1920s Juliette (Richter-made) Mahogany Soprano Ukulele

I've worked on maybe a half-dozen of this same basic mahogany Richter-made (Chicago) uke in the past and perhaps a dozen more of the same type but with different woods and trim. This one looks a lot like a Hawaiian-made "peanut-style" instrument with its rope binding, rosette, and detail down the fretboard, but it's most definitely a mainland instrument with a doweled (not Spansih) neck joint and poplar (not tropical-wood) neck.

This one has "Juliette" branding in the soundhole and, like all of the earlier Richters, is eggshell-thin in build. It's why they sound so sweet, round, and generally-loud and choppy despite their tiny size. Like other period factory ukes, though, it has its flaws -- in the case of this one the fretting is all askew. Fortunately nylon (and/or fluorocarbon and nylgut) is a forgiving material and one doesn't really notice intonation woes.

It's seen a lot of wear and tear in the past -- it looks like a couple of unsuccessful bridge reglues, finish blem and minor chip-out to the top around the bridge, and a soundhole boo-boo that needed filling.

After a number of repairs it plays spot-on and sounds great. I've sort-of given-up on selling ukes without some sort of geared pegs, so to keep this one looking "retro" I slice-n-diced some old, lightweight, period-ish German guitar tuners up to fit the headstock.

Repairs included: neck reset plus internal bolt reinforcement at the neckblock (the doweled joints fail just with glue over time), bridge reglue and new fret saddle (I also drilled "through-mount" stringing holes at the bridge string slots), a bridge plate install under the top to help shore-up the hairline cracks around the bridge and make it more stable, new bone nut, new (vintage) tuners, replacement (vintage) 12th fret, fill job at the soundhole, and setup.

Made by: Richter

Made in: Chicago, USA

Top wood: solid mahogany

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: ladder

Bridge: mahogany, fret saddle

Fretboard: none, frets in neck top

Neck wood: poplar, stained dark

Tone: sweet, woody, mellow, chunky

Suitable for: folk, old-time, retro popular and Hawaiian, etc.

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: D'Addario EJ99T fluorocarbon (light/medium)

Neck shape: slim-medium C

Board radius: flat

Truss rod: none

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium but very low (as-stock)

Scale length: 13"

Nut width: 1 7/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/8"

String spacing at bridge: 2"

Body length: 9"

Body width: 6"

Body depth: 2 1/8"

Weight: 10 oz

Condition notes: one smaller repaired hairline crack on the back, finish blem and small wood chip-out around the bridge on the top, a cluster of small repaired hairline cracks around the bridge, filler at a damaged spot in the rosette, replacement tuners, replacement saddle, replacement 12th fret, replacement nut, lots of general wear and tear throughout. Finish is all-original, though.