1920s Convervatory Mahogany Soprano Ukulele
Update 2019: I've restrung in low G tuning (all plain) and added new tuners ($70 value) to it, so I updated the blog post with new pictures and a new video clip.
I've worked on a lot of similar ukes in the past and sometimes the designs have such mixed-up elements that I wind-up confused. This one is definitely mainland-made from around 1920 and its body shape looks very much like an Oscar Schmidt-made instrument. Its bridge style is almost identical to a Richter-made instrument, however. I'm not certain who made it but I'm guessing it's an earlier Oscar Schmidt build.
It has "Conservatory" branding on its soundhole label.
I've worked on a lot of similar ukes in the past and sometimes the designs have such mixed-up elements that I wind-up confused. This one is definitely mainland-made from around 1920 and its body shape looks very much like an Oscar Schmidt-made instrument. Its bridge style is almost identical to a Richter-made instrument, however. I'm not certain who made it but I'm guessing it's an earlier Oscar Schmidt build.
It has "Conservatory" branding on its soundhole label.
Anyhow, it's a great-sounding uke with a lot of woody snap to it that instantly speaks "vintage Hawaiian-band film clip." Sometimes these little old peanut ukes project way above their weight and this is one of them. Fingerpicking is nice, too, but strumming certainly sounds good and forward.
Work included: a fret seating and level/dress, side dots install, seam and brace repairs, a bridge shave and bridge reglue, new Gotoh UPT geared pegs, hairline crack repair/cleats to one tiny one just below the fretboard on the top and one tiny one on the back
Setup notes: it plays spot-on and action is a hair-above 1/16" at the 12th fret. The fretboard dips ever-so-slightly down (typical for a lot of period factory ukes) from frets 10-12, so without that it would've matched my usual "bang-on" 1/16" at the 12th. The Gotoh tuners at the headstock are a steep upgrade compared to average uke pegs and I have them on all of our ukes at home. Strings are D'Addario fluorocarbon (the low G tenor set) and all plain -- I was using this uke tuned to open A (AC#EA) and it sounded killer in that capacity. I'm assuming it would also sound killer in ADF#B. I'm pretty sure I drilled tiny "through-mount" string holes under the bridge/in the string slots the last time I strung it up. This gives you the choice of balling-up the ends on the outside of the uke or balling them up on the inside which is more stable and puts less strain on the instrument.
Setup notes: it plays spot-on and action is a hair-above 1/16" at the 12th fret. The fretboard dips ever-so-slightly down (typical for a lot of period factory ukes) from frets 10-12, so without that it would've matched my usual "bang-on" 1/16" at the 12th. The Gotoh tuners at the headstock are a steep upgrade compared to average uke pegs and I have them on all of our ukes at home. Strings are D'Addario fluorocarbon (the low G tenor set) and all plain -- I was using this uke tuned to open A (AC#EA) and it sounded killer in that capacity. I'm assuming it would also sound killer in ADF#B. I'm pretty sure I drilled tiny "through-mount" string holes under the bridge/in the string slots the last time I strung it up. This gives you the choice of balling-up the ends on the outside of the uke or balling them up on the inside which is more stable and puts less strain on the instrument.
Specs are: 13 1/8" scale, 1 7/16" nut width, 1 1/8" string spacing at the nut, 1 3/4" spacing at the bridge, 6 1/4" lower bout, 5" upper bout, and 2 1/4" side depth at the endblock.
Materials are: solid mahogany throughout, mahogany bridge, mahogany fretboard, inlaid wooden "rope" rosette, and pearl dots in the fretboard face.
Condition notes: this instrument is entirely original except for replacement pegs and a new ebony nut (the original mahogany one was broken). There are repaired seams (some by me, some old) and some of the back/top edges are not perfectly aligned but not obviously funky. The bridge is a little lower than it was originally but there's saddle height to come down on if necessary in the future. The finish shows marks around the frets on the fretboard and a little wear here and there on the body, but overall looks really nice for its age. The back of the headstock's very top edge has some grain tearout/chipping-out but it's just cosmetic.
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