I didn't bother to research that ukulele body before turning it into, well, an incredibly easy 15-minute project.
Body, at a thrift store, at 50% off: About $17.50.
Grover friction tuners: About $15.50.
Ernie Ball strings: About $6.00.
Total cost: About $39.
All I knew about it was that it's a Gretsch "Roots Collection" uke. and that it doesn't seem to appear on Gretsch's site.
It seemed to me that a Gretsch in playable condition was surely worth more than $40.
Once I had it together, I decided I was right. Very nice sound. Even my youngest, who tends to dislike ukulele noise, said he thought it sounded nice.
Like I said, maybe 15 minutes to install the tuners and string it. Of course, the strings are still stretching, but it's not like I have to sit there and watch them. I just pick it up every couple of hours, give the strings a little stretch, tune it, and put it back down.
Which gives me time to actually mess around with Google and figure out what I've got.
Which, it seems, is a Gretsch G9101 NYC Camp Ukulele in Blue Sunburst. $129 at Reverb (not an affiliate link) ... but out of stock. No price at Amazon (not an affiliate link) ... because it's out of stock.
Per the Amazon description, "A faithful recreation of the circa 1925-1935 Gretsch 'Camp' uke, it's built to be tossed in your knapsack and played around the campfire down at the beach, out in the woods or anyplace else where the day takes you." Maple body, nato neck.
So, pretty good deal.
Tamara owns a couple of pretty nice ukuleles, which she hasn't yet learned to play. I used to have one of the $10 plastic jobs that I couldn't stand to try to play, and do have a Glarry banjo ukulele that I haven't got around to looking for a lower bridge for (the action is way too high toward the top end of the neck).
But this is the one that makes me think I'll go ahead and put in the time to do more than learn a couple of chords and get bored. If so, I'll record something with it so you can hear how much better it sounds than my voice.
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