1950s Silvertone (Harmony-made) Mahogany Soprano Ukulele

Here's a little sweetie that came in via trade. It's a typical early-to-mid-'50s, nicer-grade Harmony soprano uke made entirely from solid mahogany and bearing the Silvertone (Sears) brand. The black-to-natural sunburst looks great on it and it arrived in pretty good order, though needing the usual tweaks to get it playing its best.

Post-repairs it plays fast and easy and has a sweet, somewhat dry, woody, and lively sound. I love the way it responds to fingerpicking and as a strummer it's got that almost '30s-style "choppa-chop" to its voice. There's not a lot of extra sustain or lingering extra notes to the voice, though -- it's very fundamental and to the point.

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, side dots install, new Gotoh Kluson-style tuners at the headstock (they add weight but they're retro-looking and a heck of a lot easier to deal with than normal friction pegs), minor seam repairs, bolt-reinforcement (interally, at the neckblock) of the neck joint (these are simply doweled joints and need the extra help to be stable over time), recut of the bridge top for better intonation and action height (it looks a bit like a Knutsen bridge in some ways, now, but works as it should), and setup. I also drilled "string-through" holes in each bridge slot because I find that stringing style a lot less fatiguing to uke bridges. There's a 1/16" hole for each string so you can pass the string through the top, pull it out the soundhole, knot it up into a ball, and then pull it snug against the underside of the top. Of course, standard mounting works fine, too.

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

Scale length: 13 7/8"

Nut width: 1 7/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 3/16"

String spacing at bridge: 1 3/4"

Body length: 9 3/4"

Lower bout width: 7"

Side depth at endpin: 2 3/8"

Top wood: solid mahogany

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Fretboard: thin rosewood

Bridge: mahogany

Neck feel: slim-med C-shape, flat board

Neck wood: mahogany

Weight: 15 oz

Condition notes: it's pretty clean throughout with only minor usewear. The tuners are new, the side dots are new, there's one tiny plugged hole on the back of the heel from pre-drilling to install a neck bolt inside, and the bridge is recut but I finished its top to look blended with the rest of the uke.