This Favilla ukulele belonged to my father-in-law, who lived in Kailua, HI. My guess is that it dates to around 1960. There’s a serial number inside that appears to be in the 22,000s. Only the “22” can clearly be read. I have seen Favilla ukuleles referred to as the poor man’s Martin. In construction they seem very similar to Martins from the same period. The instrument is very lightly constructed. It weighs 10.1 oz. (286 grams), compared to 10.6 oz. (300 grams) for our Martin soprano.
When discovered this year high up in a closet, it was in need of some attention. The bridge had snapped off. There was a nearly five inch crack in the lower bout. The finish on the body was in horrible shape. It had a very uneven surface and appeared as though it had been refinished. The neck had also been reset. One of the Cole tuners had been replaced with a Kluson 566 Keystone tuner. I felt dealing with the crack and the finish were within my skillset, but the neck was something I didn’t want to tackle. Aside from the joint between the neck and body being unsightly, the neck seemed in alignment.
Before working on the bridge and crack, I stripped the finish from the body. I left the finish as-is on the neck. For the crack repair, I worked hide glue into the crack and clamped it along the length of the crack. Then I attached two small cleats across the crack on the inside of the body. Gluing the bridge back in place was fairly simple, because witness marks from its original position were still visible. After dealing with the crack and bridge, I applied four coats of Tru-Oil finish. Finding a proper period tuner may take some time, but I replaced the Kluson with a modern tuner until I can locate something better. The last step was putting on Martin M600 fluorocarbon strings.
Soundwise, the first thing that comes across is that it is loud and has decent sustain. However, it also sounds boxy or hollow, if that makes any sense. The sound sample is the intro & outro to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of Over the Rainbow and a Matt Dahlberg arrangement of Silent Night.
Pictures before restoration:
The photo above shows the crack and the blotchy, uneven finish. The original bridge position is also clearly visible.
Pictures after restoration:
