Help Dating My Martin S-0?

Bill Sheehan

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Hi friends, I have a very nice Martin S-0 made-in-Mexico uke bearing serial number 12,437. Any Martin enthusiasts out there who may have an educated guess as to what year this one might've been made in?
 
I read this thinking your uke needed to get out more and spend more time with other people. My mind clearly is in a different place.
 
I have two Martin S-O's . Excellent ukuleles . Years ago I asked Martin Customer Service about the serial numbers and was told they dont keep track
of the serial numbers so there was no way to attach a date to them . This makes no sense , why put a serial number if you dont keep track.
Anyway , one S-O here has a number in the 8 thousands , the other looks older but It's not with me right now so I cant check the number.
I really think these ukes are underrated .
 
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I read this thinking your uke needed to get out more and spend more time with other people. My mind clearly is in a different place.

Hahahahahaha! Thanks, Tinkerer! I hesitated for just a moment as I typed that heading, and then decided, "Nah... I'm sure nobody on HERE would have that angle..." ;)
 
I read this thinking your uke needed to get out more and spend more time with other people. My mind clearly is in a different place.

I hear the young ones have apps for that now. If you have a vintage Martin, that doesn't work as well.
 
I read martin Guitars started being made in Mexico in 1989. Style 0 were discontinued in 1970 and restarted in Mexico in 1992 I think. A post in a previous thread dating back to 2009 said his S-0 had a serial # in 10,000 was made in 2007. So yours is more than likely, a year or two later.
 
I read this thinking your uke needed to get out more and spend more time with other people. My mind clearly is in a different place.

Classic. Always happens when people want to date their instruments. Never gets old. :D
 
I have two Martin SO's . Excellent ukuleles . Years ago I asked Martin Customer Service about the serial numbers and was told they dont keep track of the serial numbers so there was no way to attach a date to them . This makes no sense , why put a serial number if you dont keep track.
Anyway , one SO here has a number in the 8 thousands , the other looks older but It's not with me right now so I cant check the number.
I really think these ukes are underrated .

Thank you, Pete! I would imagine that my S-0 is of fairly recent vintage, being numbered up there in the 12,000's. I agree that the S-0's are underrated. They do have pluses and minuses. For instance, they're made without any kind of internal "lining" to keep the top, sides and back bound together. That makes me a little nervous, but so far (about two years into my ownership) things seem to be holding up fine. On the other side of that coin, it is really lightweight and amazingly resonant. The sound has "matured" as I have continued to play the heck out of it! It's still plenty loud and "jangly", but with a touch of smoothness or warmth that wasn't there in the beginning. I like the fact that the fingerboard stops well "north" of the soundhole (realistically I almost never have occasion to utilize territory past the seventh fret or so anyway). And I also like the fact that the frets seem "chunkier" to me than those on other ukes. I've seen S-0's criticized for being mediocre, but I really love mine!
 
I read martin Guitars started being made in Mexico in 1989. Style 0 were discontinued in 1970 and restarted in Mexico in 1992 I think. A post in a previous thread dating back to 2009 said his S-0 had a serial # in 10,000 was made in 2007. So yours is more than likely, a year or two later.

Thanks, Patrick and all! I'm guessing that 2010 would be fairly close.
 
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