1950s Mastro Plastic Banjo Ukulele

August 05, 2019

1950s Mastro Plastic Banjo Ukulele

My friend Tom Steventon found this little banjo uke and traded it to me the other day and I put some gold '60s tuners my buddy Rob yanked off of his Gretsch Nashville on it to remove the junk friction pegs that came with it and complete the terrible look. After that I did some cleaning, added a new bridge, strings, and gave it a setup. It plays and sounds the biz (if a little "thwuppy" in the usual plastic uke way), but boy is this thing a cultural wart considering the imagery on its original head.

Said original head sports a steam paddleboat bearing the name "Robert E. Lee," a tap-dancing fellow in blackface, a "Southern Belle" with clown lips, and a dandy playing plectrum banjo. I covered-up the most disagreeable part of the display by placing John Wayne's mug in nautical attire at the appropriate location.

Scale length: 13 3/4"

Nut width: 1 3/8"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/8"

String spacing at bridge: 1 5/8"

Head diameter: 7"

Side depth: 2 3/4"

Resonator diameter: 9"

Rim material: plastic

Neck material: plastic

Fretboard: plastic, molded frets

Neck shape: medium C, flat board

Bridge: maple