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1930s Roy Smeck \
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1930s Roy Smeck \"Vita Uke\" Ukulele by Harmony of Chicago, Vintage Antique Rare
Price: US $184.10

Aloha!


Up for sale is this classic 1930s ukulele, a Roy Smeck \"Vita Uke\" by Harmony of Chicago. The body is mahogany, the top spruce with Art Deco \"seal\" cutouts, and three layers of inlaid top binding in black and white. The fingerboard is rosewood with dot inlays and twelve nickel-silver frets. The total length is 21-1/2\", the body length 9-1/2\", the scale length 14\". The width at the widest point is 7-7/8\". The bridge and nut are both original; so are the tuners, which work well. The strings are a new set of Martin M600 Clear Fluorocarbons.


Despite their relatively small size, these Vita Ukes have a long scale and sound like concert-sized instruments, big and warm and round -- just lovely. The action is low (3/32\" at the twelfth fret), the fingerboard nice and wide (1-7/16\" at the nut, 1-13/16\" at the body). It plays wonderfully.


CONDITION:There are 3 repaired cracks on the back, all cleated and glued (see photo 4). The top has an old repair between the seal cutouts that’s been glued and reinforced with a spruce strip (see photos 2, 11). The righthand \"seal\" has lost a little wood at the left edge, which changed the shape of its \"chest\" slightly (see photo 2). The center back brace was reglued, and the bridge may also have been reglued at some point, based on some glue squeeze-out at the left edge. (See photo 7). The original finish is dinged and scratched, but fundamentally sound: Some play wear above the sound holes was sealed with shellac, and the whole body lightly oversprayed with two coats of nitrocellulose guitar lacquer to pull things together (see photos 2, 9, 11).


NEWBIES: If you have a zero response score, no problem -- offer away -- but please contact me by e-mail first, or I will have to cancel your offer.


SHIPPING: I ship only to the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Alaska and U.S. Protectorates. No P.O. boxes, please, and no international sales due to the rosewood fingerboard, which is restricted under the CITES treaty. Domestic shipping is usually via UPS Ground ($18.00), with an extra $25.00 for shipment to Hawaii, Alaska or U.S. Protectorates.


Mahalo for looking.




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