c.1920 Oscar Schmidt Hawaiian-style Koa Ukulele

Oh, sad flooding river... sad rainy day... been raining like mad most of the week. So it's time for some indoor photos. Please excuse if the lighting isn't the best... but I was planning on outdoor shots at least until November...!

This is a c.1920 or thereabouts soprano uke, made entirely from solid Hawaiian koa wood, unlabeled but built by Oscar Schmidt out of New Jersey. It's got rope binding, rope inlay around the soundhole, and rope inlay down the center of the fretboard. Frets are inlaid directly into the neck though a little piece of decorative koa veneer is glued right below the neck join to give the appearance of a separate fretboard. The neck is not the usual Chicago-style "dowel" join, but rather a dovetailed joint like on a guitar or mandolin... which means that most of these OS ukes never have a neck failure, unlike most Chicago-made ukes which require a reset from time to time.

Photos are a bit "red" but this uke is simply gorgeous... no cracks except for a tiny less-than-1" hairline glued up on the back.

Attention to detail is very nice. Finish shows wear but is in pretty decent shape.

I reglued the bridge because it was coming up... but had to move it 1/8" forward as it was set too far back and threw intonation really flat.

Super-pretty inlaid "herringbone" down the neck. I've dressed the frets and got action just about perfect.

Rosewood nut. Original dyed-red wood friction pegs.

Neck has some curl in its koa and the back of it is a good v-shape for strength.

Overall a very, very nice uke with poppy, loud tone to match its looks.