Saturday 19 October 2013

Banjo ukes for Christmas

Ok, who do you know who wants a banjo uke for Xmas???

I currently have a few on offer, with ukes to suit every budget. And for every player, from beginner to serious "Formby" player.

i can offer beginners tuition, and lots of advice too on what to buy, and what NOT to buy!

feel free to get in touch for more info

Slingerland Maybell model 24 EDIT! or so i thought! its NOT a 24, so what is it?

Heres another Slingerland. One of my favourite brand of ukes.

These ukes were made from the 1920's onwards. This one is an early one, confirmed by the wooden dowel wedged in the perchpole.
I have fitted a flatback resonator to complete the look, as i believe this model had a resonator.

Its made from maple, looks to have been stained. I stripped most of the stain away to leave a nice effect of the grain showing through the stain.

Fitted with 16 tension hooks and Gibson UB-1 style shoes. These have been re-chromed, along with the bezel as they were in a poor state when i received it.

Plays very well, nice and comfy to hold, very sweet sounding uke with the right amount of volume.

I fitted new tuners, new vellum & GHS strings




George Formby Dallas-E (pre war version)

Here we have the "top of the range" Model E, Dallas banjo ukulele.
Endorsed by George Formby. This one is numbered E/1300.

The instrument is in excellent condition, so it didnt need much restoring. I took the whole thing apart, cleaned and polished the wood, sonic cleaned the metal parts and then re-assembled.
Fitted with new vellum, bridge & GHS clear strings.

The original tuners work very well, and look as good as new!

The instrument itself plays very well. Has a very clear crisp tone. Its that classic UK Banjolele sound.
Can be very loud, but i find it doesnt need to played too hard, and produces a much better sound when gently strummed.

All the walnut veneer is in excellent shape, one very small scuff on the resonator. I have re-finished it, so it it almost invisible.
The original red velvet lined case is still there too, it is even padded.

Originally described as,

Top of the range of George Formby instruments made by John E. Dallas and Sons Ltd. being gold plated and having an inlaid pearl nameplate in the peg head. 
Has a walnut neck, walnut veneered maple body and resonator with edges bound in ebony cellulose, highly polished finish. Ebony fingerboard with ornamental mother of pearl position marks. Special internal geared pegs, 8 inch flush rim, extra heavy straining bezel, 12 sunk pull down tension rods, metal tone ring and tone plate.


(from the excellent site created by the late Dennis Taylor)