Does a Gibson get any rarer than this? I don't think so!

[f5loar]

Didn't know where to put this one, either under the Vintage or the Ebay but it needs to be seen by us before anyone get's so excited they hit the "but it now" button. I'll let the photos on ebay do the introduction and then we can weigh in on whether this is worthy of our attention or not.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/vintage-ukul.../222040051026?

[Tom C]

Very interesting, but even the seller seems hesitant it what he has.

[allenhopkins]

Label apparently says "Gibson U-5," but "U" was the prefix Gibson used for harp guitars. I've never seen that shape headstock on a Gibson ukulele.

I'm suspicious. Pretty well-known that Lloyd Loar signed F-5 mandolins and L-5 guitars, so if one were crafting a faux Loar label, "U-5 ukulele" would fit into that pattern.

Seller's honest in saying he/she doesn't know who made the uke -- just transcribed the label. Looks like a top-line instrument, but if a substantial part of the $2.5K asking price is the Loar attribution -- well, I dunno...

[George R. Lane]

So when did Mr. Loar starting signing labels with a SHARPIE?????

[mrmando]

Cute little uke, but I suspect someone's just having fun with a fake label.

28347 would be 1916-ish, way too early for the Loar period.

[JFDilmando]

every Gibson uke I have seen has name on headstock, and no binding like that at all.... the label looks really bogus, but I wouldn't really know enough to say more with the picture...

Certainly looks worth the opening bid price, in any case

[T.D.Nydn]

The label isnt printed that sharp,it looks like a photocopy or something,,

[Canoedad]

I'm not a Lloyd Loar aficionado, but his signature always appears very self conscious to me. This one seems much more fluid.

[Simon DS]

It's beautiful!
I agree, it's fun -as an art project. I'd like to do some art myself, but unfortunately when money's involved, things change.

[Emmett Marshall]

Off topic, but does anyone know where I can get some of these labels because I'd like to have a Lloyd Loar signed CD player?

[Timbofood]

It looks pretty "interesting" but, I have serious doubts about and affiliation with Kalamazoo, headstock looks more "Stewart" or "Vega" to me. And Allen is absolutely correct "U" was the harp guitar notation. Actually the signature looks more "Flair" than "Sharpie" to me but......
I smell fish....
It is "interesting"

[Charles E.]

Bingo! As soon as I saw the headstock, it said S.S. Stewart.

[barney 59]

I'd give the seller a pass except for he used the Loar label as a come on.
He knows it's fake and he should say so...why? because he knows that the Loar label means something! If he didn't know it was fake he would have made it his business to know because if it was real it might be worth a whole lot of money! He always knew or he found out before he listed it for sale but he's hoping some fool sees the label and is willing to pay the $2g+ buy it now price for an instrument that is worth maybe $200 on a good day!

[pointpergame]

Label apparently says "Gibson U-5," but "U" was the prefix Gibson used for harp guitars. .

This isn't my area, but I'm positive that Gibson made Banjo ukes which are labeled UB-1, then UB-2, and I think UB-5.

If I remember correctly, their Ukes were listed as U-1, U-2 and more. The thing I don't understand is, I thought, Gibson didn't start building ukes until 1927, long after Martin had seen the Uke light. And Loar was off to college by then, wasn't he?

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Charley - "..it said S.S. Stewart.".Spot on. Anybody familiar with old banjos must have come across that headstock shape before & i've seen lots of them in the past.
As for the signature,anybody using a fountain pen with a broad nib & ''real ink'', might produce lettring that's pretty similar,
Ivan

[Jeff Mando]

Well.................if it's real, it' a bargain and belongs in a museum -- if not, it's a ripoff!

Where's Kurt Russell when we need him?

[Jeff Mando]

The fingerboard does not extend over the body. It appears to be a banjo-uke neck mated with a uke body. None of the pictures show the heel detail -- maybe, on purpose? Looks like something someone concocted.

[Charles E.]

The fingerboard does not extend over the body. It appears to be a banjo-uke neck mated with a uke body. None of the pictures show the heel detail -- maybe, on purpose? Looks like something someone concocted.

Jeff, you may be onto something. When I did a search of S.S. Stewart Ukulele's, none of them looked like that. I could not even find a headstock of an S.S. Stewart uke that looked like that (banjo's and piccolo banjos abound). I think it is a frankenuke.

It would be interesting what the folks at ukulele underground would make of it.

[Charles E.]

By the way, is F5loar having a good laugh at us by now?

[f5loar]

Just trying to educate you on fake Loars! I sorta think the whole thing is homemade and not a factory uke. The label was a clever joke by someone who at least knew who Loar was. No Loar never signed the serial no./model label. Don't think they made a U-5 any year. Gibson not known for doing pearl trim around the body. Seller knows it's fake but leaves that little shadow of doubt for you the idoit buyer. I'm not so sure it's a $200 uke. $2,500 is a dreamland figure.

[neal]

Gibson did make good, if not always consistent, ukes. This as you all know ain't. f5loar has the entire story right there in post#20.

Btw, not all head stocks were branded, but the shape is recognizable on all.

[allenhopkins]

From what I can dig up perusing ukulele sites, Gibson seemed to emulate C F Martin in designating its ukes "Style 1," "Style 2," and "Style 3." The characteristics associated with each style varied during the years Gibson made ukuleles.

Gibson tenor ukuleles are sometimes designated "T-1" or "TU-1" etc. in listings, but I don't know if they're marked that way. There are also some ukulele listings where the instruments given the model name "UKE-1" etc., but again I don't know if that's how they're marked.

Gibson harp-guitars were definitely designated with the "U" prefix in their catalogs. And most Gibson banjo models had two-letter prefixes, e.g. "UB" for ukulele-banjo, "MB" for mandolin-banjo, "RB" for "regular" or 5-string banjo, "TB" for tenor banjo, "PB" for plectrum banjo. Would that Gibson had followed the same practice with regard to its mandolins and guitars; we wouldn't have the ongoing discussions of whether "F" stands for "Florentine" (I vote "no"), "A" for "artist," or what "H" has to do with "mandola," or "K" with "mandocello."

But then, what would we post about on a slow day?

[Timbofood]

Don't you guys remember...
Lloyd's real first name was Stewart!

[Emmett Marshall]

It's up to $355.00 and climbing today with 40 people watching. I wonder how many "watchers" are really just us waiting to see what it sells for?

I'm curious. Not being an instrument, market savy kinda guy: What do you all think this thing would be worth if it were actually a Loar signed Uke? Not that it is, but if it was.

[FLATROCK HILL]

What do you all think this thing would be worth if it were actually a Loar signed Uke? Not that it is, but if it was.

The thing is Emmet, to really look at your question seriously, there would be a lot of factors to consider.

According to the serial # (see mrmando's post #5) this thing would have been built between five and eight years before Mr. Loar's time at Gibson. Assuming that Lloyd cut his acoustic-engineering teeth building ukes before moving onto better, if not bigger things, he would have been pushing the limits of the child labor laws (if they'd existed then). He more than likely would have signed with crayon, there by making the 'Sharpie' signature an obvious forgery.

Hawaii wouldn't even become a State for another forty years or so. To really get an answer to your question, you'd have to go back in time, hang the uke on the wall of a Hawaiian barber shop and wait for an aspiring young uke picker to come in for a haircut. If that picker was to buy the instrument and start a new form of music...lets say Bluegrassskirt Music..you never know. The thing might be worth a fortune in today's market.

I'd bet against it though.