I just returned from New York and met up with my good friend Zeke Schein from Matt Umanov Guitars. Zeke sold me my first ever uke, a Collings pre production concert. This one purchase was a trigger for everything that followed and without it there would be no “Small Change Diaries” no 40+ songs written, no live gigs in the UK and overseas!
On this trip Zeke mentioned a rare Martin 1920s soprano ukulele that was for sale, described below
1920s Martin Style 2 Uke
An extremely early Martin ukulele and one of their higher-grade and rarer models, from 1921 or possibly even earlier. According to correspondence from Tom Walsh, co-author of the fabulous and most authoritative book on the subject The Martin Ukulele, “The lighter colored nut and saddle suggest it is early 20s or earlier, but the real giveaway is the position marks at the 5-7-9th frets. Martin switched to inlays at frets 5-7-10 by 1921 at the latest. Another sign of age is the fact that it never had patent pegs. The style 2 ukuleles got patent pegs in 1922″. In absolutely beautiful condition with no cracks or repairs anywhere and none of the usual signs of overly enthusiastic playing. The bar frets are original with virtually no wear. It has white celluloid tuning pegs, which are most likely much older very professional replacements, to match the white celluloid body bindings.
I have always wanted to own a Martin instrument, but to date have never been totally convinced. There are two notable exceptions, the first being a guitar Martin Simpson showed me and now this 1920s Martin soprano. I’m not an advocate of “old = great” but this particular ukulele which is in excellent condition sounds very unlike anything else I have played to date. It has a great tone and plays really well. Its also almost 100 years old and will be used in the studio for future recordings. It also comes with an original case which is like a violin case. I have never seen a 1920s Martin soprano before and certainly not one in such great condition. Its a wonderful sounding instrument and a joy to play.
Zeke is also the author of a soon to be released book “Portrait of a Phantom”