Not all that “vintage”, but they don’t make them like this no more! Here is a fine example of a Guild dreadnought from one of my favorite era: the 2004-2008 Tacoma era.
Tacoma Guilds are among the best ever made in my humble opinion. They abuntantly used super fine woods like Adirondack spruce, while still keeping the traditional construction and build techniques (dovetail neck joint, hide glue throughout). Guild made in the later factories (New Hartford, Oxnard), while being nice guitars, kinda lost the tradition and “Guildness”.
Dark stained Honduran mahogany for the back, sides and neck. A classic tone wood that enhances clarity and chimey overtones. Whether it is on a Martin D-18, a Gibson J45 or an old Guild, this may very well be my favorite tone wood.
Such a classic look…
Here’s a little close-up of the superb Adirondack top. Grain lines are straight, close and evenly spaced, typical of old growth wood. It shows the typical medulary rays of this species (a bit thicker than the silking found on Sitka spruce). It’s a very pretty top and I can confirm its tone even surpasses the look!
Does it get better than this brown / red celluloid pickguard?
Rosewood bridge in the classic Guild curves
The Guild logo and Chesterfield motif are inlaid pieces of mother of pearl. Very classy touch on a rather plainly decorated guitar.
Grover Rotomatic tuners, the gold standard since 1958!
This D40 Bluegrass Jubilee has seen its share of G runs and has the scars to prove it. The thin and hard nitro finish has dings and scratches throughout, some deeper than others. But thanks, it’s free of any crack or other structural flaw. Note: the pickup was removed and the jack plug left disconnected.
There’s some hard to photograph belt buckle rash on the back, but it’s there. This fine player ain’t no case queen for sure.
Cool thing is despite all the nicks and scratches, the neck is free of any defect. It’s all smooth and super comfy at that. Nut width is the typical 1.11/16th and the shape is a slightly fat rounded C. I would say this profile is a bit thicker than a Martin modern shape, or a Westerly Guild shape, but it’s a bit thinner than a 1950′ Gibson profile. Fits very nicely in the hand with some substance, me loves.
I like the Guild heel shape, very rounded and elegant.
Tacoma Guilds are some of my favorites because of the classic construction (hide glue, dovetailed necks…), use of Adi tops and nice finish and neck shapes. Wish they were still made there.
Here it is in its high quality TKL (Canada) original hard case. Case candy’s still in the pocket.
Here’s a song we made with my duet Jolies Letters, featuring the Guild D40 capoed up at the 5th fret. The video captures the tone of the guitar quite well. It’s big and balanced, with strong clarity and full frequency range. It rings clearly with lots of clean sustain, very much like this 1962 Martin D-18. To the best of my knowledge, this sort of rich “high fidelity” tone can be obtained only with well weathered instruments with top grade wood (Adirondack is a plus), hide glue construction and thin hard lacquer finish.
Eagle was an importer of Japanese made instruments that flooded the European market in the 1970s / 1980s. To be honest, most acoustics are unremarkable knockoffs of Martin D-18s and Gibson Hummingbirds with ugly adjustable bridges.
This particular guitar is much rarer than that. It’s a stupidly beautiful repro of the classic flagship from Guild: the mighty D-55. I have never ever touched or even seen pictures of another guitar like this. Feel free to contact me if you have one or know about this brand and model.
Every detail about this guitar is perfect and well executed but let’s get to it real quick: it’s all laminate wood! No worries though, it’s the quality stuff that Japanese factories knew how to make. The top wood is made out of two pieces of good spruce, and a very thin layer of cross grained wood in the sandwiched in between, for the sake of stability. It is thin, resonant and it doesn’t bulge. “Musical Instrument Grade Laminate” as they used to say.
The celluloid pickguard in the classic Guild shape is a nice touch and perfectly matches the tobacco sunburst. Man, I could bath into this sunburst for days!
Classic Guild bridge in solid rosewood (yay!).
Details, details, it’s all in the details. Notice the black and white purfling on each side of the fretboard.
And a close up on the trademark Guild mother of pearl / abalone triangle inlays.
Back and sides look like some sort of jacaranda / rosewood.
The checkerboard stripe looks so much like the stuff Guild was using in the late 1970s.
Woah some tasty Guild bling right here!
The G shield and Eagle logo are not decals but rather actual pieces of mother of pearl inlaid into the wood.
The neck has a super fine feeling, reminiscent of a late 30′ Martin: very soft / rounded V with medium thickness. Lovely neck shape, with 1.11/16th width at the nut. Very low action to boot and clean polished frets for no buzz. Tuners are quality gears identical in shape as the stuff Guild was using back then.
This guitar was fitted with an interesting pickup. The pickup is an Ibanez box-shaped piezo job that is velcroed under the bridge plate. This pickup sports the old rounded 1970s Ibanez logo and is as old as the guitar. It has a great natural sound too and I wish Ibanez was still making them. If you have any info on these old Ibby pickups, please let me know.
Last but not least, a label pic. I would bet the “GW” stands for “Guild Western” and the 830 for “830000 Yen”, which was quite a hefty sum. Notice the well shaped back brace, almost knife blade style.
Overall, the guitar has a very Guildesque voice, with clean sustain, balance all across the spectrum and full range. It has strong clarity, unlike the majority of plywood guitars which fall short in that category. It begs for some fingerpicking to make those crisp overtones ring and chime, but can roar with a G run and heavy attack too.
The “Oakland” brand of musical instruments was a French importer of the mid / late 1970s to early 80s. As such, it never produced guitars per se, but rather, slapped its logo on Japanese factory built instruments (in this case, most likely the Suzuki Violin Company of Nagano). The acoustic instruments bearing this name are mostly ho-hum copies of Hummingbirds and D-18s, but the Oakland electric guitars that I’ve seen are definitely worth chasing.
This particular example is a super fine and dead on copy of an early 70s Fender Stratocaster in Knopfleresque Dakota / Fiesta Red finish (the red background was a terrible idea, sorry about that!).
Classic styling throughout. What’s not to like?
Perfect, tight neck joint with no gap. Everything is perfectly aligned and assembled. Overall, a no-issue, well crafted instrument that represents Japanese best efforts.
I totally understand how the folks at Fender USA got mad when they realised the Japanese were cranking out copies that where for the most part better built than the originals!
Bridge saddles are quality, heavy bits. Spacing is the more modern 52mm from E to E.
The bridge block is a thick piece of steel. Again, that’s top shelf hardware and is mandatory for producing the classic Strat tone and sustain.
Classic 4 bolt neck plate, with “Made In Japan” engraved.
The neck has no skunk stripe, as it should. It’s a two piece, “maple cap” design, just like the original. Profile is a very standard, not too thin / not too thick medium C profile with a slight taper toward the body. It’s a very comfy profile and nobody will complain, unless you’re into baseball bats or pencil thin necks.
CBS type large headstock with “Oakland” logo. Bullet truss rod works just fine and the vintage frets (small) are clean and dressed.
Tuners are typical of the era, simple, no nonsense jobs. They just work, and they are very close in look to the original Schaller / Fender “F tuners” of the era. I would bet they’re interchangeable without too much fussing.
This babe is 40 years young and shows it. The body has some rub marks and dings through the finish, just enough to show that the body ain’t plywood, but all solid. The specie is unknown to me, but I can tell the whole guitar weights at around 3.2 kg, which is quite light and a pleasure to hold. Also, the finish is nicely applied in a thin coat, unlike the original Fender guitars from the era which had thick and plasticky polyester coats in many cases.
The 12th fret dots have the correct shallow spacing. Details, details… This thing feels, oozes and sounds so much like a real 1970s Strat it is crazy. If you can find one, go ahead and don’t think twice, they are very fun to play, chase and collect.
Here’s a shot of what’s under the hood. Pickups are low output ceramic (about 4.5k). They are kinda cheap and funky, but they sound FINE! Might be the low number of turns on the wire (vintage Strat pickups are usually wound in the 5.5k to 6k range), might be the magnets or the wax aging or a combination of this, but they do have a very vintagey tone that is nowhere near a modern ceramic pickup. They have a very seventy-ish feel to them, great for funk and Hendrixy licks, and they handle crunch really well, keeping definition and tightness. The Japs had a feel for making cheap stuff with great sound and these little pickups are a proof!
No funny bizness down there! Just a classic Strat routing (no swimming pool or humbucker hack jobs) with original finish inside and out.
I’ve had a lot of classic American guitars from the Golden Era pass through my hands, but this comparatively modest Vantage VW-180 still is a fine old instrument and deserves its place here. Not a wealthy collector item but a super fun model to chase nonetheless!
The VW-180 was produced in Japan in 1979 according the old catalogs. It is a dreadnought shaped all (high quality) laminate acoustic guitar, not trying to copy any particular classic model, but rather having its own unique vibe. The body shape is sort of in between Martin and Gibson, as the shoulders are more rounded than a Martin, but more squarish than a Gibson Jumbo. It is also Vantage highest grade acoustic model, and thus shows off some very sweet bling. Overall, I would rank this guitar in the same ballbark as the equivalent Yamaha FG series, but more blingy and without the wild neck angle problem lots of Yammies have.
The laminated spruce top is tinted in a pretty honey color and sports a tasty abalone line on the rosette and around the body edge, Ã la Martin D-41. The rosewood fretboard is bound and features 2 dots at the 7th fret (Martin-like). The wood selection is surprisingly good overall. The laminate stock is consistent with the fine japanese stuff they were using at the time, i.e., thin, resonant and stable. Great for musical instruments, despite what the “all solid nerds” will yell over the internet!
The pickguard is not black plastic as 99% of import guitars, but a superb dark celluloid. The shape, again, is unique to Vantage and is part of this guitar’s mojo.
The bridge is a high quality rosewood job, copied from the Martin design. The original plastic saddle was certainly not on par with the rest of the guitar and was replaced with a bone saddle. The good news is that the neck angle is spot on on this particular example, leaving a good bit of saddle protruding and an excellent string break angle. This is always one of the most important thing to look out for when chasing guitars, just because doing a neck reset is no fun at all for your wallet!
The back and sides are laminated mahogany, clean, nicely made with a dark wood center strip. The sound of this guitar is absolutely classic dreadnought. Dry, loud, fundamental and boomy. The treble is present, but not harsh in any way, and gives a nice balance to the powerful low end. I’ve heard and played 1970s Martin D-18s that wished they’d sound as good as this Vantage (seriously). This thing resonates and lets the sound bloom out of the sound hole.
Cute little rosewood strip between the two parts of the back. This Vantage has nice details throughout. No doubt it was a top of the line instrument at the time.
Headstock shape is unique to Vantage. Rosewood overlay rops it off nicely.
Tuners are top-grade Rotomatic copies, most likely made by Gotoh. They work flawlessly, even after 40+ years of playing. The headstock tapers into the neck with a volute. The neck shape is slightly on the fatter side of the spectrum, which I L-O-V-E. Very reminiscent of a Gibson very rounded profile. 1.11/16th+ at the nut, well dressed clean frets make for a super comfy feeling guitar overall, and very rewarding tonewise.
Last but not least, the label. Those Japs knew how to draw them elegant and pretty. Feel free to give a holler if you have one. They are RARE instruments and very cool workhorses with a bit more mojo than the average Yammie or Suzuki.
Levin is by far my favorite European instrument maker of yesteryear. The designs are simple, no nonsense and elegant. The quality of materials and workmanship is outstanding, and on par if not better than the best American makers.
This late 1950′ Model 52 mandolin is no exception. It features a slightly arched top, flat back construction, in a Spruce / flamed Birch construction.
The three tone sunburst, sprayed from a deep brown to a pale yellow would turn the finest Gibson green with envy.
And if you, like me, can’t get enough of this sunburst, you can have some more staring at the back, the sides, as well as the neck!
The top is made out of super fine European Spruce – plentiful in Sweden where the instrument was made. I’d bet the American builders of the era would have loved to have supplies of such a high quality tone wood.
The bridge is a simple bar of rosewood, elegantly carved and perfectly intonated and matched to the top radius. It just works.
Here’s a shot of the label. Looks old, feels old, smells old. The multi layered rosette (wooden, not plastic) is a nice touch.
The headstock sports a gold silk screened Levin logo and vintage open tuners.
There is no adjustable truss rod on this instrument. However, I would bet real dollars the neck is reinforced with some metal bar, as the neck is dead straight under string tension.
According to the Vintage Guitar Sweden website, such tuners with straight sided white buttons were used from 1957 to 1960. It’s the best indicator to identify the year of manufacture, as the serial number, lightly stamped on the top edge of the headstock is barely visible.
The neck has a very comfortable C profile, on the medium to thick side. Width at the nut is a generous 1.3/16″ (31mm) which is very consistent with Gibson standards. The scale lenght is 14″ (357mm) which is again, very similar to the Gibson equivalent A style mandolin. In a nutshell, this mandolin feels just like a Gibson. This is very good news as old mandolins from other makers (including Martin) often have smallish necks / scale lenghts which make them very hard to play for normal hands (been there, done that).
Sorry for the dust 🙂
Frets are well dressed, have plenty of life and action is low. A very well playing instrument indeed.
The figure in the Birch is hard to capture. This wood doesn’t get quite as flamey as some Maple varieties, for example. It is more like subtle shades of constrasting colors, ever changing with light direction.
This is a great sounding instrument, halfway between an old school Napolitan mandolin and a Gibson A style. The top is not quite as arched as a Gibson, which reduces the midrange honk and treble punch, but yields a very musical and softer tone. The harmonics and overtones are very rich and reminiscent of the flat top / bent top mandolins of the traditional Italian variety. It also packs more power than those instruments, making it a very adequate choice for small acoustic ensemble playing (Old Time, Irish etc.). It probably won’t compete with a loud bluegrass banjo in terms of sheer volume, but will certainly please the most discerning ear.
Here is the Model 52 “Capri”, shown in a 1950′ Levin catalog.
One can babble until the cows come home… a good J45 is a good J45. And an old well played one (preferably pre-1955) is even better.
This J45 came to life as a National 1155 in 1951 – still a great year for J45s as the backs were still solid Mahogany (plywood backs and sides showed up starting 1953ish) and the bracing was still of the thin, scalloped type (thicker straight braces appeared in 1955).
The National 1155 was produced for about a decade starting 1947. It was basically a Gibson J45 body mated to a National neck and hardware. The neck was a piece of hollow metal covered in wood veneer, crudely bolted to the body. Yikes!
Thank god, this particular one received a Gibson-style set neck (glued in / dovetailed), which makes it essentially a true blood J45.
The hardware is true to its National (Valco, Chicago, IL) origins. The bridge has the same footpring and shape as an original 1155 bridge. However, it has the Gibson dual pearl dots on the sides, more delicate curves, as well as a through saddle typical of an early 1950′ Gibson flattop. The luthier who carved that bridge did a fine job.
The original 1155 firestripe / leopard skin pickguard is not for everyone but looks uniquely retro-cool
.
The headstock is adorned with a 1930′ / 1940′ style Gibson stenciled logo, which was seen into 1944. The neck itself was carved very much like a “Banner Era” neck (1942 – 1945). It has a rounded C profile, thick yet very comfortable. The width at the nut is a generous 1.3/4″. The luthier who did the work obviously knew his Gibsons, as this neck feels and handles exactly like an early wartime Gibby neck.
The back of the neck is nicely worn in and looks / feels old, just like the rest of the guitar. It sports vintage Kluson style tuners.
The neck heel has the classic rounded Gibson shape.
And as a testimony of the work done on the neck, the headstock is tapered (i.e., thicker toward the nut) just like an original early 1950′ Gibson!
The guitar features heavy lacquer checking, typical of the era. However, it remains totally crack free and in excellent structural condition, with a nice and even top arch.
Here’s the lacquer checking on the gorgeous old Mahogany sides.
Peeping through the soundhole, one can see the smallish, knife blade back braces. The tone pouring out of the soundhole is one that can come out only from an old and structurally sound Gibson. It is raw and punchy like only a good Gibson can be. It also has a very good balance, unlike some J45s that can be very thumpy and undefined in the bass range. When I bought this baby, the shop also had a late 1950′ Martin D-18. I remember noticing some striking similarities between the two guitars, but also felt like this J45 was like a meaner, badder version of the D-18, in a Dr Jeckyll and Mr Hyde kind of way.
I have a special fondness for banjo-ukuleles (cf. this 1920′ Gibson UB-1 Ukulele Banjo), as they are funky as hell, make great rhythm machines in old time string band music (providing the off-beat tchak-a-TCHAK accentuation), and are plain cute.
This 1930′ (or 1920′?) Clarophone (Gretsch sub-brand) is among the best banjo-ukes I’ve had the chance to put my paws on.
Specs-wise, it has all the good stuff. The pot is 7″, providing a big tone while not being woofy like the bigger 8″ pots tend to be. Scale lenght is 13.5″ (pretty much identical to the standard Martin soprano scale lenght). A lot of vintage banjo-ukes have much shorter scale lenght (sopranino), which imparts a cramped, toy-like feel. This one is “just right”. The original (and perfectly maintained) calf skin is graced with a hand written inscription: “Limee”. I’ve been told limees are how English immigrants are called in the USA.
The only non-original part on the instrument is a newer Grover bridge. String spacing is a wide and comfortable 1.65″ (exactly like what one would find on a Martin soprano ukulele).
The headstock sports an elegant three point Martin inspired shape, adorned with a subtle Clarophone silk-screened label.
The headstock back sports a Gretsch Americana stamp. Hot.
The tuners are top of the line Grover Champion pegs (OEM tuners for the high end manufacturers like Martin and Gibson). They work dandy and are beautiful pieces of industry. The back of the neck transitions into the headstock through a nicely carved rounded volute. BTW the neck is dead straight and is extremely comfortable. A lot of banjo-ukes from this era had “mandolin-style” necks (i.e., thin at the nut and very deep front to back), which are a bear to play. This one has a wide (1.35″) nut and a slim front to back profile, much like a Martin vintage soprano ukulele, providing ample room for the fingers.
The hardware is high grade throughout. The tailpiece is solid and practical (Gibson used a similar model on their UB line). The tension hoop is a massive ring of steel. L-shoes are thickly plated. All in all, the construction oozes tank-like quality.
The portholes are awesome looking and probably play a major role in the excellent tone of this instrument. The closed pot / porthole design produces a smooth and musical midrange and an excellent diffusion of the sound. This is a similar design to the Gibson UB’s screwed in backplates, although more elegant.
The only notable defect in the banjo uke is a crack on the back plate veneer. This is a structural non-issue since the back is made out of two plies of wood, and only the exterior one is affected. It does not bulge.
Vintage acoustic flattop guitars are not all about Martins and Gibsons… Those in the know show some – well deserved – respect for other manufacturers, including the ones at the lower end of the spectrum. Driving a Rolls Royce sure is hella cool, but one can have some serious fun with a Toyota.
The present Harmony H1203 definitely belongs to the second category. It’s not a show stopper compared to other guitars in my collection, but a wonderful ride nonetheless.
It came out of the Harmony Chicago’s assembly line sometimes during the 1960′ (the serial / date stamp inside the body has faded away for the most part and is hard to decypher). Being a “Sovereign”, it sports all the higher grade features of the brand, including, just to name a few, solid genuine mahogany back, sides and neck, solid high grade spruce top, superior trim and glossy polished finish.
The H1203 was the king of the smaller bodied, a.k.a. Auditorium, guitars in the Harmony line. The body shape is very reminiscent of the Martin 000 / OM size, featuring similarly curvaceous lines. Body width is 15.3″ at the lower bout (Vs. 15″ for the 000 or OM) and scale lenght is 25.2″ (which is right halfway between the 000’s 24.9″ and the OM’s 25.4″ scale lenghts). It is undoubtly a comfortable body shape / size and the guitar falls naturally on the laps. In a word, it is the kind of intrument that’s a perfect companion for those lazy couch picking sessions.
The tone emanating from the soundhole of this H1203 is quite a bit Martinish, not Gibsony at all (I have read many times people toting that their Harmony was a mix of the two, but in this case I beg to differ) and totally Harmoniesque. Which is awesome, in its own way. The Martinish flavor comes from the overall prettiness of the tone, especially the treble range. It has a sparkly, bell-like quality that reminds me of some post-war 00-18s I have played. The mid range is also quite pronounced, while not being nasal. This guitar is much more refined and less raw than a small bodied Gibson, hence it being closer to the Martin end of the spectrum in my opinion. Also, what stands out is the very musical sustain and strong harmonic content one would not associate with ladder braced guitars. That tone is a result of a particularly stout build. The top is reinforced by five stiff braces (whereas 1930′ Stellas and Harmonys only had three): one above the soundhole, two between the soundhole and bridge plate, and two between the bridge plate and the end block. As a bonus, the stout build produces a solid, stable instrument.
The bridge is a beautiful solid piece of dark Brazilian rosewood. Strings are ideally spaced at 2.1/4″ E to E. As you can see, the saddle sticks up high and the bridge is full height. Yes, the neck has been reset on this one, providing top notch geometry and playability.
The bridge is perfectly glued to the top, which holds medium (13/56) strings without a bulge. Note that the saddle is high enough to be lowered, but you would not want to do this since the action is already set at a perfect 2.4 mm, low E 12th fret. The saddle is compensated and overall, the intonation is spot on. Finally an old Harmony that rings true down the neck! I only can wish all my guitars had this kind of playability / intonation.
The back and sides (and neck) are made out of high grade genuine solid Honduran mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla). This wood is now becoming rarer and rarer. It provides a rich tone with tremendous clarity. And it does not look too shabby either.
The headstock sports the classic Sovereign tacky deco.
And it shows its provenance loud and proud. Note: the dust is not vintage and shall be removed.
The tuners are Waverly WG31. As a die-hard vintage tuner addict, I can say these work dandy and are among the prettiest I have seen. They operate smoothly and hold the tuning for months (seriously). The subdued yet elegant engraving on the plates is the icing on the cake.
The brass cog wheels, dark slotted screws and off-white buttons are things of beauty… mmmmmmmh.
The original nickel silver frets are in A+ condition, smoothly polished and leveled for optimal left-hand comfort. The action at the 1.3/4″ nut is also optimized for easy fingering action, and the neck is dead straight.
Talking about the neck, its shape is among my top 3 neck profiles ever, vintage or new. I would describe it as a medium to slightly fat rounded C shape, very similar to a late 1940′ or 1950′ Gibson profile, only a hair wider at the nut (which is a bonus since the fingers have more room). Interstingly, the Harmony catalogs of the era describe this neck has “Slim Line”. But don’t be fooled, this neck has nothing in common with modern low profile necks, as it definitely has some girth to it. Notice the Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and mother of pearl inlays.
The rosette includes multiple black / white boltaron (i.e., fancy word for “plastic”) rings, not unlike the equivalent Martin 000-28 of the era. One detail I love about those old Harmonys is the hide glue spills inside the kerfing, braces and neck block. It is quite funny that today’s big manufacturers and small builders usually charge extra money for using hide glue, when them old Chicago boxes are full of it.
The neck was expertly reset for perfect playability. In a nutshell, there’s no better playing Harmony guitar out there. None.
The joint is perfect. Most likely way better than when it originally left the assembly line. The guitar plays spot on and does not bulge with 13/56 strings and will do so for decades to come. Note the little hole left by removed strap pin.
The back is a solid single piece of mahogany. Hard to believe, but that’s a fact, Jack.
The trim includes a simple and elegant single ply binding on the back…
… and a more elaborate muliply binding on the front.
Being a Sovereign, and thus a flagship model, the H1203 sports some cosmetically fine Sitka spruce for the top, that would turn any Martin style 18 top green with envy. It does have some honest picking wear, as a corollary of it being well loved and well played, like most great instruments.
The endpin area shows a couple marks / deep scratches, that most likely occured when the guitar was handled while standing on some rough surface. Other than that, it is a very clean instrument in excellent condition.
When discussing the Harmony H1203, there’s one man that immediately comes to mind. Here’s some footage of Mance Lipscomb, who sure could make the 1203 sing.
And last but not least a little clip of the very guitar presented in this article. Hope you enjoy it.
Here’s a tiny but mighty piece of americana : the Martin Style 0 ukulele.
Despite its minimalist size (53 cm) and weight (300g), it delivers that classic soprano ukulele tone we all recognize and love. Its finely designed curves have become a benchmark of elegance just as well.
Talk about understatement! No fancy trim, no binding, no nothing. Just plain mahogany throughout.
The Martin ukes have a yummy ice cream coned shaped heel.
I’m particularly fond of the bridge shape appearance, with its rounded ends and little ebony saddle. What, me bridge fetish?
Where Martin ukuleles hit the bingo IMHO is the fretboard end. Ain’t nothing prettier in the whole world!
Since its introduction in 1922, the Style 0 remained basically unchanged. And since it was never serial numbered, it’s often pretty tricky to date them. But that’s part of the fun. First thing to notice is the presence of a headstock decal, which puts it after the mid 1930′.
It’s also got T frets and not bar frets, putting it after 1947. It’s a common misconception that Martin switched to T frets in 1934 on all instruments. This assertion is true for guitars only, as bar frets were still in use on smaller instruments decades later. I remember having a 1951 Martin A style mandolin that had bar frets. The tuners are often a good way to identify the ukes (as long as they’re original of course). This particular Style 0 sports Kluson 566 Keystone tuners that were in use starting 1946, and were phased out (on Style 0) in 1956 in favor of the hexagonal nuts Waverlies. I love those tuners by the way. Some of them crack and fail (don’t overthighten them), but they’re very light and hold the tuning for ages.
Regarding identification, that’s the best we can do for now. This Style 0 was built between 1947 and 1956. And here’s the stamp proudly showing its Nazareth, PA origin.
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