1950s Favilla B-2 Baritone Ukulele
Overview: Here's an excellently-clean old Favilla baritone uke. I've worked on tons of these but Jose did the work on this guy. These are lightly-built, have a bit of a "flamenco" lilt to their sound, and feel and look great. They're built in a quality range somewhere between a Harmony or Vega baritone from the time and a Martin or Kamaka. They're satisfying and I know many folks who've picked one of these up and they then become their "main squeeze" uke ever after.
Tone: It's warm, sweet, and balanced. I currently have an all-plain fluorocarbon set on it which gives it more of a "ukey" vibe and response, though the low D string is a little more slack than I'd prefer. I think the uniform tone afforded by this set is a big-enough payoff to keep them on, however, and it's why I string these up "standard" with them. A normal two-wound, two-plain set would give it more of a mini-classical-guitar sound, of course.
Feel: The neck has a typical medium-heft, C/D shape to it with a flat board. It's more comfy than United and Vega offerings, for the most part, but not as slim or quick as a Martin or Harmony neck.
Interesting features: I had Jose swap the original friction pegs out for a handsome set of '40s-era guitar-style tuners that he re-buttoned. This makes it easy to keep in tune and stay in tune over friction pegs and they're classic-looking enough that it's hard to question their fitting in with the uke.
Repairs included: It's had a fret level/dress, cleaning, saddle adjustments, and tuners install -- all done by Jose. It plays spot-on and is ready to go.
- Weight: 1 lb 11 oz
- Scale length: 19 1/8"
- Nut width: 1 7/16"
- Neck shape: medium C
- Board radius: flat
- Body width: 10 1/8"
- Body depth: 3 3/4"
- Top wood: solid mahogany
- Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
- Bracing type: ladder
- Bridge: rosewood w/bone saddle
- Fretboard: rosewood
- Neck wood: mahogany
- Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast, spot-on)
- String gauges: D'Addario EJ99TLG (low G tenor strung for DGBE baritone)
- Neck relief: straight
- Fret style: medium/lower
Condition notes: The tuners are non-original but vintage. There's light weather-check and mild wear to the finish throughout. It's otherwise quite clean for its age.
It comes with: It does not officially have a case but I may have a spare on hand!
Consignor tag: COMET
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