1930s Harmony Johnny Marvin Tenor (Concert) Ukulele

I've worked on a number of Harmony Johnny Marvin ukes, but only a couple of this early airplane-bridge style in the past. All of them sound great regardless of bridge type, but these earlier ones are just a little more special due to both the bridge aesthetic and the curly/flamed mahogany used in the body.

This one came in on consignment and didn't need too much to get it going. Now that it is, it's a great little player. These have a 14 3/4" scale and a wide-ish nut, so string spacing is generous and I find that unlike modern concerts (which tend towards a bright and chipper sound and slimmer nut widths), these really feel more like a "super soprano" uke. They're brighter but have a sweet overall sound to them that suits the strummy/choppy style of period playing.

Repairs included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, new individual saddles (for proper intonation), crack seal/repairs, new ebony bridge pins, brace reglues, cleaning, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly and quick with 1/16" action at the 12th fret and a straight neck. Strings are D'Addario fluorocarbon.

Scale length: 14 3/4"

Nut width: 1 1/2"

String spacing at nut: 1 5/16"

String spacing at bridge: 1 3/4"

Body length: 10 3/4"

Lower bout width: 7 3/4"

Waist width: 5"

Upper bout width: 5 7/8"
Side depth at endpin: 2 5/8"

Top wood: solid figured mahogany

Back/sides wood: solid figured mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: maple

Neck feel: slim-to-medium C, flat board

Condition notes: there are three repaired hairline cracks on the top. The one on the treble side is almost invisible and so is the even smaller one at the bass-side-waist. There's a larger one on the bass-side-lower-bout of the top that can be seen because it'd "crunched" the finish along its break. It's good to go and all have bracing or kerfing under them so they're not going anywhere. The finish shows minor wear and tear and the usual weather check and crackle you'd expect of old nitro finishes from the time. It looks good, though! The funkiest thing is that Harmony placed the saddle in the wrong location when this was built. I decided that relocating the bridge or saddle slot would muck the overall look up quite a bit, so instead of doing either I recessed the original saddle and installed 4 tiny plastic round saddles for each string at the point where the strings need to break for proper intonation up the neck.