1930s Gibson UB-1 Banjo-Ukulele

This is the cleanest Gibson UB-1 I have ever seen. The previous owner dated it to right around 1930 on its features but I think it could have been built in the late '20s as well. It's hard to tell as these guys seem to have not gotten factory order number stamps inside for the most part.

It arrived in great shape and got put on hold almost immediately after work wrapped-up. I gave it a quick level/dress of the frets, fit an old Grover bridge, and set it up. It was not too bad when it arrived but tweaks help to get these dialed-in.

The most curious thing about Gibson UBs like this guy is that they have a reduced scale (under 13") which means they work best with either higher-tension strings or tuning up to ADF#B as the strings feel a little slack at GCEA tuning. The Nylguts that the previous owner put on did help a bit, though, as they've got decent tension.

These banjo-ukes have a ringy, bright, snappy sound that's pretty addicting and very-much all their own. I'm not sure if any other maker built ones with quite the sound these have.