "Trying to date my Martin S1” (https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?136866-Trying-to-date-my-Martin-S1). Based on his serial number and mine (4116), I’m estimating this S1 is circa 2012-2014.

Can anyone else provide a better estimate?

Getting to play it some today, it sings like a mahogany ukulele should. I feel like the extra years have treated it well, and it’s well on the way to the solid wood being fully opened up.

Here's what it looks like now.
Martin S1 - 1.jpg Martin S1 - 2.jpg

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,
 
Awesome. I had my hands on one of those for a while and it was a great little uke. In fact, if I'm ever in the market for a solid mahogany soprano again, and have the money, I'd consider getting one. I hope you enjoy it. :)
 
Congrats on your new baby. I bet that sounds like a humdinger!
 
Welcome to the S1 club, Adam! I don’t suppose your S1 uke comes with the original Martin Feeding and Caring booklet which provides the print year of the booklet. It’s not a direct indication but does give you a more or less accurate idea when your S1 is roll out from the Mexico factory.

I have upgraded the Grover fiction tuners to Gotoh UPT for lesser hassle. No regrets there and tuning is a Breeze now.
 
Judging by the serial number, yours is definitely quite old. I have an S1 with a serial number in the 16000s and that was made in 2017 I believe. Based on the fairly light-coloured fretboard and bridge, I would've said they're either sipo or morado, but the serial number definitely tells you that they're rosewood.

The S1 is a jangle monster. I've acquired a few more expensive mahogany sopranos since and they don't come even close. They are warmer-sounding than the S1, sure, but if you really like the soprano jangle then the S1 is excellent.

Also, I don't get why so many people berate Martin for the wood they use in their more modern ukes. My S1 has a fantastic wood grain on it that shimmers similarly to ukes twice its price. It's beautiful in its simplicity.
 
I don’t suppose your S1 uke comes with the original Martin Feeding and Caring booklet which provides the print year of the booklet.

I have upgraded the Grover fiction tuners to Gotoh UPT for lesser hassle. No regrets there and tuning is a Breeze now.

Unfortunately, no booklets with it. It came with just a generic gig bag (Road Runner not the grey C.F.Martin) that was dusty and appeared to have been laying around for a while. I'm not sure how old the strings that I cut of were, but they desperately needed changing.

On the Gotoh UPTs, did you do the work yourself? Any challenges? I've thought about changing the tuners in time, but for now I'm getting acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of traditional friction tuners. It's not as frustrating as I might have thought, but I was sure to tighten the screws when I changed the strings.

Based on the fairly light-coloured fretboard and bridge, I would've said they're either sipo or morado, but the serial number definitely tells you that they're rosewood.

Also, I don't get why so many people berate Martin for the wood they use in their more modern ukes. My S1 has a fantastic wood grain on it that shimmers similarly to ukes twice its price. It's beautiful in its simplicity.

I'm positive the fretboard is rosewood. By comparison, the Sipo on my brand new C1K looks nice, but nothing like the beautiful grain of the S1's fretboard.

I can't agree with you more on the mahogany wood quality. The rich tone and grain pattern is amazing. It's why I'd been looking to bring a mahogany uke back into the collection. And Martin's the build quality from the top to the sides to the back almost feels like they built in a "comfort" edge around the whole body--I love the feel.
 
Although the UPT installation instructions is fairly straightforward, I got my local luthier to do. I just don’t trust myself for reaming straight holes in the S1.

As for the mahogany type, it is mentioned in the product description on the Martin website, that it’s made of genuine mahogany which in fact refers to Cuban or Mexican (most likely) or Honduras mahogany. Typical solid mahogany ukes are most likely to use African/ Khaya mahogany. That could be one of the many reasons for the vintage jangle sound.

Not to mentioned the single piece neck (no stacked heel) with dovetail joint which is hard to see even in other prestigious brands’ top tiered ukes. Sure it’s one of plainest ukes ever at that price tag but it’s non issue. Simply buff it to add a bit of shine to it.

mahogany-families.pdf
 
Beautiful little Martin S1 Adam.

I know that these days Martin dyes some of their fretboards. The fretboard on my 1T IZ bled a black dye onto the cloth when I conditioned the fretboard with Music Nomad F-One Oil. The wood on the fingerboard was very dry even though it came directly from the factory to the dealer.
 
Great lookin' S-1, Adam. I have an S-0, which I like because it seems to sport slightly "chunkier" fret wire, and because its fretboard terminates at a shorter distance than does the S-1. I realize that's all in the category of personal preference. But I really love the "bark" on my S-0, and it plays very comfortably and accurately. Interestingly, the S-0's don't have any kind of internal "lining" to assist in holding the top, sides, and back together; I have seen one example where there was a little separation starting to develop between the top and the sides, but on mine everything seems solid and secure. S-0's don't seem to get much love, but mine is a true gem.
 
I don’t suppose your S1 uke comes with the original Martin Feeding and Caring booklet which provides the print year of the booklet. It’s not a direct indication but does give you a more or less accurate idea when your S1 is roll out from the Mexico factory.

I contacted Martin Customer Service inquiring about the serial numbers on my S1 and this C1K. I received an email back yesterday. They confirmed the S1 serial number (4116) matches to 2012 and the C1K (20916) matches to 2019. I hope this helps others in getting a sense for when their ukes were built in the Mexico factory.

Are the G and A strings wound the way Martin winds them?

Jerry - Yes, I saw them wound this way on the S1 in the showroom, and this S1 came to me the same way. I retained the winding pattern when I re-strung it. It takes a little getting used to when tuning--I have to look at the peg and think about it. I'm wondering if this is done this way for better string/nut interaction, for better friction peg function, for aesthetics, or all of the above.
 
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