My latest acquisition

Timbuck

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It's a style 1 Martin soprano dated approx 1930 .... I bought this to get an idea of the changes and variations that these ukes went through in their evolvement.
this one has Barr frets .. Rosewood and maple bindings ... these bindings are the thinnest I've seen so far about 1/16" thick and all one piece, It must have been easy to fit these with HHG and tape cos they must have been very flexible ..also the marker dots are very small at about 1/16" dia ... Later dots were increased to about 3/32" dia . The rosette is WBW celluloid and no visible joints...Considering it's age 90 + years old it's in decent condition with a few minor issues that can be easily fixed...and it's a beautiful low action player. :)
12BA3516-5ECB-40E9-835C-ADB9A2F917C6 by Ken Timms,
 
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Nice! I have always loved the bar frets Martin used to use on their parlor guitars... (and, as Oldscruggsfan also mentioned- the smaller fretboard dots as well!)
 
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Yes, a nice looking instrument. Please, what repairs are planned?

I might be interesting, once the repairs are done, to hear about how the old Martin sounds compared to a comparable new Timms.
 
Thanks for posting, Ken. What a find! FWIW, I really favor the smaller fret marker dots and prefer the absence of dots to larger ones. In my layman's opinion, not just the dots but all other uke features should be in proportion to the small sound body and the short, narrow neck. And, if you paint a tomcat on the sound board, which no one should ever do, his mouth should always be open in a yowl around the sound hole. . .
 
As I have posted on here before, a next door neighbor found an old ukulele in her grandmother's closet when they were cleaning things out o_OBeing a musician she recognized the value in the thing and took it to a Martin expert for appraisal. Turns out it is a pre-1923 Martin Model 0 soprano ukulele in near perfect condition. The reason they could tell it was a pre-1923 was that it had wooden peg tuners which Martin abandoned in 1923 and went with the geared tuners due to problems with the wooden peg tuners. Well, she has had problems and continues to have problems with the wooden tuners and asked me if she should swap them out for modern plenary tuners. This would mean changing the hole diameters slightly which would alter the instrument. I recommended leaving as it is. How does it sound? Absolutely wonderful in a way that is hard to describe. Like something out of a 1920's movie. Unique.
 
I have 4 of these Martin sopranos dating from 1930 to 1960 and all of them have a mellow but bright tone with not as much bass end as the ones I make ...as all the dimensions are the same and the ones I make are also made mostly from old reclaimed timber I'm always puzzled why they sound slightly different...maybe it's the younger age of the internal bracing and glue and the french polish that are responsible.:unsure:
 
Is it possible that Martin used Adirondak Spruce for bracing? And certainly older growth wood?
 
After a basic inspection I've discovered a few bits that need sorting out ...First thing is a split middle back brace I plan to fix this with hide glue and magnets for clamping...But! While removing the strings I noticed more things, :( the bridge is badly damaged on the two end slots, and some previous owner has tried to fix it by gluing in the string knots with some rubber based adhesive and i had a right old job getting it all out ... I used a sharp blade to cut the jammed in string ends into pieces and poking them out with a hair grip end . I first decided that a new bridge would be needed but before that drastic step I thought I'd have a go at repairing the worn slots.
2CC2FDBE-DA44-471E-9FE7-558B51550958 by Ken Timms,
 
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I cleaned up the slots the best I could and glued and fitted in some slivers of mahogany ...and when the glue had cured I trimmed them down almost flush...If this goes all wrong then I've got the the new bridge blank on standby.

D6E03A66[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nURwiL]image by Ken Timms, on Flickr-67A8-4B01-9C39-63E485FE4D67[/URL] by Ken Timms,
 
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It is now in good shape and very playable....I've given it a good clean up and removed al the dirt inside and out...Mrs T gave it a good going over with a wax polish... new set of strings fitted to the restored bridge, the split brace mended well....As this was made in the period between 1920 and 1934 I have left all the worn parts and dings and repaired cracks acquired over the years that give it character.... it is now added to my museum.

3B519DEF-9BD1-4045-859D-AC623715F213 by Ken Timms,
 
It is now in good shape and very playable....I've given it a good clean up and removed al the dirt inside and out...Mrs T gave it a good going over with a wax polish... new set of strings fitted to the restored bridge, the split brace mended well....As this was made in the period between 1920 and 1934 I have left all the worn parts and dings and repaired cracks acquired over the years that give it character.... it is now added to my museum.

3B519DEF-9BD1-4045-859D-AC623715F213 by Ken Timms,
Lovely! Which brand of wax polish did you use? I have a few vintages that can do with some polishing up.
 
Lovely! Which brand of wax polish did you use? I have a few vintages that can do with some polishing up.
IMHO There is only one ... Mrs T won't use anything else .... Renaissance Wax Micro Crystalline Wax Polish. I use it on my bandsaw table as well.

3D6F2C5D-9149-46FC-AC78-70F84E0F4361.jpeg
 
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I've been doing a bit of research trying to put a year of manufacture on this uke. It has bar frets, they went out in 1947... the headstock decal is stamped on the rear of the headstock and they stopped that in 1934 ... I read that they stopped using tapered violin style tuners in the mid 1920s that means 1925 ...So I removed one of the tuners and found that the original hole is tapered and washers are fitted to cover up the hole where bushes are usually fitted. So that dates it at pre 1925 ....So that's approx: 100 year old .... Sorry if I'm being a bit Nerdish :)




854BE62A-7168-4CFA-94FB-6825B9263FC0 by Ken Timms,
 
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I have one like it and in my notes I recorded that Style1 Martins did not have back binding before 1926. I can't see any back binding in your photos, so that agrees with your assessment.

Mine has what look like Waverly 2014 tuners (that's the model no. not a date) with the hex shaped bushings. These weren't used on Style 1's until 1949, so I concluded the same thing you did; they were replacements for the original wooden pegs. The bar frets, lack of back binding, and other features you mentioned date my example to pre-1926.
 
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