Guyatone-Howard Baritone Ukulele Purfled Trim 1960s Solid Mahogany Video

A late 1960s baritone ukulele. Most likely made by Guyatone and labeled as a Howard. Guyatone made ukes but only for other brands. This had a gold paper label with the brand on it, but it has fallen off over the decades. The neck is identical to ukes made by Matsumoku, so Guyatone must have bought premade necks for these. The identical flat "D" profile, heel shape, and squared-off headstock shape confirm the wooden parts came from the exact same Matsumoku machining jigs as the Howard.

About the checkerboard purfling: Matsumoku and Guyatone bought this exact pre-fabricated celluloid strip material from regional Nagoya supply houses that cataloged it as "Classical Guitar No. 2 Checkerboard Purfling" or "Tiki-Style Block Rosette Binding." Because the factories shared these parts sources, you can find the exact identical black-and-white block layout on these sibling Japanese imports from the 1960s and 1970s:

• Aria Model 6814 & 6810 Acoustic Guitars: Built in the same era, these 6-string acoustics use the exact same alternating block "railroad track" purfling layout around the soundhole and top edge.
• Venwood & Decca Teisco-Built Mandolins: These budget A-style import mandolins frequently used the leftover narrow block-purfling strips around their top edges to add a premium look to cheap laminated tops.
• 早期 (Early) Nomad and Dynamic Baritones: Rare domestic-market Japanese baritones used this exact block rosette pattern to appeal to players who wanted a modern, geometric look instead of traditional folk herringbone rope patterns.

An unbuffed, thick finish with an orange-peel texture is a textbook sign of a factory transition period. It points to a late 1960s (approx. 1968–1970) Guyatone assembly origin, rather than Matsumoku.

I haven't been able to exactly identify the brand and model, but my opinions are above.

Construction:

All solid mahogany. The neck is a 3-piece laminate to stiffen it up without needing a truss rod. This is traditionally used for classical guitars. Assembled with traditional hot hide glue. This has premium nickel-silver frets instead of the more common brass. The top has cream binding, but none on the back. Rosewood fretboard and bridge. The saddle is bone. I hand-cut a new bone nut. The geared tuners are original. This exact model was used on Howard ukes. Way better than the common friction pegs. The position markers are real pearl. The neck has a flat D profile and a very nice chamfered edge on the fingerboard, which makes it very comfortable. The scale is 500mm, very Japanese. Every bit as good as Martin, Favilla or Kasuga's Silver Mellow Tone.

Condition:

We did our Henry Nelson Luthiery restoration and setup. Took off the stings and gave her a thorough cleaning. Then we levelled the frets, crowned and polished them. We custom made a new unbleached bone nut. We cut the nut and saddle for a lower action and then buffed the finish to a high gloss. We are GHS dealers, so we installed new GHS baritone ukulele strings.

Henry Nelson Luthiery stuff might cost more than other listings, but we think it's worth it. We're not going anywhere. We stand behind our gear. We do research and accurate descriptions. We test our stuff and usually do restoration work; sometimes light, sometimes intense (read our item descriptions for details). In addition, our vintage gear holds its value, unlike new stuff. We have a no-hassle return policy. The return shipping is on you, but we refund the item price and shipping. Simply return it in the same condition in a timely manner.