As seen in
Guitar Girl Magazine Issue 2
The Mighty Uke & The Girls That Slay It
April 2018
Being a fan of LP, a Martin ambassador who plays the Martin 2 Concert Uke (among her many!), and which we featured in this issue, I came across this book on Amazon and thought I would check it out. If you’re a historian of Martin Guitar, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Authors Tom Walsh and the late John King, who unfortunately passed away before the book was completed, provide a full and complete detailed history of the Martin Ukulele.
It starts with a very brief history of Christian Frederick Martin, who was born on January 31, 1796, in Germany, and then on to his emigration to NYC in 1833. As most know, Martin went on to build a “Guitar Giant.”
This book is broken into 11 chapters with five excellent appendices detailing general information about Martin ukuleles, the styles, custom ukuleles that individuals and companies made, and the tools used to make these instruments.
One notable individual who received a custom Martin ukulele was May Singhi Breen, quite an interesting woman — she was known as the “Ukulele Lady.” She was a well-known radio star in the ‘20s and author of ukulele method books. Martin made quite a few ornate custom ukuleles for Breen with UKULELE LADY inlaid on the fretboard in mother of pearl and also her name on the headstock.
A treasure of information behind this cover- The Martin Ukulele: The Little Instrument That Helped Create A Guitar Giant (Hal Leonard, 2013, $30.00) By Tom Walsh & John King.
RELATED STORY:
Interview with LP on Songwriting, Influences and Being a Martin Guitars Ambassador
~ Updated February 26, 2024