1930s Martin Style 0 Soprano Ukulele



Update 2021: the owner of this uke brought it in for consignment as he's downsizing his collection. I updated the photos, description, and video... now back to the post...

Aside from a refinished back (and a couple of repaired hairlines in the back), this Martin Style 0 is quite clean. It sounds the business, too. The owner was playing it in the shop while I was working on his other instruments and it just rang.

A "Made in USA" stamp on the back of the headstock as well as bar frets and decal on the front of the headstock plant its build-date in the mid-'30s, though it arrived with its owner as if it'd been built yesterday. The action and setup was almost perfect and it just needed the most minor tweaking.

As is typical for a Martin Style 0, it's solid mahogany throughout and has a rosewood fretboard. Fit, finish, and construction are of course high quality and it has the sweet, chocolatey, velvety tone that you'd expect but also good pop as well.

Repairs included: setup, cleaning


Made by: Martin

Model: Style 0

Made in: Nazareth, PA, USA


Top wood: solid mahogany

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: mahogany

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Tone: sweet, chocolately, velvety, good pop, good clarity


Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: Martin fluorocarbon

Neck shape: medium C

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium


Scale length: 13 11/16"

Nut width: 1 3/8"

Body length: 9 1/4"

Body width: 6 3/8"

Body depth: 2 1/4"

Weight: 0 lb 11 oz


Condition notes: it's pretty clean and all-original save a refinished back with a couple of repaired hairline cracks in it. There's mild playwear on the upper-bout and very minor scratches here and there. This has original friction pegs which work fine but you may want to replace them with Gotoh UPTs or Pegheds 4:1 geared tuners if you're using it for a daily player. I would do an install of those free of charge, though the parts would be at cost.


It comes with: a good hard case.














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