c.1930 U-King Banjo Ukulele

Here's a U-King banjo-uke I just finished off. It's fun, with a chromed or nickel-silvered aluminum rim, 14" scale, Gumby headstock, and a bright and loud sound. The head is original as is everything save the bridge, strings, and a replacement (but period) bakelite tuner button. Plays nicely (under 1/8" at 12th) after setup, too!

Most of the overhaul on this uke was setup and polishing: that rim is blinding now! The hooks have some tarnish but it doesn't reduce the effect of the bright rim.

It's too bad the picture is so light: in reality the black paint of the fretboard and headstock really is a nice dark, shiny black, and the neck is a worn but warm deep reddish brown with plenty-shiny finish.

Frets have been polished and are just fine.

Interesting tailpiece and it works quite nicely, unlike a lot of "standard issue" banjo-uke tailpieces which are ill-fitting for gut or nylon strings. These strings happen to be brand-new Martin fluorocarbons.

Back. Colors are a little more true in this pic.

The "tonering" part of this is a lot like an old 1880s-style Dobson banjo, a "donut" ring... raised and curved. Also, the designers fortunately decided to curl the bottom of the rim too and include an integral bracket band -- all making this a cozy, light uke.

Tuners.

Neck join -- can't quite tell the wood type.

Back 3/4 -- a nice proportion to this uke.

Front 3/4.

Some of that kitchen-pot sheen!

And here's the tailpiece again. Like I said -- a well thought-out banjo-uke with a simple and comfortable design. Not super-fancy, but it definitely gets the job done and feels quite solid in the hands.