For years I've hoped to find a facility to X Ray three ukuleles that I've had ... for years.
Today, I visited Andre Shakh at his imaging facility in Glendale where I was greeted and treated to new experiences!
Blatant Plug:
Andrey Shakhbandaryan, BSRT (R)(MR)
Co-founder /Technical Director
Glenoaks Imaging Professionals
1731 W. Glenoaks Blvd. Suite 101
Glendale, CA 91201
P: 818-230-3400
F: 818-937-9182
The three ukes that Andre was kind enough to xray for me are not unique, but important in the evolution of the instrument in modern culture.
 |
| The Martin |
The first is a legacy from a dear friend, a Martin Style O soprano uke: the basic one. Mahogany all around. No frills. Great sound. The Style O was introduced in 1922 and discontinued in 1970. This little guy was probably made in the 1930s.
There were two options for the X Ray: One was a straight forward shot with a device that looked a bit like a photo enlarger. The ukuleles were slightly larger than comfortable for a full body shot, so we repaired to the scanning device that shoots not only straight down, but from the side as well.
 |
| Nancy Williams Stanford and her Century Graphic w/ The Martin |
The Leonardo Nunes and the Herman Weissenborn are from the 1920s. I estimate each of them to be about a hundred years old. The Weissenborn was a gift from the lady who sold my friend, Tom Hayden (Not THAT Tom) his home in Greeley, Colorado. Weissenborn was a Los Angeles builder of ukuleles and hollow neck lap guitars. The lap guitar was unique in that the hollow neck created a rich tone that was a signature sound for Hawaiian music popular in the early part of the twentieth century.
The Nunes was a thrift store find that I love to tell the story of:
My habit is to cruise any thrift store at any opportunity. The Nunes was badly damaged and at the time I'd not heard of the Nunes family (story to follow).. but the price was only $3.50! "I'll take it!" (I did not shout.. ) but, the clerk pointed out that it was "half off day" so.. reluctantly I shelled out $1.75 and cuddled the Nunes in my arms. Months later, Cary Char in Portland restored the Nunes with some really wonderful binding replacements and it's now in great shape.
Leonardo Nunes was the son of Manuel Nunes, an immigrant who migrated to Hawaii in 1879 from Portugal having built 'taropatch fiddles' and progressed to invent the modern ukulele. Leonardo kept the business going for forty years. The Nunes is solid koa with the distinctive coat of arms on the peg head.
These are the X Rays of the three old ukuleles I had made.
Click on an image to get a larger version of the X Ray.
 |
| Leonardo Nunes Circa 1920 |
 |
| Herman Weissenborn Circa 1920 |
 |
| C.F. Martin Circa 1930 |
The staff at Glenoaks Imaging is eclectic, engaged and friendly. The work they do is important to give medical professionals and clients themselves, literal insights into what's going on with their bodies. Everyone was helpful! I had to laugh a little, though, because I had not really considered that the clients in the the waiting room for their appointment to be scanned might think it a bit strange for a guy with an armload of ukuleles emerging from the inner sanctum. So.. Andre ushered me out the back door!
Thank you, Andre!
michael sheehan
june 10, 2020
