DATING MARTIN UKES

No, this is not about taking a Martin uke to dinner in hopes of getting laid. This is about finding out how old they are, because taking an underage Martin uke to dinner and "afters" will land you in extreme hot water.

Generally, this is as close as you can come to a date telling you when a Martin uke may have been made. Remember that some details did not change immediately, so there is a lot of wiggle room here.

1. Bar frets all before WWII - Martin ukes were discontinued from 1940-42 depending on the model. There are no WWII era ukuleles unless a few were specially ordered.
2. Bar frets and decal, mid-1930s to early '40s.
3. Stamp on back of peg head, all to early '30s.
4. Stamp and decal: 1932 - '34 (probably).
5. Wooden friction pegs: Mahogany uke before 1927/28. Many koa ukes still had wood pegs till WWII including all 1K (probably).
6. T-frets and no MADE IN USA stamp: Post War till 1961 or so.
7. MADE IN USA stamp: 1961 on (could have been late '60 or even 1962)

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