c.1920 Columbia? Koa Ukulele

This is a nice, sturdy, solid koa soprano ukulele, probably c. late teens or early 1920s. It's almost exactly like this Columbia uke (I've done several of these) but I've replaced a missing bridge with a pin bridge and bone saddle.

The body has no cracks but has plenty of playwear and the finish has either been slightly oversprayed at one point or the heat/age crackle gives it that look (it's got that varnish crackle all over like most ukes of this age). Either way, the sound is perfect for strumming and is definitely snappy and precise for fingerpicking.

The neck is 3-piece construction: two koa sides and a maple center. This makes it extremely strong. The neck itself has a Spanish heel, which means it's both the neck AND the heel block. This is typical classical guitar construction and also typical Island-made uke construction. Considering that these Columbia ukes (this one is unlabeled, but the labels generally fall off over time) were pretty much all koa, and 4 of the 5 I've worked on have had Spanish heels, it's a pretty safe bet that these were built by folks familiar with the Island style of build.

Nickel-silver frets and celluloid position dots.

Definitely been around the block but it's a perfect uke to take with you anywhere as it's very sturdily built.

The bridge is made from holly and I've ebonized it black. Plastic black pins. Note how the pins are slightly off-center... silly me... I made this bridge and glued it in exactly the same location (slightly overlapped) as where the original bridge had been. Who'd have known that the original bridge was glued in slightly the wrong spot! Thankfully it's not very noticeable at all.

Inlaid wood rosette.



The sun really highlights the koa grain.



New Grover pegs.

There's that tell-tale sign of a Spanish heel: overlapped back onto the heel. However... some ukes from this period had this overlap and were actually Chicago-style (dowel joint) heels. So check the insides first before you tell someone your uke has a Spanish heel!

And the other nice feature of all Columbia-style ukes? The sides are all one piece of bent wood -- so no endblock seam. Really attractive and makes this joint area very strong. All of these types of ukes have also had an extra brace behind the bridge to keep the top from warping over time.