Martin Style 3 Soprano Ukulele 1930s - Mahogany

The Martin Style 3 soprano ukulele is a high-end vintage instrument featuring a 17-fret ebony fingerboard, elaborate multi-ply binding, and a distinctive celluloid tail ornament. This all-original example features a stamped logo on the rear of the headstock and bar style frets, dating it to the early 1930s. It has a few repaired top cracks, a bit of hazing on the neck finish, and is housed in the original hard shell case.

Body & Materials

• Body Shape: Standard soprano size.
• Top Wood: Premium genuine mahogany
• Binding: Seven-ply (or 5-ply depending on the exact year) black-and-white celluloid top binding, 3-ply back binding, and a multi-ply soundhole ring.
• Tail Ornament: Features a celluloid shield ornament on the top edge directly behind the bridge/base of the body (often called the "parend").

Neck & Fingerboard

• Neck Material: Mahogany.
• Fingerboard: 17-fret ebony fingerboard that extends flush all the way to the soundhole.
• Frets: Vintage bar frets (transitioning to T-frets around 1934).
• Inlays: Traditional paired-diamond pearl position markers at frets 5, 7, and 9, accompanied by three distinct pinstripe lines inlaid down the center of the fingerboard.
• Nut: 3-ply plastic/ivoroid nut.

Hardware & Headstock

• Tuners: Friction peg tuners (early 1930s models featured wood or ivoroid buttons; later models featured patent nickel friction pegs).
• Headstock Logo: Pre-1935 instruments typically feature a C.F. Martin stamp on the back of the peghead rather than a front decal, while mid-to-late 1930s models transitioned to the gold foil C.F. Martin headstock decal logo.

Dimensions

• Scale Length: Approx. 13 5/8 inches
• Body Length: Approx. 9 7/16 inches
• Total Length: Approx. 21 inches
• Nut Width: Approx. 1 3/8 inches (35 mm)