Eleven years ago, a package arrived. It came from an eBay purchase and contained a beat up ukulele with three gut string on it. I put new strings on it and had my very first ukulele. It has opened the door to music, new friends, and many adventures. I can easily say it was a life changing event that has made its stamp on my life.
From major events and festivals, workshops with dozens of skilled musicians and hundreds of friends, open mics, featured performer and camp, it has been an amazing ride! I’ve written a book and done presentations and lectures, not to mention other opportunities to advocate for this wonderful instrument!
I always thought it was probably a Harmony from about the 1950’s. It was actually made by Harmony, but was purchased by the Richter Company in the 1940’s. Fred Richter was an artist and would decorate them with custom painting and stencils such as this one has.
A couple years ago I put some vintage gut strings on it. You can see my video of Gut Strings featuring the instrument and the strings.
