I had a pleasant surprise yesterday when a nice lady named Viva called and asked if I could look at her old family ukes to see if they could be brought back to life. I invited her over and look what she brought.
Her grandfathers Martin soprano and her fathers Favilla Baritone.
The Favilla was in perfect condition, even the tuners were OK, a little stiff but working fine. I happened to have an extra set of Aquila Baritone strings so we put them on, tuned them up and Viva was playing a very nice old Favilla as I turned my attention to the Martin.
Her grandfathers Martin soprano and her fathers Favilla Baritone.
The Favilla was in perfect condition, even the tuners were OK, a little stiff but working fine. I happened to have an extra set of Aquila Baritone strings so we put them on, tuned them up and Viva was playing a very nice old Favilla as I turned my attention to the Martin.
The Martin needs a little help. The the old plastic tuner buttons had deteriorated and crumbled away so the tuners are useless unless she can find some modern replacement buttons. I suspect someone, somewhere is making them as it must be a normal problem with these old Martins. This one probably dates from the twenties. It is really in OK shape except for a long crack on the side of the lower bout that has been repaired with a sloppy epoxy job. I am sure that with renovated or new tuners this will also be a sweet player. I had some tuners that would have worked but the shafts were a tiny bit larger and I did not want to drill the holes in the peg head of this old classic any larger. Hopefully Viva can find replacement buttons and use the old tuner hardware. It was fun to see these old ukes and to help a nice gal a bit.