1920 Weymann uke

I recently came across this 1920 Weymann soprano uke. You don't find these around too often. These were made in Philadelphia. It is a very nice quality well built instrument of lovely mahogany. It is pretty much the same dimensions as a Martin, but with some subtle differences. It is in lovely shape, other than a small chip out of the sound hole. I spent some time cleaning it up and putting it into shape. The wooden pegs work very well.

It has plenty of ring and that classic "bark" that you hear in instruments of this era. Volume and projection is exceptional with nice note separation and it sounds great fingerpicked or strummed. Intonation is good up the neck, which you will notice has dots at 5,7 and 9.

Since I have a nice Martin from the same era it is probably a bit redundant to have both as they are so similar. I'll see if I hold onto it, but it is a lovely instrument that is a lot of fun to play.

Wow! Looks like a wonderful find. A 100 years on and still inspiring music. Congrats.

That’s a beauty. Good for you!

What a beautiful instrument, congrats! :drool:

Mankato Uke Club

Ukecaster said:

Nice...that sure looks Martin-like!

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Yeah, what is that expression? Brother from another mother?

From the angle of the pic, or the way the instruments were leaning, it may be hard to tell, but they are exactly the same size. The Martin is late 20's or so, before they added the decal on the front of the headstock

My 20's Weymann was tonally astonishing: loud and warbly. It weighed only 8.2 ounces.

I had a love affair with the thing EXCEPT those wooden tuners - they made me crazy.
And yet i couldn't bear to make changes the original uke. I know that's a bit silly, but it was in such beautiful shape - a real time capsule.
I ended up selling to Chris on this site - fortunately I think he loves it too (except for the tuners, LOL). Maybe he'll pipe in here.

My 20's Martin is also lovely (no louder, for sure), but much more worn and was already modified with different tuners.

ukeinfused said:

My 20's Weymann was tonally astonishing: loud and warbly. It weighed only 8.2 ounces.
I had a love affair with the thing EXCEPT those wooden tuners - they made me crazy.
And yet i couldn't bear to make changes the original uke. There was something so vintagely wonderful about it being nearly a hundred years old. I ended up selling to Chris on this site.
Some days I regret it, but fortunately I think he loves it too (except for the tuners, LOL).

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I do indeed love the Weymann you sold me. Based on my research I believe it is a 1918. It is crazy loud and the lightest ukulele I've ever held. It is so light that it is almost unnerving to hold...when I hold it my brain flips back and forth between thinking I'm holding chintzy toy and a fine fine instrument. I've played it and heard it played next to a 20's Martin and a Kiwaya KTS-7 and while all 3 sound different it holds it own with both.

Whats interesting is that I have seen Jake Wildwood mention in a blog post that most Weymanns he's played feel heavier and stiffer built than Martins but this one is soooo lightly built. Maybe the heavier builds came later or maybe the stiffer heavier ones were just coincidently ones Jake ran across.

Other interesting tidbit. I've seen it suggested (don't recall where) that Weymann and Martin, given their close proximity, actually gave eachother instruments to copy and that it is likely that the early Weymanns were nearly direct copies of Martin's or of a particular Martin. There are differences I've observed in my limited experience but it is hard to know if those were consistent differences or just particular to certain instruments or years of production. What I can say about my Weymann is that the neck feels both thinner (front to back) and wider (side to side) than the vintage Martin's I've played. This is one of the things I particularly love about it.

Tracie is right about the pegs. They were troublesome, when I got it from her. I was able to improve them greatly with some peg dope and by rewinding the strings so they sit against the faceplate and hold the pegs at close to an ideal tension. I still find them a bit finicky and go back and forth about installing Peghead tuners but they work well enough for me for now and I do love the nostalgia of them.

Anyway, congrats on a great find. You've got a fantastic uke there.

Congrats! That is a true piece of history.

The wooden pegs initially were a little sticky, but I got them working nice and smooth. They work well and I don't mind them at all. I believe this instrument is around 10 oz, but still plenty light.

It is a nice instrument, although as I mentioned, it is probably a bit redundant to have this and the Martin as they are quite close in many ways.

EDW,
Sounds like I just didn't get those wooden pegs figured out then. Good on you and Chris!

Do you (or someone else here) know if these tuners are replaced or originals on this early Martin?
Turns out they look just like those on mine, which i always assumed were replacements...

Martin Model O Soprano (1930's Natural) https://reverb.com/item/29724857-ma...9724857-martin-model-o-soprano-1930-s-natural

I believe those tuners are replacements. I have seen them on Favillas and some others from around that time.

ukeinfused said:

Sounds like I just didn't get those wooden pegs figured out then. Good on you and Chris!

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Well I don't want to overstate the improvement. They still don't work as well as even half decent quality friction tuners.

They are fiddley but functional. Not sure if there is a way to improve them further. If not I'll may install Pegheads at some point.

CPG said:

Well I don't want to overstate the improvement. They still don't work as well as even half decent quality friction tuners.

They are fiddley but functional. Not sure if there is a way to improve them further. If not I'll may install Pegheads at some point.

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I suppose you could have a luthier fit the pegs. While I know people complain about wooden pegs, orchestral strings have used them forever. Pegheds are great because they are light, work very well and keep that vintage look. (although I know some who don't like those either, so to each his/her own)

EDW said:

I suppose you could have a luthier fit the pegs. While I know people complain about wooden pegs, orchestral strings have used them forever. Pegheds are great because they are light, work very well and keep that vintage look. (although I know some who don't like those either, so to each his/her own)

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That's a good idea. They certainly work, I just dont have any frame of reference to know if they could should work better. I may send it to Jake Wildwood at some point just to get playing extra buttery smooth (though it's fine as is). If I do that I could certainly see what he can do. I've mostly been playing guitar and banjo lately so I'm in no hurry. I'll make up my mind about if I want to do the Pegheads at some point. I like Pegheads for the reasons you listed. They are not my favorite of the planataries, but for something like this they are certainly what I would use.

Again though, LOVE the Weymann overall. It's an astounding instrument in so many ways, and I'm not super picky about tuners. I can get and keep the instrument in tune so that's good enough for niw.

You make good points. Frame of reference is important. People complain about friction tuners a lot. Certainly, it can be because they have used lousy tuners or they are poorly adjusted. I think another reason is that if one is used to geared tuners from guitar, then friction tuners (or heaven forbid- wooden pegs) seem downright primitive. As you say, I guess if you can get it in tune that is important!

Funny you mention frictions. A lot of folks do really seem to dislike them. I actually really like friction tuners. Even moderate quality ones I find work just fine for me. So I just assumed I would find the same to be true about the wooden pegs and that I would immediatly like them. Luckily I a) like to tinker and b) like to engage in being a luddite, so I've enjoyed the process of slowly learning about and improving my Weymanns pegs.

I think your right about folks just being used to geared. Even though I'm a fan of frictions, I do find I need to make a mental adjustment when I go from playing something geared to something with friction and vice-versa. Takes my brain a minute to adjust to the different ratios.

I just found this video I made when I briefly had the Weymann, a Mango Rebel I used to own, and a Kiwaya KTS-7 I had for about week while coordinating the sale of it from one friend to another. Still have the Weymann...sold the Rebel (I kinda miss it), and the KTS-7 now belongs to a local professional musician who I take guitar and uke lessons from.

All 3 sound quite different. All three are great ukes (though the Kiwaya is something extra special)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jDJtnTvk29oFZ6cz8

Rebel is first, Kiwaya starts at about 1 minute in, Weymann at about 2 minutes in....

Forgive my crap playing.

Around that same time I also owned a 1940s Martin Concert. I compared the two and was astounded by how much louder and fuller the Weymann was than the Martin (though generally my understanding is that, somehwat counter intuitively, Martin concerts are brighter and tighter sounding than their sopranos from the same period).

As you can tell by now I'm just enamored by the Weymann. If you don't keep yours hopefully someone will realize what a special instrument it is and snap it up.

CPG said:

I just found this video I made when I briefly had the Weymann, a Mango Rebel I used to own, and a Kiwaya KTS-7 I had for about week while coordinating the sale of it from one friend to another. Still have the Weymann...sold the Rebel (I kinda miss it), and the KTS-7 now belongs to a local professional musician who I take guitar and uke lessons from.

All 3 sound quite different. All three are great ukes (though the Kiwaya is something extra special)

As you can tell my now I think I'm just enamored by the Weymann. If you don't keep yours hopefully someone will realize what a special instrument it is and snap it up.

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Yeah, all good instruments, you probably can't go wrong with any of them. The Kiwayas are lovely instruments. Years ago I had a KTS4 that was great. I probably should have held onto it. At the same time I always go through the issue I am dealing with right now. I tend to sell off instruments rather than have too many around. I keep going back and forth on the Weymann, not because of playability or quality. It is in the same league as Martin and certainly a great player with a ringing crisp tone, but I try to keep the collection pretty lean.

EDW said:

Yeah, all good instruments, you probably can't go wrong with any of them. The Kiwayas are lovely instruments. Years ago I had a KTS4 that was great. I probably should have held onto it. At the same time I always go through the issue I am dealing with right now. I tend to sell off instruments rather than have too many around. I keep going back and forth on the Weymann, not because of playability or quality. It is in the same league as Martin and certainly a great player with a ringing crisp tone, but I try to keep the collection pretty lean.

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I'm the same way. I try not to keep too many around. I was up to about 5 or 6 but then I sold off several really nice ones when I bought a couple new guitars this year. In addition to the Rebel, I also let go of an incredible Takumi TC-1M and KoAloha KSM-00c. I miss all 3 of those, but with the banjo and the guitars I can really only justify owning a couple. I decided to keep the Weymann so I could have a really nice vintage uke (and because I was simpy enamored by it) and the Hanson because I wanted something soprano-ish with more than 12 frets. As much as I loved them those other ukes mostly sat in their cases. Though I liked the Takumi enough that I may decide to grab a Takumi soprano some day. And yeah, Kiwaya's are ridiculously nice. Totally on par with their reputation, including their laminates. The KS-5 I used to own is another one I kinda miss. Sounded damn near as good as the nicest solid wood ukes I've owned and playability wise was probably my favorite of any uke I've owned. As for the KTS-7, the person who ended up with that uses it as there main player now (over their 1920s style 2 Martin).

So yeah, I probably would only keep one of those too. Always tough to let go of the nice ones though...even when they are redundant...I always end up missing them even if they didn't get played much.

Yes over the years I have had a number of things come and go for a variety of reasons. There are a few that I have some regrets about, but I try to remind myself that it is just stuff.

Looking at your location, I think your bond to the Weymann is because of Philly!