c.1950s Lyra Baritone Ukulele

Here's a recently-sold West German baritone uke probably from the late '50s or early '60s. It's built of what looks like very light-colored mahogany, with a rosewood bridge, and maple neck and fretboard. All solid woods, too. The tone is superior -- I mean, surreal for a baritone uke -- light, airy, crisp, warm, woody, with a perfect balance between strings. I set it up with a re-entrant DGBE set and it sounded -- perfect! There were a few repairs that were needed: a previously-repaired crack on the back needed to be re-repaired, a few braces needed gluing, and a few back/side separations needed gluing.

Body detail.

Classical-style bridge: here I cheated by knotting the strings uke style, however. The nut is some sort of hard plastic.

Bound soundhole. Inside you can see a hair of the West Germany stamp (it's faded).

After my usual cleaning and fret polishing and conditioning, this fretboard feels wonderful. The dots are just painted silver, but they do lend a period feel.

Typical headstock for the period. Shallow crown shape.

Here you can see how the original finish has held up -- quite well -- and surprisingly vibrant after restoration.

Back grain is lovely.

Again -- a sort of sandy-blonde beauty!

Tuners are fancy replacements.

Neck join's not going anywhere.

Overview.

Basically -- if you're looking for a baritone that sounds excellent, and is markedly better than the usual Harmony-built fare, find yourself one of these! I'm sorry I sold it!