research for a movie.

Hi there...brand new to this forum and looking for a little advice.

I'm doing Props on a feature film being shot in Vancouver, BC. Before you ask, I'm bound by an NDA and can't reveal details about it except to say that it is for one of the major studios.

I need to buy 2-3 matching ukuleles that have a very old, or primitive style, as our film is set in the late 19th Century.

Respectfully, I don't want to get into the weeds too much about details. We will be able to do a lot with ageing and paint treatments, but if anyone can suggest a brand or type of mandolin that might be a good starting place in terms of the overall style, I'd be appreciative.

Probably the more basic and unadorned the better.

Oh, another thing worth mentioning is not to be too concerned how it will sound. That will likely be added in during post-production. It's all about the look.

Thanks in advance!

No expert here (I'm a vintage Martin person), but you might consider trying to find a few of these on the used market;
https://reverb.com/item/12682657-an...tage-replica-solid-koa-ukulele-with-hard-case

Would be nice if the body of the instrument was smaller, but there should be a few of these around and they do remind you somewhat of an early uke from the late 1800's. Not overly adorned.

Ohana sk28

Look for a nunes-style uke, with wooden pegs (or replace the existing pegs with wooden tuning pegs.)

To my knowledge, the ukulele really evolved into the instrument we know and love around the end of the 1800's, having been introduced to Hawaii around 1880, and didn't really achieve much popularity on the mainland until the early 1900's.

The oldest surviving example of a ukulele that I know of can be see here: Uke from The Met website

You can also have a look at some of the instruments in this gallery: Vintage Ukes at the Ukulele Hall of Fame site If you click on any picture, it will tell you the era.

Early ukes were pretty simple affairs, overall, at least the ones that survive that I have seen.

This is where those engraved Luna things come into their own...

Those aNueNue 1879 are very good replicas, but they're becoming hard to find.

Old Kumulaes (although most of them are from the 1920s) are cheap-ish and would look the part from afar, except perhaps for their big headstock decals. If you can't find them, there are probably East Coast or BC collectors who could lend them out on condition that they're insured during the process.

Those Ohana's look too modern to me, with the wide lower bouts and wide waist - the earlier instruments had a more or less perfect figure 8-shape, were small, and had pin bridges.

Another idea is that some luthiers make fantastic replicas, and probably wouldn't mind hiring them out and having their name on the credits. David Means (Annapolis, MD), Mike Da Silva (Berkeley, CA), Kunihiro Matsui (Oahu, HW), Kevin Crossett (Middelsex, VT) all make excellent Dias replicas with pin bridges, wonky headstock shapes and all. Mike even makes a Santos replica. Marc Schoenberger (San Luis Obispo, CA) and Joel Eckhaus (South Portland, ME) used to make them as well, but I'm not sure if they're in business anymore. Danny Ferrington (Santa Monica, CA) has built period musical instruments for movies before (The Ladykillers 2004 by the Coen Brothers, he's featured in the DVD extras).

Dave Newton, a luthier in Beaumont, TX used to build Primitive Style Mahagony Sopranos. Check with him.

He used Rosewood violin friction tuning pegs, fretted on the neck instead of using a fret board. Looked like it was from the 1800’s, and played great.

JWW said:

Hi there...brand new to this forum and looking for a little advice.

I'm doing Props on a feature film being shot in Vancouver, BC. Before you ask, I'm bound by an NDA and can't reveal details about it except to say that it is for one of the major studios.

I need to buy 2-3 matching ukuleles that have a very old, or primitive style, as our film is set in the late 19th Century.

Respectfully, I don't want to get into the weeds too much about details. We will be able to do a lot with ageing and paint treatments, but if anyone can suggest a brand or type of mandolin that might be a good starting place in terms of the overall style, I'd be appreciative.

Probably the more basic and unadorned the better.

Oh, another thing worth mentioning is not to be too concerned how it will sound. That will likely be added in during post-production. It's all about the look.

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

Contact Shawn who runs ukulelefriend.com. He can send you pics of period ukes that you can then get built or mimic.

ksiegel said:

Look for a nunes-style uke, with wooden pegs (or replace the existing pegs with wooden tuning pegs.)View attachment 131729

Click to expand...

Exactly what I had in mind. That style might be hard to find, but the modern style would stick out.

EDIT: https://www.ukulelemag.com/stories/...o-the-ukulele-as-we-know-it-arrives-in-hawaii
https://theukulelesite.com/anuenue-1879-solid-koa-soprano-vintage-relic.html
https://www.maplestreetguitars.com/show_item.php?dep=28&cat=UUK&item=1879 KOA

Take a look at https://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?148540-FS-Vintage-Kumalae-Soprano

JWW said:

Hi there...brand new to this forum and looking for a little advice.

I'm doing Props on a feature film being shot in Vancouver, BC. Before you ask, I'm bound by an NDA and can't reveal details about it except to say that it is for one of the major studios.

I need to buy 2-3 matching ukuleles that have a very old, or primitive style, as our film is set in the late 19th Century.

Respectfully, I don't want to get into the weeds too much about details. We will be able to do a lot with ageing and paint treatments, but if anyone can suggest a brand or type of mandolin that might be a good starting place in terms of the overall style, I'd be appreciative.

Probably the more basic and unadorned the better.

Oh, another thing worth mentioning is not to be too concerned how it will sound. That will likely be added in during post-production. It's all about the look.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

If the film is set in the late 1800s, any ukulele would have been new at that time, because, as mentioned, they had only recently been developed on the islands. So buying a vintage instrument, or aging it with paint or other relic techniques would make it appear less authentic rather than more. Unless it’s a time travel movie, I guess.

I think this must be a time travel thread.

This isn't a mandolin forum and none of the recommendations are mandolins.

For a non-functional really primitive looking uke prop:

Amazon Basics Soprano Ukulele Bundle with Strings, Tuner, Strap, and Bag - 21-Inch Sapele

In the picture, it has no 'bling' and no headstock logo. That is a good start.

Remove the strap buttons and tuners. Have a woodworker recreate "peg" tuners.

The headstock could be reshaped... The back of the neck could be stained darker... that's up to them, but it would be easy to do.

To be more authentic, it may be hard to find 3 matching ones with a more "figure 8" shape where the upper and lower bout are about the same. It'll depend on the "look" you want.

badhabits said:

Ohana sk28

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Yes, they’re replicas of the late 19th century ukes built in Hawaii.