| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| ricdoug |
Posted - 08/20/2012 : 08:06:36 AM
It might be Captain Mikealele.
http://www.shorpy.com/node/13505?size=_original#caption
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| 7 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| basilking |
Posted - 10/05/2012 : 4:28:45 PM
quote:
It could be a cuatro...Puerto Ricans brought the instrument to Hawai'i...
My mother-in-law [RIP] grew up on a plantation in Kohala. Her grandparents were part of that Puerto Rican diaspora after hurricane San Ciriaco's devastation in the winter of 1899-1900.
~ 5,000 Puerto Ricans emigrated in about 12 travel-groups to work in Hawai'i. She did much research and wrote several books; many folks considered her the foremost authority on this subject. her archives are now in the Centro De Estúdios Puertoriqueños @ Hunter College in NYC.
I have a nice custom ukulele made for me by my a calabash Uncle to my wife. He played cuatro, uke, etc and sang beautifully. He performed on Hawai`ian cruise ships in '50s/'60s.
The construction of this ukulele is unique in my experience - the body's made from a solid block of mahogany that was cut to shape, then sawn in 1/2 [side-to-side] & hollowed out. No bracing, etc. Plays/sounds great. This fabrication comes from the Puerto Rican "Enterizo" style of cuatro-making. I've not seen another ukulele like it, tho' cuatros this Uncle made had the same construction.
The term "Cuatro" doesn't mean the instrument would necesarily have 4 strings or courses-of-strings. It refers to tuning in 4ths.
Many cuatros I've seen [& one I had] are 5-courses, the lowest-pitched 3 being octave courses & the other two unison. Sorta like 5/6 of a 12-string, tuned in 4th from course-to-course.
I used to have a Martin tiple [I got ~'80 in Kalihi]. Mom sourced a bunch of info on it, cuatros, cavaquinhos, etc. I personally prefer my '20s 8-str/"taropatch" Martin ukulele over that tiple & any cuatro/etc I've had. Tuning's familiar but the 2 octave courses & 2 doubled courses allow one to get a similar sonic signature to those uke-antecedents.
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| ricdoug |
Posted - 09/18/2012 : 4:50:57 PM
It could also be a mandolinetto:
http://www.musurgia.com/products.asp?ProductID=2142&CartID=3148069182012
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| ypochris |
Posted - 09/16/2012 : 06:29:51 AM
I noticed the eight tuners also, but assumed it was just double-strung like a twelve-string guitar. I admit I've never seen an ukulele like that, though. I'll have to look again... |
| thumbstruck |
Posted - 09/16/2012 : 05:50:27 AM
It could be a cuatro, an instrument that began to circulate in the US after the Spanish-American War. Falsetto2002 told me that Puerto Ricans brought the instrument to Hawai'i when they were brought to the islands for work in the cane fields. |
| TerryLiberty |
Posted - 09/16/2012 : 03:18:41 AM
Kind of an interesting instrument. I think I count eight tuning heads and more than the usual four strings. Hard to tell but it looks different from a conventional uke. Anybody else see it?
Curiously. |
| alasdair |
Posted - 09/15/2012 : 11:43:06 PM
New York, June 1918. "Ward G aboard hospital ship Comfort." Evidently some sort of allegory representing the age-old tension between faith-based and ukulele-based schools of healing. Bain News Service
Give the caption-writer a pulitzer! |
| Mika ele |
Posted - 08/30/2012 : 09:31:30 AM
dang Ric -- I'm not THAT old . . . |
