C. F. Martin Style 2 Taropatch , c. 1922

C. F. Martin  Style 2 Taropatch ,  c. 1922
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Item # 5855
Prices subject to change without notice.
C. F. Martin Style 2 Model Taropatch, c. 1922, made in Nazareth, PA, dark mahogany finish, mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex chipboard case.

The eight-string taropatch (originally called the "Taro Patch fiddle") is one of the early Hawaiian forms of the ukulele. Comparatively few were ever made on the mainland, but the instrument was offered as part of C. F. Martin's early uke line from 1916 through 1931. With eight gut strings on a longer scale neck the taropatch was considered harder to play than the simple uke, and was ordered in vastly smaller numbers. The Martin Taropatch was offered in styles 1,2 and 3; this early Style 2 is a very rare instrument.
 
Overall length is 25 1/8 in. (63.8 cm.), 7 5/8 in. (19.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 3/4 in. (7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 14 3/4 in. (375 mm.). Width of nut is 1 1/2 in. (38 mm.). Overall good playing condition; there is a very old crack repair on the top by the treble side of the fingerboard, and a more recent clean grain crack sealed up behind the treble side of the bridge. It looks like there is a VERY thin old varnish oversparay over most of the instrument, which appears to have been done long ago-the look is very much an antique patina. There is some play wear to the fingerboard and frets in the lower positions (it looks like steel strings were fitted at one time) but the instrument plays very well. This taropatch is not a perfect collector's piece, but a good example of a very rare and beautiful early Martin ukulele family instrument, one that seldom turns up today. Generally Excellent - Condition.