C. F. Martin T-18 Model Tiple (1946), made in Nazareth, PA, natural top, dark stained back and sides finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, chipboard case.
This is a very nice, if well-played, Style 18 Martin Tiple from the just post-WWII period. Martin's manufacture of "The Uke that went to College!" dates to the early 1920s, but after a long layoff they were perhaps surprisingly revived just after the war and made in small quantities up into the 1970s. This T-18 is mahogany with a spruce top, built like a miniature Style 18 guitar with an X-braced braced top and strung with 10 steel strings in ukulele tuning. The fingerboard, bridge, headstock overlay, and binding are rosewood; the nut is ebony.
While not well-remembered today, numerous small African-American string-swing ensembles of the 1930s made extensive use of these small, loud instruments for both fast lead work and frantic rhythm strumming. Two of the best known were the Spirits Of Rhythm (featuring guitarist Teddy Bunn) and Cats and the Fiddle, where Tiny Grimes got his professional start. This particular instrument has definitely seen a lot of active strumming but still plays and sounds great. No better examples of these now somewhat obscure instruments have ever been made, and the Martin Tiple remains -- even if by default -- the world's standard.
Overall length is 27 in. (68.6 cm.), 9 in. (22.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 17 in. (432 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/2 in. (38 mm.).
This long-serving T-18 is rather worn-in but all original and a very good player, with the ringing tone these are known for and plenty of volume. The top shows a LOT of strumwear around the sound hole and above the fingerboard, and the finish overall has many dings, dents, and scrapes.
Structurally the instrument is excellent with a nice, flat top, solid original bridge, and only one tiny old spruce grain crack off the back rim. The neck appears to have been reset and playability is excellent; while not one of the cleaner Tiples we have seen, this is one of the best-playing and sounding examples to brighten our doorstep in a long time! Comes in a period chipboard case that is slightly oversized. Very Good + Condition.
